Obviously, in today's modern world, there's no requirement for the Prime Minister to live above their workplace.
If Andy Burnham wants to live in Manchester or Penzance or Stornaway, that shouldn't be any kind of impediment to being able to do the job.
I mean, the King and Queen aren't going to live in Buckingham Palace but use Clarence House and no one seems that bothered. We need to get out of the 20th century mindset of associating places with roles - the world has changed.
Clarence House is a few minutes walk from Buckingham Palace, Manchester is the other side of the country from Downing St
if you lot had not balls up HS2 it would have been a heap closer, your comments about distance being a barrier to effective working highlights just how awful a decision that was
HS2 was never about speed.
It was always about speed, that’s why it’s costing so much money.
Nope its costing so much money because no Tory PM was brave enough to tell Cheryl Gillan No - so most of the money has been spent on tunnels through the Chilterns that require air vents that are more visible than the tracks would have been.
Obviously, in today's modern world, there's no requirement for the Prime Minister to live above their workplace.
If Andy Burnham wants to live in Manchester or Penzance or Stornaway, that shouldn't be any kind of impediment to being able to do the job.
I mean, the King and Queen aren't going to live in Buckingham Palace but use Clarence House and no one seems that bothered. We need to get out of the 20th century mindset of associating places with roles - the world has changed.
Clarence House is a few minutes walk from Buckingham Palace, Manchester is the other side of the country from Downing St
if you lot had not balls up HS2 it would have been a heap closer, your comments about distance being a barrier to effective working highlights just how awful a decision that was
HS2 was never about speed.
It was always about speed, that’s why it’s costing so much money.
It was about capacity but the (miss)selling was about making journeys faster. The costs are for lots of reasons, but definitely include gold plating and bats.
Obviously, in today's modern world, there's no requirement for the Prime Minister to live above their workplace.
If Andy Burnham wants to live in Manchester or Penzance or Stornaway, that shouldn't be any kind of impediment to being able to do the job.
I mean, the King and Queen aren't going to live in Buckingham Palace but use Clarence House and no one seems that bothered. We need to get out of the 20th century mindset of associating places with roles - the world has changed.
Clarence House is a few minutes walk from Buckingham Palace, Manchester is the other side of the country from Downing St
if you lot had not balls up HS2 it would have been a heap closer, your comments about distance being a barrier to effective working highlights just how awful a decision that was
HS2 was never about speed.
It was always about speed, that’s why it’s costing so much money.
Nope its costing so much money because no Tory PM was brave enough to tell Cheryl Gillan No - so most of the money has been spent on tunnels through the Chilterns that require air vents that are more visible than the tracks would have been.
Surely if it hadn't been tunneled underground Natural England would have insisted on 30 miles of bat canopy anyway?
40 billion for restoration of Houses of Parliament
Pro-rata said: Couldn't we build a northern leg of HS2 for that and house parliament on a special 650 seat train doing 160mph circuits between London and Manchester.
My wife has suggested that the newspapers will airtag Burnham to keep track of where he sleeps each night and discover that he's juggling three affairs.
Working away from home has often been used as a cover for affairs, so I can see how it would work.
Pro tip for having an affair.
Disable the auto-syncing of your photo library to iCloud so your wife cannot see what you've been up to on the photo gallery of the iPad you've left at home.
/Oddly Specific
This idea of not staying in London won't last a week. It could just about be done from here (90 minutes) but I still wouldn't.
Most people who apply for a job have to accept they go where the job is. Will he turn up in Parliament for PMQs?
His answer for everything appears to be "Manchester".
I presume his next move will be to make Liam Gallagher Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Noel would be a better cabinet minister than Liam.
Just don't make their other brother US ambassador.
Nah that’s between Shaun Ryder and Bez I’d think.
There have been interviews to the effect that the main reason Bez was in the band was to stop all the others fighting.
If he could do that for the Happy Mondays, Trump should be a doddle.
40 billion for restoration of Houses of Parliament
Pro-rata said: Couldn't we build a northern leg of HS2 for that and house parliament on a special 650 seat train doing 160mph circuits between London and Manchester.
Merge projects, cut costs.
I am still holding out for Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham.
Breaking news - Burnham has announced that Manchester is to be designated our capital city, replacing London.
I appreciate that politicians struggle to think about next week, let alone the long term, but what happens to all this nonsense when the PM is not from Manchester?
