Burnham's first PMQs reveals 'non-point-scoring politics' has already fallen flat on its face, writes Andrew Marr

But if you watched closely, you could see something remarkable happening. It was a bit like a horror film. The walls around the Prime Minister were slowly but surely contracting, pressing in on the front bench.

He’s got a confident smile still, but the space around Andy Burnham is tight and getting tighter. There’s no room for more borrowing, as we've previously discussed. There’s not much room left to raise tax without damaging the economy.

And we’re a country crowded with charities and NGOs and campaigners all wanting more public money spent, pronto please, on this worthy cause, or that.

Leading the opposition, Kemi Badenoch wanted Burnham to rule out more taxes, rule out more borrowing.

She quoted from our interview with Lord Jim O’Neill, in which she warned about the hostile bond markets, which price the money we borrow.

The point about Lord O’Neill is that he’s not only a respected economist, but he’s still genuinely close to the new Prime Minister, as he told LBC - and as the new Prime Minister generously confirmed.

Andy Burnham can’t be expected to say anything much about tax or borrowing or spending until the budget, towards the end of next month - earlier than usual, he said, because he wanted to keep damaging speculation to a minimum.

But I can’t see any easy way out. The Tories want fast, deep cuts in welfare - reinstating the two-child cap, cutting housing benefits and more - to fund defence. Labour also thinks that too many young people in particular are getting stuck on welfare.

But fast, deep cuts, which would mean legislating, and presumably a revolt by Labour MPs, are politically impossible for Burnham to agree to - as Badenoch knows very well.

If there is a coherent conservative approach to growth, without making life intolerable for too many vulnerable people, it’s fair to ask why Britain didn’t see it in the 14 years they were in power.

Now, if I’m marking the new PM on his first weekly challenge, I’d have to say the offer of non-point-scoring and more consensual politics has already fallen flat on its face. I heard a yah. I could catch a boo.

To be fair, it’s hard to do more collaborative politics with somebody who really doesn’t want to make nice.

Other than that, Burnham did his best to answer questions, perhaps sometimes at too long a length, but is quick enough on his feet - and more than survived.

____________________

Andrew Marr is an author, journalist and presenter for LBC.

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk