Burnham's shameful silence: Why has PM still not replied to police chief over PC Harper killers' release? writes Nick Ferrari

That's how long the Prime Minister and a senior colleague have taken NOT to reply to a letter from the Thames Valley Chief Constable Jason Hogg concerning the possible early release of two of the killers of PC Andrew Harper.

Allow me to let you in on part of a day in the life of being on the Nick Ferrari production team. Every weekday for almost the last three weeks, a call is made to the Chief Constable's office to see if a reply has been received from either Prime Minister Andy Burnham or Justice Secretary Alex Norris.

To date, the response is always the same: "No, not yet."

This is inexcusable for any government, but for one that began as recently as last month promising to be "a listening government" it is shameful.

A criticism levelled (justly for me) at the previous PM was that Sir Keir Starmer was too lawyerly and too process-driven.

Is history about to repeat itself with Mr Burnham?

There was a real danger the PM would fail this first real test of public opinion, but bullied by senior police officers, a brilliant campaign from PC Harper's widow and his mother, as well as a petition with 920,000 signatures, a rethink seems on the cards. That is to be welcomed. Burnham’s initial excuse that he had gone as far as the system would allow is seen as risible nonsense.

Candidly, Chief Constable Hogg - brilliantly standing up for his "troops" and their understandably bruised morale - won't care less whether or not he gets his replies so long as Harper's heartless killers Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who have shown no remorse, stay behind bars.

But the disdain with which his letters have been ignored by a government led by a man supposedly full of empathy is likely to linger on.

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Listen to LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast weekday mornings from 7-10am.

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