I think after a few years of all this commuting of the PM from No 10 in Westminster to their home in Manchester, voters will want a PM who lives in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
If he does a good job I don't care in which county he lays his head.
Anyway I have read a lot on here suggesting Burnham is not up to the job and is a dreadful PM. Isn't it time for a change?
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
As ever, the problem with The North is that in Butnham’s mind it means Manchester. It doesn’t mean Sheffield. It doesn’t mean Sunderland. It doesn’t mean Scotland, Wales or Cornwall.
Utter bilge I'm sorry to say.
One of his right hand people, Haigh, is a Sheffield MP just for starters.
There's long been criticism that number 10 the location is not a good place to run a govt from. Might be inspired from Burnham to break with tradition.
As ever, the problem with The North is that in Butnham’s mind it means Manchester. It doesn’t mean Sheffield. It doesn’t mean Sunderland. It doesn’t mean Scotland, Wales or Cornwall.
Utter bilge I'm sorry to say.
One of his right hand people, Haigh, is a Sheffield MP just for starters.
To be honest - even if it's just Manchester I don't care. To fix the issues the UK is in we need to move Government out of London so they don't focus on it and nothing else...
If that means Manchester improves well so be it at least the UK will have 2/3 viable centres and not 1
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
It does have the stench of liquidation about it, the small tacky signage etc., so I'm not surprised, but I still don't see how anything particularly different was possible. How could they launch an attractive retail brand, on a shoestring, in those circumstances?
I thought the Basic Law was to do with beer but he is an economist:
Will Hutton @williamnhutton · 1h Andy Burnham refreshingly speaks human. But put aside the creation of No 10 North . The promise today to introduce something equivalent to Germany’s Article 107 of its Basic Law, equalising the resource available to every German region, is mind-blowing. This is real levelling up
No that’s the Purity Law of 1516 (Reinheitsgebot) stating beer can only be made from hops, water, and malted barley ( well unless it’s wheat beer I guess!), as opposed to the Basic Law ( Grundgesetz ) of 1949 ( I think) which is essentially the German constitutional underpinning.
Of course there’s a case that beer is Germany’s underpinning too.
A case of beer might well have underpinned Germany's first half performance.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
Dr Oz on ACA "fraud" -- "Of the people who signed up, 40% never use the insurance. Let me ask you, John, you have health insurance -- do you use it once a year? In Obamacare right now 40% of the people ostensibly signed up never use the insurance ... we have a lot of fake people on the policies"
Because people are health they don't exist... The thing is if you remove those 40% the overall cost is just going to be higher....
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
It does have the stench of liquidation about it, the small tacky signage etc., so I'm not surprised, but I still don't see how anything particularly different was possible. How could they launch an attractive retail brand, on a shoestring, in those circumstances?
Oh the business was dying - I don't think anyone was expecting it to go quite so quickly
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Yes, I'm sure we could save quite a bit on expenses if MPs worked from home. They'd be spending much more time in their constituencies too, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
Given that the Westminster Act devolves to Holyrood anything that isn’t specifically reserved; (Defence, Security, foreign affairs, the Constitution).
As Local Government isn’t Reserved and therefore lies within Holyrood remit how can Burnham say he is going to devolve power within the Scotland?
Peter.
If tax is shifted from central Government to local Government in England the same will apply in Scotland. So the Scottish Government is going to see less unless it follows the same path.
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
It does have the stench of liquidation about it, the small tacky signage etc., so I'm not surprised, but I still don't see how anything particularly different was possible. How could they launch an attractive retail brand, on a shoestring, in those circumstances?
Oh the business was dying - I don't think anyone was expecting it to go quite so quickly
Terrible news if you are a knapper for printed magazines. TG Smith and Jones gotta be the main way they are sold.
ZELENSKYY: Russia refuses to end the war, if Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then a million Russians, who not yet been mobilized into Russian army and are arguing in gas lines, should think about what awaits them next.
ZELENSKYY: Russia refuses to end the war, if Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then a million Russians, who not yet been mobilized into Russian army and are arguing in gas lines, should think about what awaits them next.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
It does have the stench of liquidation about it, the small tacky signage etc., so I'm not surprised, but I still don't see how anything particularly different was possible. How could they launch an attractive retail brand, on a shoestring, in those circumstances?
Oh the business was dying - I don't think anyone was expecting it to go quite so quickly
Changing the name was most likely a factor for acceleration. Was "Smiths" distinct enough to WHSmith?
Although you are right. it was on its arse anyway. A stock of products no longer used by the great unwashed. Newspapers, magazines, books and stationary. All overtaken by the digital World.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
It does have the stench of liquidation about it, the small tacky signage etc., so I'm not surprised, but I still don't see how anything particularly different was possible. How could they launch an attractive retail brand, on a shoestring, in those circumstances?
Oh the business was dying - I don't think anyone was expecting it to go quite so quickly
Changing the name was most likely a factor for acceleration. Was "Smiths" distinct enough to WHSmith?
Although you are righ, it was on its arse anyway. A stock of products no longer used by the great unwashed. Newspapers, magazines, books and stationary. All overtaken by the digital World.
It definitely accelerated the decline and the name is dire (see my inability to remember it between reading the article and writing my post)
But the point was the Smiths management knew their high street presence was dying and they didn't want the death to be visible in case that destroyed their transformed travel brand which looking at the one in the station is 90% food / stupidly expensive bottles of pop.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
I am seeing 1,000 roles need to be housed, that would be about 100,000 sq ft
Philip Collins points out there is actually a Downing Street in Manchester.
I did a pub crawl in 2019, drinking in every bar in the centre of Manchester, all 501 of them, there were / are a couple of breweries around there, but it is waiting for HS2 regeneration to occur.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Move parliament to Barnsley for a few years while the refurbishment takes place.
Ahhh France. So my roadtrip is nearly over, two assignments done and four articles written and I now don’t particularly care where I stay. So I stare at a map and think “meh, about halfway, that’ll do” and I book a room
Every single major broadcast news bulletin, BBC, ITV, Sky GBN, I could go on, has led with Andy Burnham's key messages - the decision not to take questions totally vindicated as millions have seen his message and not the usual Punch and Judy show about "who will be Chancellor..." Really important learnings.
Technically the PM sometimes lives at Number 11, whose flat is larger. But do they mean Burnham will not even work at Number 10 and will remain in its northern outpost?
He will work at his new Northern Number 10 at least one day a week apparently and will spend every night in Manchester not No 10
That's one heck of a commute (and carbon footprint) if Burnham and entourage will be travelling daily between London and Manchester.
It's one of those "man of the people" bright ideas that will end up costing a bloody fortune to carry out, and cause a lot of inconvenience. It's a bit like Trump and his use of Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower, and other properties; when the White House, Camp David and other places are right there ready to use, and convenient for not just the President but all the people who are needed to support him.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
House prices will rocket. Will they fall in London?
Technically the PM sometimes lives at Number 11, whose flat is larger. But do they mean Burnham will not even work at Number 10 and will remain in its northern outpost?
He will work at his new Northern Number 10 at least one day a week apparently and will spend every night in Manchester not No 10
That's one heck of a commute (and carbon footprint) if Burnham and entourage will be travelling daily between London and Manchester.
It's one of those "man of the people" bright ideas that will end up costing a bloody fortune to carry out, and cause a lot of inconvenience. It's a bit like Trump and his use of Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower, and other properties; when the White House, Camp David and other places are right there ready to use, and convenient for not just the President but all the people who are needed to support him.
It's step 1 of a softly softly move everything out of London approach...
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
I've read about how bad the WHSmith 're-brand' to TJ Jones is, but it's quite clear to me it isn't really a re-brand, it's just slapping a completely inconsequential name on some stores to eke out a bit of money (it seems a very small bit). A re-brand would take money and some tarting up of stores, which just isn't something the new owner can do.
A rebrand can be as simple as a new sign over the door and different carrier bags.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
It does have the stench of liquidation about it, the small tacky signage etc., so I'm not surprised, but I still don't see how anything particularly different was possible. How could they launch an attractive retail brand, on a shoestring, in those circumstances?
Oh the business was dying - I don't think anyone was expecting it to go quite so quickly
Changing the name was most likely a factor for acceleration. Was "Smiths" distinct enough to WHSmith?
Although you are righ, it was on its arse anyway. A stock of products no longer used by the great unwashed. Newspapers, magazines, books and stationary. All overtaken by the digital World.
It definitely accelerated the decline and the name is dire (see my inability to remember it between reading the article and writing my post)
But the point was the Smiths management knew their high street presence was dying and they didn't want the death to be visible in case that destroyed their transformed travel brand which looking at the one in the station is 90% food / stupidly expensive bottles of pop.
The whole point of the rebrand was because the High Street shops had all be sold to another company entirely and that company was simply not allowed to use the Smiths brand. Hence TG Jones.
These shops are not WH Smiths shops with a rebrand. They are a completely separate company.
Now you might reasonably criticise Modella Capital for buying the shops from Smiths but you can't blame them for the rebrand. that was not within their power to avoid.
Given that the Westminster Act devolves to Holyrood anything that isn’t specifically reserved; (Defence, Security, foreign affairs, the Constitution).
As Local Government isn’t Reserved and therefore lies within Holyrood remit how can Burnham say he is going to devolve power within the Scotland?
Peter.
If tax is shifted from central Government to local Government in England the same will apply in Scotland. So the Scottish Government is going to see less unless it follows the same path.
Has Burnham actually talked about tax raising powers for the English regions without central support.
As has been pointed out repeatedly local taxation means high taxes in poorer areas and low taxes in richer ones.
The larger the proportion the local the tax is the greater the difference in wealth increases the difference in tax rate.
I have a feeling Burnham thinks that if it worked for him in Manchester it can work for everyone everywhere.
As we don’t have them in Scotland how successful have the other Mayors been compared to Manchester and equally just how much of the success in Manchester is actually directly down to Burnham or might have happened anyway.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Following the detonation of a bomb in Monaco, Minister of State of the Principality of Monaco Christophe Mirmand has confirmed that the explosion was likely an attack and that the device was likely equipped with bolts and other materials for maximum damage. Additionally, according to AFP, all of the victims are of Ukrainian origin.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Meaningless.
Ottowa, Cambera, Washington and many other (English speaking) political centres are not in the largest city.
Massive change, you call it chaos, is required to fix a country that is broken unless you are fortunate enough to benefit from the benefits of zone 1 in London.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
I am seeing 1,000 roles need to be housed, that would be about 100,000 sq ft
Philip Collins points out there is actually a Downing Street in Manchester.
I did a pub crawl in 2019, drinking in every bar in the centre of Manchester, all 501 of them, there were / are a couple of breweries around there, but it is waiting for HS2 regeneration to occur.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
GCHQ are next door, this is new and mostly empty...
I am seeing 1,000 roles need to be housed, that would be about 100,000 sq ft
Philip Collins points out there is actually a Downing Street in Manchester.
I did a pub crawl in 2019, drinking in every bar in the centre of Manchester, all 501 of them, there were / are a couple of breweries around there, but it is waiting for HS2 regeneration to occur.
Was that 2019? My word. I remember you posting about it and in my head it was only three or four years ago.
Yep
Have done Metrolink stops since then and am doing a half hearted catch up of new Manc bars, but there are loads of new post covid bars to do and limited time.
On topic, sort of: In the US, vote fraud is generally commited with mail ballots. The reason is simple enough: Mail ballots do not have to be secret.
There are other ways of avoiding secrecy, but usually they are less convenient. For example, when I was living in Chicago in the late 1960s, in some parts of the city, precinct captains would provide medical excuses to allow a party official to accompany voters, while they were voting.
I hasten to add that vote fraud is rare in most of the US, and very seldom makes a difference in the outcome. And that it is much less common than it was even 20 or 30 years ago. When vote fraud does occur, it is almost always in low-turnout primary elections.
(The use of mail ballots for vote fraud is not universal; some years ago, I was amused to learn that some voters in eastern Kentucky (Appalachia) could be bribed, even though the person paying the bribe could not see their ballots.)
Early reports indicate that Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev, who was sanctioned earlier in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War for his ties to Russia through his business in occupied-Crimea, may have been the target of the bombing in Monaco earlier.
Obviously, in today's modern world, there's no requirement for the Prime Minister to live above their workplace.
If Andy Burnham wants to live in Manchester or Penzance or Stornaway, that shouldn't be any kind of impediment to being able to do the job.
I mean, the King and Queen aren't going to live in Buckingham Palace but use Clarence House and no one seems that bothered. We need to get out of the 20th century mindset of associating places with roles - the world has changed.
Clarence House is a few minutes walk from Buckingham Palace, Manchester is the other side of the country from Downing St
if you lot had not balls up HS2 it would have been a heap closer, your comments about distance being a barrier to effective working highlights just how awful a decision that was
HS2 was never about speed.
