Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary, said: “More illegal immigrants crossed the Channel under Keir Starmer than under any other prime minister – 76,000. And now Andy Burnham has made a terrible start with the largest ever migrant dingy crossing yesterday with 165 illegal immigrants on it.

“Illegal immigrant crossings continue to define Labour – becaue they refuse to take the action needed to stop it.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham joked that he might be in trouble with his wife for referring to his first day at No 10 North as “the best day of my life” as he opened a meeting of the National Economic Council at the new base in Manchester.

He said: “I described this earlier as the best day of my life, and I think I’m probably going to be in trouble at home over the weekend because my other half might have some other views about what should be the best day of my life.

“But it is something huge, really, because I left this city in 1991 because I couldn’t find anything to do.

“There was not a job I could find here, and it’s the story of so many people in Britain having to leave the place where they belong because there wasn’t opportunity, and then having to go somewhere else.

“And here we are, 35 years on, as the centre of government lands here in the north of England.”

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch looks at galvanised panels during a visit to Newport Galvanizers Ltd, in Lanwern, South Wales.

366 migrants arrived via small boat yesterday, figures from the Home Office show. They arrived in three boats. It followed 172 migrants coming to Britain in three boats on Wednesday.

Andy Burnham has arrived at No10 North by private jet.

Guido Fawkes reports that the plane that flew the Prime Minister up to Glasgow to launch the Commonwealth Games and has today landed in Manchester.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has defended the cost of setting up No 10 North.

He is expected to work from the site in Manchester once each week during his premiership.

Speaking to staff there on Friday, he said many of his critics – “often London based” – will see the project as a “gimmick”.

He said: “There’ll be many voices out there, I can hear them all already, often London based, but not exclusively… They like to say, ‘Oh, this will just be the new levelling up, or another sort of short-lived gimmick’, and they’ll also say ‘What’s it going to cost?’”

Mr Burnham continued: “What does it cost for everybody to troop down to London every time there’s a meeting when you need to make an argument about something?

“What does that cost? So actually, isn’t it better that we have a North Pole that balances the South Pole of our country, where power will always be concentrated?

“At least it creates that sense of a more balanced country, and that big things can be done from here.”

Andy Burnham has described his first day of work at the new No 10 North in Manchester as the “best day of my life”.

Speaking as he opened the new centre of Government base in Manchester, the Prime Minister said: “I cannot tell you what a proud moment this is. I think this might be the best day of my life. I’m not joking either. I know you think I am, but I’m not.

“Things are just completely coming full circle here for me, and to be here with you all in the heart of Manchester this Friday morning, at the end of a fairly big week, is just everything to me because it’s almost exactly 35 years since I left this city as a recently graduated young man who couldn’t find a job in the city. It was in a pretty bad place at that time, it’s fair to say, this is the because the 80s had turned into the 90s, there wasn’t much.

“That really is an experience that I’ve never forgotten, my generation of people growing up here. And it’s true of places all over the country to get on in life, you had to leave where you where you were because things weren’t here.

“The country has always been a little like that, hasn’t it? That opportunity has not been evenly spread around the country, and not all places have felt that they are part of the national story, and that is what this Government is going to work every single day to change.

“And that is what No 10 North is all about: putting power in every postcode so that people can turn things around for themselves and make changes, just as this great city has done, and the other English cities are doing through devolution, turning things round because of that ability to be able to do more for themselves. And it’s also about getting the whole country facing the same way, and then pulling in the same direction, that I think is what No 10 North can achieve.”

Andy Burnham’s review into the prisons early release scheme will be conducted in the “coming days and weeks” and decisions need to be made “very quickly”, a Labour minister has said.

Under the new Sentencing Act set to come into force in September, some 6,000 criminals were due to be released under the early prison release scheme, but the Prime Minister on Thursday paused the plans and ordered an urgent review.

That came after the family of Pc Andrew Harper, who was killed in the line of duty in 2019, criticised the fact that two of his killers were being considered for early release.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrives by car ahead of a meeting at No 10 North.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told John Swinney Scottish independence was “off limits” in a meeting on Thursday, according to the Scottish Secretary.

The pair met in person for the first time on Thursday ahead of the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

During the meeting, which also included Douglas Alexander and Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth, the issue of Scottish independence was raised.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland on Friday, Mr Alexander said: “I was alongside Andy as we met John Swinney yesterday in Glasgow and so I can see very clearly how the that conversation progressed and, indeed, what it does mean for Scotland.

“Up front, the Prime Minister made clear that independence was off limits.”

He added: “I genuinely believe that we agreed to disagree.

“John Swinney, perfectly honourably, continues to advance the case that he would like to see independence for Scotland – that’s been the cause to which he’s devoted his political life.

“But Andy, in a very reasonable way, was pretty open in saying, ‘listen, respectfully, we’ll agree to disagree on a referendum, and independence is off limits.”

Police have a security operation in place outside No10 North in Manchester.

Images show police patrolling with their pups ahead of Andy Burnham’s arrival

Louise Haigh, First Secretary of State of the United Kingdom arrives at No 10 North at Heron House.

Andy Burnham will have a meeting with his cabinet there later on Friday.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy MP said: “Axel Rudakubana has been moved out of prison and to a psychiatric hospital. The Prison Officers Association say he’s playing the system – at a huge cost to the taxpayer.

“In too many criminal cases, mental health is being used to avoid justice and punishment. It has to stop.”

The Southport killer Axel Rudakubana has been moved from prison to a psychiatric hospital after clinical assessment,

Nigel Farage said the “outrageous” decision must be reversed.

It would not be right for Southport killer Axel Rudakubana to qualify for benefits, a minister has said after he was transferred from prison to Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.

Sally Jameson, a junior housing minister and former prison officer, told LBC: “Well, it’s not right, and I sincerely hope that he won’t be qualifying for benefits.

“But actually, fundamentally, what I think is important to note is he will not get time off his sentence, and he will be returned to jail as soon as possible.

“And also, the high security hospitals – they’re not like ordinary hospitals. They are a prison hospital.

“He will be kept under very stringent conditions, befitting actually to his crime, but also the level of security that needs to be put around him.

“And I’m confident that he will be returned to prison as soon as possible and serve out his sentence.

“And I agree that should be under the most punitive and solitary conditions that is possible.”

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has said the goal to build 1.5 million homes in this Parliament is “a really difficult stretched target” but insisted she is not dropping it.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It certainly got more challenging, and we’ve seen things like construction costs go up etc, which has had a real negative impact on that.

“But I’m not dropping it. I’m just saying that it is a really difficult stretched target.”

Pressed further, she said: “Yeah, I’m going to keep the target, but it’s like me saying I’m going to run the London Marathon in under five hours.

“That would be a real challenge for me, but I’d do it… Look, I am straight talking.

“1.5 million homes is a difficult target. It was when I made the target, but I’m going to keep the target, and I’m not going to be defeated.

“And the one thing I will say is that people have underestimated me all my life. And if you tell me that I can’t do something, I’ll go hell bent to get it done.”

Kemi Badenoch has taken aim at Labour’s early release of prisoners scheme. She said that whilst she welcomed the pause Andy Burnham had “only suspended one part of early release.”

The Tory chief added: “Your 40% scheme is still letting offenders out early, today, every day.”

Mrs Badenoch repeated her demands to “exempt killers, rapists and child abusers from this scheme. Permanently.”