Best Of

https://x.com/GuidoFawkes/status/2068010625272340885

Some rumours in Labour circles that Streeting will be Chancellor and Miliband will go to MHCLG.

What qualifications does Streeting have to be Chancellor?

His first junior ministerial role was in the treasury, so presumably he starts with some relevant experience.

As TSE will tell us, he’s a Cambridge man so presumably well endowed with tremendous common sense, even if he spent his student days mostly politicking and occasionally studying in the Seeley library listening to the slow dripping of rainwater into the buckets spread about its floor.

He’s seen as on the pragmatic right of the Labour Party and therefore a very market friendly appointment.

And he’s as good a salesperson as Labour has, which the current occupant of number eleven certainly isn’t.

The best Chancellor of my lifetime was a Cambridge man.

Nigel Lawson went to Oxford. Christ Church to be precise.

Starmer to weigh up future over weekend, Times told

Sir Keir Starmer will weigh up his future over the weekend amid mounting pressure from his cabinet in the wake of Andy Burnham’s by-election victory, The Times has been told.

The prime minister has publicly insisted that he will not “walk away” and has said he is prepared to fight a challenge from Burnham if it comes to a leadership contest.

However, privately sources close to the prime minister said he recognises there is growing pressure from the backbenches for him to go. He is expected to take the weekend with his wife and family to consider his position before deciding whether to fight on.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/makerfield-by-election-results-2026-latest-news-rbfk8mn0n

He’s gone

I remember from school days someone doing the weighing of the scales when early Rome complained the scales were fixed and they were being asked for too much gold. The chieftain replied "vi victus" and put his sword on the other side of the scales. It is a lesson the Romans never forgot.

Starmer is in a somewhat similar position. He either gives up gracefully or he's humiliated. His choice.

It's a false choice, it's humiliation either way which fools no one.

Only promise of another job down the line makes giving in worthwhile, it's nonsense that we say it's more 'graceful' to be kicked out informally than formally.

Do people look back at Boris and Truss and go 'at least it was graceful'?

A Prime Minister requires both competence and charisma. Starmer had the competence without the charisma. Boris had the charisma without the competence. Truss had neither. Hopefully Burnham will have both.

Was Starmer competent though? I'm not sure his record in office bears that out.

Indeed

His problem isn’t just having difficulty connecting with the public. It’s also connecting with his cabinet colleagues, his MPs and the Labour Party members.

He spent most of his life not being a politician, no wonder he's not much good at it. Much the same was true of Sunak.

It's a fairly weird skill set you need to develop.

Steven Swinford
@Steven_Swinford
Where we are tonight:

* Sir Keir Starmer is weighing up his future after cabinet ministers called on him to quit and make way for Andy Burnham as Britain’s next prime minister

* While publicly he insists he will fight on, privately his position is said to be ‘nuanced’. He will make up his mind about whether to fight on this weekend after speaking to his wife and family

* Starmer is considering his position after a series of what one aide described as “brutal” conversations with cabinet ministers. Heidi Alexander was said to have been “direct” with Starmer about his unpopularity

* Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, is also said to have pressed Starmer to set out a timeline for his departure during a one-to-one meeting. A spokeswoman for Cooper declined to comment

https://x.com/Steven_Swinford/status/2068065592561557542

Didn't realise until just now that Morocco are as highly-ranked as number 5 in the world, sandwiched between England and Brazil.

https://inside.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/men

Damn good team.

This was very much the classic 'Group of Death' draw for Scotland.

Still, I'm sure they can probably pick up a point against *checks fixtures* Brazil.

Pre the expansion to 48 teams it would have been a hideous draw. But pre expansion Scotland wouldn’t have been at the finals…

We did win our group to be fair, so even without expansion we would have been there, but we would still have been jammy gits in doing so.

Different groups with fewer places up for grabs, but fair play on winning the group. I’m hoping the Scot’s get through. The joy and party spirit of the fans is brilliant.