It was always about speed, that’s why it’s costing so much money.
Nope its costing so much money because no Tory PM was brave enough to tell Cheryl Gillan No - so most of the money has been spent on tunnels through the Chilterns that require air vents that are more visible than the tracks would have been.
Should have started in the North and left the Chilterns alone then.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Meaningless.
Ottowa, Cambera, Washington and many other (English speaking) political centres are not in the largest city.
Massive change, you call it chaos, is required to fix a country that is broken unless you are fortunate enough to benefit from the benefits of zone 1 in London.
I didn't say the largest city, I said the Capital. If you want to move the capital be honest about it. Demote London and see what that does for Labour's support.
Move all the embassies - they need to be near the seat of power. Move all the massive infrastructure and the tens of thousands of people who work directly for the Government. Destroy the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands whose jobs rely on proximity to Government. Then spend decades trying to rebuild it all elsewhere.
It really is one of the dumbest moves I have heard of in years. And yes it will cause utter chaos and immobilise the work of Government for years, if not decades.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Only because you are defining it based on the capital and not based on their primary city.
Washington DC is a tertiary city compared to New York, Los Angeles etc Canberra is a tertiary city compared to Sydney and Melbourne. Ottowa is a tertiary city compared to Toronto, Vancouver etc
Actually separating the capital/seat of government from the primary cities which can concentrate on finance and other issues without government being there is quite common across the first world. Move government wholesale out of London.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Meaningless.
Ottowa, Cambera, Washington and many other (English speaking) political centres are not in the largest city.
Massive change, you call it chaos, is required to fix a country that is broken unless you are fortunate enough to benefit from the benefits of zone 1 in London.
I didn't say the largest city, I said the Capital. If you want to move the capital be honest about it. Demote London and see what that does for Labour's support.
Move all the embassies - they need to be near the seat of power. Move all the massive infrastructure and the tens of thousands of people who work directly for the Government. Destroy the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands whose jobs rely on proximity to Government. Then spend decades trying to rebuild it all elsewhere.
It really is one of the dumbest moves I have heard of in years. And yes it will cause utter chaos and immobilise the work of Government for years, if not decades.
no one is suggesting the capital should more
people are suggesting the decision makers move
suggest you look at the rest of the world and see just how easy the rest of theplanet manages not to be totally controlled in every way by the largest city in their countries
no chaos required, just sensible governance in an adult way that trusts people to make decisions locally and not be dictated to from Whitehall
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Only because you are defining it based on the capital and not based on their primary city.
Washington DC is a tertiary city compared to New York, Los Angeles etc Canberra is a tertiary city compared to Sydney and Melbourne. Ottowa is a tertiary city compared to Toronto, Vancouver etc
Actually separating the capital/seat of government from the primary cities which can concentrate on finance and other issues without government being there is quite common across the first world. Move government wholesale out of London.
Like I said an idiotic idea that will set back both governance and the economy in this country for decades. Don't get me wrong, I detest London and do everything I can to avoid going anywhere near it. But tghis is a truly stupid and self harming idea.
Jeez. Already the media hyena pack are now off on one wondering out loud how many nights Burnham will sleep at No 10 and how many at home in the North and so on.
FFS.
Focus on something important for a change.
quite astute from burnham, get the meeja interested in frivolous stuff and not policy
It's one thing wanting this to happen, but realistically is there long enough left of this term to put it into practice? It's surely quite a big project, duplicating No 10? Suitable property to buy or build, for one thing.
House of Commons is falling apart anyway and needs a big refurb. Other countries manage having power spread out across different locations. Plus it will be a hugely visible change. It really is quite amusing watching all London elite getting vapours at the idea we might try something different
Closing Westminstrr for 5-10 years and moving Parliament to Manchester for the duration is an excellent idea.
Closing Westminster and moving Parliament elsewhere is a brilliant idea fullstop.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
A permanent move is a truly stupid idea. It will cost vast billions and achieve nothing
Unless you really wanted to break the Westminster stranglehold on all things in this country.
Still a stupid idea. All you do is cause chaos in Government
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Meaningless.
Ottowa, Cambera, Washington and many other (English speaking) political centres are not in the largest city.
Massive change, you call it chaos, is required to fix a country that is broken unless you are fortunate enough to benefit from the benefits of zone 1 in London.
