Prime Ministers deserve holidays — but perhaps not while their party is still fighting for political survival, writes Michael Martins in today's Notebook.

Burnham Should Not Have Gone on Holiday If He Is Worried About Reform

When Burnham cut his holiday short this week, the more striking revelation was that he had taken leave in the first place. Not because Prime Ministers should never take time off — they absolutely should — but because the decision ignored lessons that he and his team ought to have absorbed from last summer.

During July and August of last year, numerous Labour special advisors set their WhatsApp statuses to "Out of Office," while their Reform counterparts did not. The Starmer government's emphasis on work-life balance coincided with the peak of small boat crossings in July 2025, which reached 5,454 according to the House of Commons research service. Starmer effectively ceded the immigration debate in favour of a beach chair, enabling Reform to dominate the 2025 summer media landscape. That media and polling momentum carried through to party conferences in September and October, where mainstream parties found themselves responding to Reform's anti-immigration platform rather than advancing their own agendas.

That same pattern has now repeated itself. Burnham and his team went on leave amid developments in Ceuta, the Spanish enclave on the North African coast that has become a focal point for migration into Europe. Reform's Home Affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, travelled to Spain to locate and interview migrants attempting to enter the UK, reinforcing and intensifying Reform supporters' hardline stance on immigration. For a Prime Minister ostensibly focused on winning back Reform-leaning voters in Labour heartlands, Burnham appears to have surrendered the immigration debate once again — this time in favour of a sun lounger.

In an effort to shift the narrative, No. 10 has pointed to Burnham's forthcoming national tour on the cost of living (scheduled, naturally, after his holiday abroad). Yet with further tax rises on the horizon, it is a curious strategy to ask people across the country to set aside their concerns about the economy and small boat crossings while enquiring whether paying more in tax has somehow reduced their cost of living.

So although Burnham is now back from holiday — just as a record 230 people crossed the Channel in a single dinghy — if this is what his first 90 days in office look like, there is reason to expect the Burnham bounce will prove short-lived.

Brick Lane Is Black Cabs All Over Again

Protests have already begun outside an approved data centre in Brick Lane, and the situation brings to mind the early demonstrations against Uber more than a decade ago. At the time, most technology companies dismissed the opposition from black cab supporters as Luddism, but they now confront a thicket of specific employment laws and tax burdens that grew out of that resistance. AI companies could face a similar trajectory if they fail to address emerging political opposition before it gains traction.

Why Does Westminster Council Hate Soho?

The revelation last week that Westminster Council sought to ban drinkers from enjoying a pint in the sunshine while standing outside a pub in Soho was deeply disheartening. The particular pleasure of sipping a pint outside a pub on a cool summer evening is already prohibited across most of North America, and was one of the primary non-economic reasons for relocating to London. Although the council eventually backed down and insisted this was never its intention, it still appears determined to push through other questionable measures, including a ban on takeaway food sales after 11pm.

Let the Count Wear His Bin

Although unlikely to win a parliamentary seat this week, if Binface does secure one, parliamentary standards should be adapted to allow him to speak in the Commons while in costume — with the caveat that he should be required to vote bare-faced, to preserve the integrity of parliamentary divisions. His prospective constituents would have voted for him having never seen him without the costume, so they would clearly understand what they were getting. Parliamentary standards do evolve: a decade ago, MPs were not permitted to use notes in the main chamber, whereas today some inadvertently read aloud the AI prompts embedded in their speeches.

The London Restaurant That Lived Up to Instagram

Chefs on Instagram who provide expert insight into how a dish is created and refined are well worth following, and the two chefs behind Fallow rank among the best. Discovering that Fallow reserves space for walk-in diners — at least during the quieter summer months — was therefore a particular treat, offering a degree of spontaneity on a Wednesday evening.

Although the two head chefs were not present during the visit, sampling dishes previously encountered only through social media was thoroughly enjoyable. For anyone in the Haymarket neighbourhood feeling adventurous, Fallow is well worth a try this summer. The Miso martini and the short-rib burger come highly recommended.

Michael Martins is a partner at Overton Advisory. He was formerly a staffer at the US Embassy London.