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Wes end goals – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 13,174
edited May 13 in General
Wes end goals – politicalbetting.com

I’m told govt whips believe: 1. Wes Streeting will make his move on Thursday, to avoid clashing with King’s Speech; 2. Andy Burnham doesn’t have MP ready to quit; 3. Besides 87 MPs who’ve publicly called for Sir Keir Starmer to go, same number privately want him to step down.

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Primo.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    What's that, there's now a Primo Levy on being first?
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,447
    He's travelled quite the distance with hot air publicity. Pity there's no real substance to it.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870
    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,930
    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 27,958
    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    Thats why he wants to take on Burnham.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,472
    Is Streeting an East End Boy?

  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,599
    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    Yay, somebody spotted the subtle Pet Shop Boys reference in the headline.
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,887
    There probably are MPs that self-identify as more useless than Burnham and thus are prepared to step aside, but Burnham seems a little reluctant to try his hand at Clive Lewis' seat!..(!!)

    The rest of the useless crowd obviously and quite correctly judge that their constituents might not like the downgrade.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Interesting is the number of Labour MPs who say theh were added to the list of signatories supporting Starmer, without their permission.

    More interesting is the much larger number of MPs who have expressed no public opinion either way.
    Which suggests the majority of the parliamentary party has yet to decide which way it will jump.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 91,961

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Too long....
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,618
    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    It's a Sin.
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,618
    FPT

    Burnham has disappeared up his own arsehole.

    It won't go down well with the British public, and nor will his "Madchester" act.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    edited May 13
    FPT, for @Jim_Miller

    Off topic, but it is about an election we can learn something from:
    On August 1, 1831, he cast his first ballot. The polls were in the home of James Camron where [Abraham] Lincoln was boarding and getting acquainted with Camron's 11 daughters who teased him about his long legs and arms and heard him admit he "wasn't much to look at." Voting by word of mouth, each voter spoke to the election judges his candidates' names. A judge then called out the voter's name and his candidates, clerks recording the names "on poll sheets." Lincoln voted for a Henry Clay Whig for Congress--and against Joseph Duncan, then a Jackson man serving in Congress. He stayed around the polls most of the day talking cheerily, telling stories, making friends and getting acquainted with the names and faces of nearly all the men in the New Salem neighborhood.
    (From chapter 2 of Carl Sandburg's one volume biography, Abraham Lincoln
    .)

    I'd like to see a similar description of voting practices in the UK, about the same time.

    Read a Disraeli novel...

    Coningsby is set in the early 1830s.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coningsby_(novel)





  • MelonBMelonB Posts: 17,363

    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    Thats why he wants to take on Burnham.
    Thankfully there’s Rayner coming.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 43,524
    FPT

    @garius.bsky.social‬

    A fellow Labour Party member once described Wes Streeting to me as Zippy from Rainbow if he'd been radicalized by Mumsnet.

    which is a very specific set of references but also disturbingly accurate.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877
    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    edited May 13

    What's that, there's now a Primo Levy on being first?

    If not now, when ?

    As we're all wondering about the challenge to Starmer.
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 91,961
    Scott_xP said:

    FPT

    @garius.bsky.social‬

    A fellow Labour Party member once described Wes Streeting to me as Zippy from Rainbow if he'd been radicalized by Mumsnet.

    which is a very specific set of references but also disturbingly accurate.

    Ferrets in a sack.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    Farage is returning the £5m.

    I can’t be bullied. I can’t be bought. I’ve stood for the same principles for many decades.
    https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/2021872161204400631

    "I can't be bought" was, of course, Trump's line.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 8,325
    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 43,524
    @jim.londoncentric.media‬

    Labour-backing trade unions just stuck this out collective statement, saying Starmer will be gone before next election and can we have a leadership election “at some stage” please.

    https://bsky.app/profile/jim.londoncentric.media/post/3mlpqhci5dk2f
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,599

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
  • FrancisUrquhartFrancisUrquhart Posts: 91,961
    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    The whole Raymer thing that people forget is what really sunk her wasnt the tax issue, there was a bit of sympathy for it, until it was revealed she tried to throw lawyers under the bus by telling a load of lies and of course they had receipts to sbow she was a liar.
  • eekeek Posts: 33,922
    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because HMRC’s investigations move at the pace of a geriatric snail with mobility issues.

    The idea that HMRC can do anything complex in a time frame of less than a decade is unheard of.