I didn't say the largest city, I said the Capital. If you want to move the capital be honest about it. Demote London and see what that does for Labour's support.
Move all the embassies - they need to be near the seat of power. Move all the massive infrastructure and the tens of thousands of people who work directly for the Government. Destroy the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands whose jobs rely on proximity to Government. Then spend decades trying to rebuild it all elsewhere.
It really is one of the dumbest moves I have heard of in years. And yes it will cause utter chaos and immobilise the work of Government for years, if not decades.
no one is suggesting the capital should more
people are suggesting the decision makers move
suggest you look at the rest of the world and see just how easy the rest of theplanet manages not to be totally controlled in every way by the largest city in their countries
no chaos required, just sensible governance in an adult way that trusts people to make decisions locally and not be dictated to from Whitehall
I am.
I have long suggested that.
We overburden everything into London.
It would be good for London to be able to be less overheated and concentrate on what it does well without government, and good for the rest of the nation to not have everything drawn into London.
Get government completely out of London. Build a new capital in the North as a new city, Canberra-style, and turn Westminster into a museum.
Comments
February 5
Big_G_NorthWales said:
Sky
40 billion for restoration of Houses of Parliament
Pro-rata said:
Couldn't we build a northern leg of HS2 for that and house parliament on a special 650 seat train doing 160mph circuits between London and Manchester.
Merge projects, cut costs.
If he could do that for the Happy Mondays, Trump should be a doddle.
Not fancy-pants Manchester.
Edit to show how bad their name is I wrote TJ Hughes (the Liverpool discount department store name) without thinking..
Paraguay 1
45 mins
https://www.tenby-today.co.uk/news/tp-hughes-in-tenby-to-close-after-123-years-864807
Anyway I have read a lot on here suggesting Burnham is not up to the job and is a dreadful PM. Isn't it time for a change?
I'm sure someone was paid well to run it to the inevitable conclusion.
The weird bit about the failure of the chain is that you would expect people to just continue going into the store and treating it as Smiths but the change of sign seems to have caused people to think for 30 seconds and not go in (and that's been confirmed by footfall specialists who noticed that rebranded stores have fewer visitors).
One of his right hand people, Haigh, is a Sheffield MP just for starters.
I think Larry is due retirement to be honest. I think he is about 18.
Time to meet Liam, the new mouser with swagger.
If that means Manchester improves well so be it at least the UK will have 2/3 viable centres and not 1
Next to the GCHQ Manc offices and very close to the town hall.
Lover of the Russian Queen,
There was a cat who really was gone.
As Local Government isn’t Reserved and therefore lies within Holyrood remit how can Burnham say he is going to devolve power within the Scotland?
Peter.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/zuUguNq7tA6qMHcH8
But thought better of it.
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mph4uwsyif26
Dr Oz on ACA "fraud" -- "Of the people who signed up, 40% never use the insurance. Let me ask you, John, you have health insurance -- do you use it once a year? In Obamacare right now 40% of the people ostensibly signed up never use the insurance ... we have a lot of fake people on the policies"
Because people are health they don't exist... The thing is if you remove those 40% the overall cost is just going to be higher....
There is only 9k sq ft left
I am seeing 1,000 roles need to be housed, that would be about 100,000 sq ft
@BohuslavskaKate
ZELENSKYY: Russia refuses to end the war, if Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then a million Russians, who not yet been mobilized into Russian army and are arguing in gas lines, should think about what awaits them next.
https://x.com/BohuslavskaKate/status/2071686960595247208
My (albeit not complete) search brings back just https://www.cbre.co.uk/property-search/office-space/listings/details/GB-Plus-499583/havelock-70-great-bridgewater-street-manchester-greater-manchester-m1-5es
Although you are right. it was on its arse anyway. A stock of products no longer used by the great unwashed. Newspapers, magazines, books and stationary. All overtaken by the digital World.
But the point was the Smiths management knew their high street presence was dying and they didn't want the death to be visible in case that destroyed their transformed travel brand which looking at the one in the station is 90% food / stupidly expensive bottles of pop.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/man-who-went-never-ending-17753605
sean thomas knox
@thomasknox
Ahhh France. So my roadtrip is nearly over, two assignments done and four articles written and I now don’t particularly care where I stay. So I stare at a map and think “meh, about halfway, that’ll do” and I book a room
https://x.com/thomasknox/status/2071647618837492204
David Yelland
@davidyelland
Every single major broadcast news bulletin, BBC, ITV, Sky GBN, I could go on, has led with Andy Burnham's key messages - the decision not to take questions totally vindicated as millions have seen his message and not the usual Punch and Judy show about "who will be Chancellor..." Really important learnings.
https://x.com/davidyelland/status/2071712456817164646
===
Exactly as I said earlier when many on here were saying why is he not taking questions. Make them report on the bloody speech itself.