    And Rayner can’t get special treatment
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 6,306
    Ironic that PB Tories expect Labour plots to come to fruition in minutes or days and if not state they've fluffed it when the typical 'efficient' Tory despatch involved countless months of speculation and claims about the fullness of Graham Brady's sack.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    No, they're just rude mechanicals.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 81,143
    Oh Please
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,930

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Ha, I've yet to read that. But I did play through a Hamlet-themed area in a wonderful MUD called FatalDimensions almost 30 years ago...
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    The whole Raymer thing that people forget is what really sunk her wasnt the tax issue, there was a bit of sympathy for it, until it was revealed she tried to throw lawyers under the bus by telling a load of lies and of course they had receipts to sbow she was a liar.
    So, in that regard - she is Continuity Starmer?
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,366
    MelonB said:

    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    Thats why he wants to take on Burnham.
    Thankfully there’s Rayner coming.
    I thought we were not allowed to talk about arson cases right now.
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,195

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    The whole Raymer thing that people forget is what really sunk her wasnt the tax issue, there was a bit of sympathy for it, until it was revealed she tried to throw lawyers under the bus by telling a load of lies and of course they had receipts to sbow she was a liar.
    Excellent point that people forget.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870
    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    If Streeting precipitates a contest, I think she will stand too going by her statement yesterday, though I think she would prefer a contest later in the year with Burnham standing.

    There's never a perfect plan, sometimes you just have to go with what you have.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 8,325
    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    She’s delusional. It works the other way around . Governments have to fall into line with the bond markets . There really are a lot of stupid MPs .
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,599
    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
  • Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 66,618

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    Surbubia. Where the suburbs meet utopia.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,366

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    The whole Raymer thing that people forget is what really sunk her wasnt the tax issue, there was a bit of sympathy for it, until it was revealed she tried to throw lawyers under the bus by telling a load of lies and of course they had receipts to sbow she was a liar.
    Up to a point. It depends on a technical reading of a message that would escape most normal people.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,599

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Ha, I've yet to read that. But I did play through a Hamlet-themed area in a wonderful MUD called FatalDimensions almost 30 years ago...
    You should, it got me hooked on Shakespeare.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 27,958

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    Victor Meldrew?
  • TazTaz Posts: 28,195

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    Well you’d like to think not but…..
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Sorry, but Streeting?

    I don't see Streeting vs Farage as anything other than a first round knockout. Punters will be angrily demanding their money back.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    The earlier version of the story/rumour was that it was a well-connected (and well off) father of one of the club members who got Streeting off. The version Streeting tells in that article is more convenient for him, as he can lean on his family's lack of connections to make it seem incredible.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 5,447

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    That was an insightful piece that someone posted on the previous thread, that removing SKS only removes the problem of SKS being leader. It doesn't change any of the underlying issues.
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,030
    Subtle header pun. What have I done to deserve this?
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 56,870
    eek said:

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because HMRC’s investigations move at the pace of a geriatric snail with mobility issues.

    The idea that HMRC can do anything complex in a time frame of less than a decade is unheard of.

    And Rayner can’t get special treatment
    Well, thats what happens when you cut the pen-pushers.

    18 months ago I took my pension under the Mcloud remedy, and am due several thousands in income tax refund but 18 months on they still haven't recalculated my contributions. I am not allowed to calculate them myself it seems.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    Scott_xP said:

    FPT

    @garius.bsky.social‬

    A fellow Labour Party member once described Wes Streeting to me as Zippy from Rainbow if he'd been radicalized by Mumsnet.

    which is a very specific set of references but also disturbingly accurate.

    If Streeting does get the top job, I fear he'll make Gordon Brown seem flexible and easy-going by comparison.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.


    God begins to cry
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,930

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Ha, I've yet to read that. But I did play through a Hamlet-themed area in a wonderful MUD called FatalDimensions almost 30 years ago...
    You should, it got me hooked on Shakespeare.
    My to-read pile is already indicative of someone with a problem. I'm partway through Leo VI's Taktika, and then have books on Egyptian, Greek, and Japanese history lined up. I'm halfway into book 1 of 5 of The Marshes of Mount Liang. And 90 pages into Thief of Time, after which I have over half a dozen fiction books ready to go (including re-acquainting myself with Timothy Zahn's excellent Thrawn trilogy in the Star Wars EU, that Kennedy idiotically threw into a bonfire).
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Worse than that. In the last few days, Labour have done a version of Hamlet where he seriously harms himself and only then does the soliloquy.
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 55,435
    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because if HMRC rushes it through, it will be accused of favouritism or bias, so it's handling it at the same speed it would deal with your or my tax affairs.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Worse than that. In the last few days, Labour have done a version of Hamlet where he seriously harms himself and only then does the soliloquy.
    I think that they have smoked the cigars and given themselves lung cancer.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    Well you’d like to think not but…..
    Well you can't accuse Labour of Being Boring.