But unless you move Westminster to the NEC it's got to be a permanent move..
These shops are not WH Smiths shops with a rebrand. They are a completely separate company.
Now you might reasonably criticise Modella Capital for buying the shops from Smiths but you can't blame them for the rebrand. that was not within their power to avoid.
As has been pointed out repeatedly local taxation means high taxes in poorer areas and low taxes in richer ones.
The larger the proportion the local the tax is the greater the difference in wealth increases the difference in tax rate.
I have a feeling Burnham thinks that if it worked for him in Manchester it can work for everyone everywhere.
As we don’t have them in Scotland how successful have the other Mayors been compared to Manchester and equally just how much of the success in Manchester is actually directly down to Burnham or might have happened anyway.
Peter.
Patrick Maguire of the Times:
No 10 North is the most concerted challenge to Treasury authority in half a century, hiding in plain sight.
https://x.com/patrickkmaguire/status/2071692725272080672
Game on!
The only first world country that has their seat of Government elsewhere than their capital is the Netherlands. And the distance from The Hague to Amsterdam? 37 miles. Almost exactly the same distance as from one side of Greater London to the other.
Following the detonation of a bomb in Monaco, Minister of State of the Principality of Monaco Christophe Mirmand has confirmed that the explosion was likely an attack and that the device was likely equipped with bolts and other materials for maximum damage. Additionally, according to AFP, all of the victims are of Ukrainian origin.
"Ten years after Brexit, the City of London financial district is stronger than ever" - Le Monde
Ottowa, Cambera, Washington and many other (English speaking) political centres are not in the largest city.
Massive change, you call it chaos, is required to fix a country that is broken unless you are fortunate enough to benefit from the benefits of zone 1 in London.
Have done Metrolink stops since then and am doing a half hearted catch up of new Manc bars, but there are loads of new post covid bars to do and limited time.
There are other ways of avoiding secrecy, but usually they are less convenient. For example, when I was living in Chicago in the late 1960s, in some parts of the city, precinct captains would provide medical excuses to allow a party official to accompany voters, while they were voting.
I hasten to add that vote fraud is rare in most of the US, and very seldom makes a difference in the outcome. And that it is much less common than it was even 20 or 30 years ago. When vote fraud does occur, it is almost always in low-turnout primary elections.
(The use of mail ballots for vote fraud is not universal; some years ago, I was amused to learn that some voters in eastern Kentucky (Appalachia) could be bribed, even though the person paying the bribe could not see their ballots.)
Early reports indicate that Ukrainian businessman Vadim Ermolaev, who was sanctioned earlier in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War for his ties to Russia through his business in occupied-Crimea, may have been the target of the bombing in Monaco earlier.
Or VAR check!
Move all the embassies - they need to be near the seat of power. Move all the massive infrastructure and the tens of thousands of people who work directly for the Government. Destroy the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands whose jobs rely on proximity to Government. Then spend decades trying to rebuild it all elsewhere.
It really is one of the dumbest moves I have heard of in years. And yes it will cause utter chaos and immobilise the work of Government for years, if not decades.
Washington DC is a tertiary city compared to New York, Los Angeles etc
Canberra is a tertiary city compared to Sydney and Melbourne.
Ottowa is a tertiary city compared to Toronto, Vancouver etc
Actually separating the capital/seat of government from the primary cities which can concentrate on finance and other issues without government being there is quite common across the first world. Move government wholesale out of London.
people are suggesting the decision makers move
suggest you look at the rest of the world and see just how easy the rest of theplanet manages not to be totally controlled in every way by the largest city in their countries
no chaos required, just sensible governance in an adult way that trusts people to make decisions locally and not be dictated to from Whitehall
I have long suggested that.
We overburden everything into London.
It would be good for London to be able to be less overheated and concentrate on what it does well without government, and good for the rest of the nation to not have everything drawn into London.
Get government completely out of London. Build a new capital in the North as a new city, Canberra-style, and turn Westminster into a museum.