    Shit, yes. Boring, no.
  • Sweeney74Sweeney74 Posts: 636

    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    Yay, somebody spotted the subtle Pet Shop Boys reference in the headline.
    Subtle?
  • BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 37,030
    AnneJGP said:

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    That was an insightful piece that someone posted on the previous thread, that removing SKS only removes the problem of SKS being leader. It doesn't change any of the underlying issues.
    Indeed. Do we know what Burnham, Streeting, Rayner, or anyone else who thinks they are a contender would actually do? What new policies would be pursued?
  • Sweeney74Sweeney74 Posts: 636

    FPT

    Burnham has disappeared up his own arsehole.

    It won't go down well with the British public, and nor will his "Madchester" act.

    Bingo
    The longer this drags out, the worse, more entitled, arrogant it looks.
  • Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    Well you’d like to think not but…..
    Well you can't accuse Labour of Being Boring.

    Shit, yes. Boring, no.
    I dunno. This is kinda dragging out…
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 9,134
    DavidL said:

    Who can doubt that today's Kings Speech will be filled with such scintillating and over due solutions to long held problems that Starmer will once more stride across the stage as a colossus in a world of Pygmies? An Act regulating the shapes and dimensions of paperclips could well be amongst the highlights.

    I hope we will beat the announcement of banning “the scourge of unlicensed pedicabs” from the dying days of the Tories.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    The power of “The People (actually Me) wants, therefore Democracy means they must have”

    See the prognostications of The Verruca during the Greek Crisis.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,599

    Sorry, but Streeting?

    I don't see Streeting vs Farage as anything other than a first round knockout. Punters will be angrily demanding their money back.

    I like Wes Streeting, he absolutely socked it to striking doctors.

    He's got a compelling backstory.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 8,325
    IanB2 said:

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because if HMRC rushes it through, it will be accused of favouritism or bias, so it's handling it at the same speed it would deal with your or my tax affairs.
    It’s 7 months and counting ! Is this really normal for what appears to be a pretty straight forward case ?
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886
    https://x.com/geri_e_l_scott/status/2054461596500365823

    New: Starmer loses the unions.

    “It is clear” the PM will not lead Labour into the next election, unions affiliated to the party said.

    A statement issued by 11 unions including Unite, Unison and GMB, said a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.

    They said it was clear Labour “cannot continue on its current path”.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,366
    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    The earlier version of the story/rumour was that it was a well-connected (and well off) father of one of the club members who got Streeting off. The version Streeting tells in that article is more convenient for him, as he can lean on his family's lack of connections to make it seem incredible.
    Isn't that basically the plot of The Riot Club? Was Wes in the Bullingdon along with Boris, George and Call Me Dave?
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    Victor Meldrew?
    He'd be Reform.

    Before that, UKIP.

    Before that, Referendum Party.
  • EabhalEabhal Posts: 14,287
    edited May 13
    nico67 said:

    IanB2 said:

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because if HMRC rushes it through, it will be accused of favouritism or bias, so it's handling it at the same speed it would deal with your or my tax affairs.
    It’s 7 months and counting ! Is this really normal for what appears to be a pretty straight forward case ?
    And just a timing issue. In my experience HMRC are pragmatic and accommodating when there is an issue like that. The whole ethos is designed to encourage people to report mistakes and provide documentation, rather than cover stuff up for fear of a fine.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Ha, I've yet to read that. But I did play through a Hamlet-themed area in a wonderful MUD called FatalDimensions almost 30 years ago...
    You should, it got me hooked on Shakespeare.
    My to-read pile is already indicative of someone with a problem. I'm partway through Leo VI's Taktika, and then have books on Egyptian, Greek, and Japanese history lined up. I'm halfway into book 1 of 5 of The Marshes of Mount Liang. And 90 pages into Thief of Time, after which I have over half a dozen fiction books ready to go (including re-acquainting myself with Timothy Zahn's excellent Thrawn trilogy in the Star Wars EU, that Kennedy idiotically threw into a bonfire).
    Surely they can wait for you to read a couple of Shakespeare plays ?

    Or just watch it.
    Tennant's version of Hamlet (saw it live; good, but not brilliant) is available on iPlayer.
    Olivier's 1948 film will be on one of the streaming services; there's also the Branagh one. etc
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 60,420
    Sweeney74 said:

    FPT

    Burnham has disappeared up his own arsehole.

    It won't go down well with the British public, and nor will his "Madchester" act.

    Bingo
    The longer this drags out, the worse, more entitled, arrogant it looks.
    And the greater risk the voters will gleefully block his return to Westminster.

    Ornery buggers, them voters.
  • nico67nico67 Posts: 8,325

    https://x.com/geri_e_l_scott/status/2054461596500365823

    New: Starmer loses the unions.

    “It is clear” the PM will not lead Labour into the next election, unions affiliated to the party said.

    A statement issued by 11 unions including Unite, Unison and GMB, said a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.

    They said it was clear Labour “cannot continue on its current path”.

    They’re not calling for a quick change and they certainly won’t want Streeting .
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924

    AnneJGP said:

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    That was an insightful piece that someone posted on the previous thread, that removing SKS only removes the problem of SKS being leader. It doesn't change any of the underlying issues.
    Indeed. Do we know what Burnham, Streeting, Rayner, or anyone else who thinks they are a contender would actually do? What new policies would be pursued?


    https://bsky.app/profile/generalboles.bsky.social/post/3mlm4ouq4fs2s
    That is really funny. A genuine LOL.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Worse than that. In the last few days, Labour have done a version of Hamlet where he seriously harms himself and only then does the soliloquy.
    They are more like a herd of Lady Macbeth's cats.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,366

    AnneJGP said:

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    That was an insightful piece that someone posted on the previous thread, that removing SKS only removes the problem of SKS being leader. It doesn't change any of the underlying issues.
    Indeed. Do we know what Burnham, Streeting, Rayner, or anyone else who thinks they are a contender would actually do? What new policies would be pursued?
    As has pointed out, just SKS being leader is part of the problem because many voters have a visceral dislike of the man. It is not just Leon who thinks so, this was reported as being the message coming back from canvassers in the local elections.
  • Sweeney74Sweeney74 Posts: 636
    eek said:

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because HMRC’s investigations move at the pace of a geriatric snail with mobility issues.

    The idea that HMRC can do anything complex in a time frame of less than a decade is unheard of.

    And Rayner can’t get special treatment
    When I was still a contractor, HMRC investigated me under IR35.
    It took two years. The cleared me.
    Two years of stress though.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 58,924

    DavidL said:

    Who can doubt that today's Kings Speech will be filled with such scintillating and over due solutions to long held problems that Starmer will once more stride across the stage as a colossus in a world of Pygmies? An Act regulating the shapes and dimensions of paperclips could well be amongst the highlights.

    I hope we will beat the announcement of banning “the scourge of unlicensed pedicabs” from the dying days of the Tories.
    Now that's a proper challenge. Let's see what they can do to match that.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    The power of “The People (actually Me) wants, therefore Democracy means they must have”

    See the prognostications of The Verruca during the Greek Crisis.
    In the name of public service, and as ex-economics editor of BBC Newsnight, I offer to do a zoom call, tonight, with any Labour MP who wants to understand why bond markets do not "fall into line" with governments.
    https://x.com/paulmasonnews/status/2054229532404519082
  • numbertwelvenumbertwelve Posts: 9,134
    edited May 13
    AnneJGP said:

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    That was an insightful piece that someone posted on the previous thread, that removing SKS only removes the problem of SKS being leader. It doesn't change any of the underlying issues.
    The problem Labour have is twofold. Firstly their comms are woeful and therefore they are unable to capitalise on any success. That could be fixed with a new leader.

    But secondly, the policies they really would like to put in place won’t help the country or its fiscal situation, and no leader change will fix that (indeed it will make things worse).

    What we really need is a grown up party taking reasonable measures on fiscal restraint and institutional/regulatory reform. Unfortunately that’s not sexy enough for Labour MPs so they’d rather live in a fantasy world instead.
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554

    IanB2 said:

    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    The earlier version of the story/rumour was that it was a well-connected (and well off) father of one of the club members who got Streeting off. The version Streeting tells in that article is more convenient for him, as he can lean on his family's lack of connections to make it seem incredible.
    Isn't that basically the plot of The Riot Club? Was Wes in the Bullingdon along with Boris, George and Call Me Dave?
    Like the Bullingdon club stories, it’s mostly bullshit.

    A bunch of teenagers managed to engage in a conspiracy that meant no witness ever came forward, no evidence was found, no pictures taken.

    Or

    It’s made up.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,930
    Nigelb said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Ha, I've yet to read that. But I did play through a Hamlet-themed area in a wonderful MUD called FatalDimensions almost 30 years ago...
    You should, it got me hooked on Shakespeare.
    My to-read pile is already indicative of someone with a problem. I'm partway through Leo VI's Taktika, and then have books on Egyptian, Greek, and Japanese history lined up. I'm halfway into book 1 of 5 of The Marshes of Mount Liang. And 90 pages into Thief of Time, after which I have over half a dozen fiction books ready to go (including re-acquainting myself with Timothy Zahn's excellent Thrawn trilogy in the Star Wars EU, that Kennedy idiotically threw into a bonfire).
    Surely they can wait for you to read a couple of Shakespeare plays ?

    Or just watch it.
    Tennant's version of Hamlet (saw it live; good, but not brilliant) is available on iPlayer.
    Olivier's 1948 film will be on one of the streaming services; there's also the Branagh one. etc
    Excepting Now for watching F1, I don't think I've used a streaming service for a long time...

    And they clearly cannot wait. I got the Taktika just after Christmas, I waited a quarter of a century to get this translation of The Marshes of Mount Liang, and Thief of Time is a delight to read that also completes the Death Collection.
  • Sweeney74Sweeney74 Posts: 636

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    Surbubia. Where the suburbs meet utopia.
    Let's take a ride and run with the dogs tonight, in Suburbia
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    Well you’d like to think not but…..
    Well you can't accuse Labour of Being Boring.

    Shit, yes. Boring, no.
    The Play That Goes Wrong.
  • geoffwgeoffw Posts: 9,628
    edited May 13
    I like the way dei ex machina - the King's speech, the bond markets and the unions - have come into play in Labour's internal squabble. It has a touch of Greek tragedy about it
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 22,877

    https://x.com/geri_e_l_scott/status/2054461596500365823

    New: Starmer loses the unions.

    “It is clear” the PM will not lead Labour into the next election, unions affiliated to the party said.

    A statement issued by 11 unions including Unite, Unison and GMB, said a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.

    They said it was clear Labour “cannot continue on its current path”.

    It's impolitely expressing the taboo reality; by 2029, Starmer ought to be allowed to put his feet up, safe in the knowledge of a job uninspiringly done.

    The main, maybe only, thing he has to do now is make sure that, when he goes, the shortlist for his replacement is better than Burnham, Rayner or Streeting.
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 20,986
    This is the best pun yet.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,472
    Might we see a joint ticket where one has got the looks and the other has got the brains?

  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 36,366

    Good morning, everyone.

    I wonder how long this situation will linger.

    Labour MPs = Hamlet
    Worse than that. In the last few days, Labour have done a version of Hamlet where he seriously harms himself and only then does the soliloquy.
    I'm pretty sure HMRC owes me a refund from the 1980s but they claimed to have lost the file – back in the days when files really were files.
  • kinabalukinabalu Posts: 50,749
    edited May 13
    So for Wes:

    Does he have the numbers to trigger now?

    If so is he more likely to win by triggering now than by holding off?

    If it's 'yes' to both he launches a formal leadership challenge after the King's Speech. So later this week.

    If it's 'no' to either question he doesn't and it falls to Andy Burnham to make the next move.
  • Excellent. So a Wes Streeting coronation.
  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 18,483

    Foxy said:

    Wasn't Streeting involved with the pet shop boys some years ago?

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/27241568/wes-streeting-deny-burning-pet-shop-conspiracy/

    Yay, somebody spotted the subtle Pet Shop Boys reference in the headline.
    Go Wes!
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,865
    Your (regular) reminder

    Burnham will never be PM. He is unlikely to be an MP again

    Hope you don't think I'm Being Boring by mentioning this again!
  • FishingFishing Posts: 6,356
    edited May 13
    nico67 said:

    IanB2 said:

    nico67 said:

    In terms of Rayner and her tax issue .

    What can the Greens say now that Polanski has been caught out . Reform given Farages dodgy donations really should stay quiet . So that leaves the Tories and Lib Dem’s who can make political capital out of it .

    I still think it’s very risky for Labour to try and replace Starmer with Rayner until her tax issue has been resolved.

    Why it’s taking so long to resolve is hard to understand.

    Because if HMRC rushes it through, it will be accused of favouritism or bias, so it's handling it at the same speed it would deal with your or my tax affairs.
    It’s 7 months and counting ! Is this really normal for what appears to be a pretty straight forward case ?
    Absolutely.

    I had a completely trivial matter with them which their own guidelines say should take 40 days.

    It took two years.

    They kept losing paperwork (and why did I have to do these things on paper in 2026?), issuing contradictory instructions, ignoring their own guidelines, going of at irrelevant tangents, threatening me to get information I'd already sent, often more than once, forgetting about it for long periods despite repeated prompts, etc. etc. etc.

    Basically a parody of an arrogant, unaccountable, incompetent bureaucracy.

    In fairness they did subsequently apologise for their really extraordinary conduct.

    Unlike, say, the Passport Office, who in my experience are pretty good most of the time, HMRC are truly dire the moment you have something that is even slightly out of the ordinary.
  • londonpubmanlondonpubman Posts: 3,865

    Your (regular) reminder

    Burnham will never be PM. He is unlikely to be an MP again

    Hope you don't think I'm Being Boring by mentioning this again!

    Oops a bit late with the Being Boring bit! 😈
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554
    A draft for the Kings Speech -

    “You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go.”
  • MalmesburyMalmesbury Posts: 63,554
    geoffw said:

    I like the way dei ex machina - the King's speech, the bond markets and the unions - have come into play in Labour's internal squabble. It has a touch of Greek trgedy about it

    It’s always Events.

    Politicians have these Cunning Plans. Then reality does the wrong thing.
  • williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 59,886

    https://x.com/geri_e_l_scott/status/2054461596500365823

    New: Starmer loses the unions.

    “It is clear” the PM will not lead Labour into the next election, unions affiliated to the party said.

    A statement issued by 11 unions including Unite, Unison and GMB, said a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.

    They said it was clear Labour “cannot continue on its current path”.

    It's impolitely expressing the taboo reality; by 2029, Starmer ought to be allowed to put his feet up, safe in the knowledge of a job uninspiringly done.

    The main, maybe only, thing he has to do now is make sure that, when he goes, the shortlist for his replacement is better than Burnham, Rayner or Streeting.
    Maybe a national competititon called "Who Wants To Be Prime Minister?" with a safe seat lined up for the winner?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 128,599

    Excellent. So a Wes Streeting coronation.

    Coronation Streeting?

    See the previous thread, Ed Miliband will stand to stop Wes.
  • Sweeney74Sweeney74 Posts: 636
    Nigelb said:

    Taz said:

    Taz said:

    Prime Minister Burnham. This will not end well.



    I reckon she is a Streeting supporter. she did it to damage Burnham.

    I mean nobody can be that thick, especially after the Liz Truss experience, can they?
    Well you’d like to think not but…..
    Well you can't accuse Labour of Being Boring.

    Shit, yes. Boring, no.
    The Play That Goes Wrong.
    without the gags
  • AnneJGP said:

    It's all very well being King of the North or able to win in Ilford, but it's the huge tracts of suburbia across the county where elections are won and lost.

    Who can appeal to them?

    That was an insightful piece that someone posted on the previous thread, that removing SKS only removes the problem of SKS being leader. It doesn't change any of the underlying issues.
    Indeed. Do we know what Burnham, Streeting, Rayner, or anyone else who thinks they are a contender would actually do? What new policies would be pursued?
    As has pointed out, just SKS being leader is part of the problem because many voters have a visceral dislike of the man. It is not just Leon who thinks so, this was reported as being the message coming back from canvassers in the local elections.
    However removing Skyr is necessary but not sufficient

    Whoever comes next really DOES need new policies new ideas new attitudes, or they will soon earn the same disdain if not quite the same loathing

    They will also need as much time as possible. Three years minimum, I’d have thought, to make a material improvement

    That time is rapidly running out
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 89,694
    .
    DavidL said:

    DavidL said:

    Who can doubt that today's Kings Speech will be filled with such scintillating and over due solutions to long held problems that Starmer will once more stride across the stage as a colossus in a world of Pygmies? An Act regulating the shapes and dimensions of paperclips could well be amongst the highlights.

    I hope we will beat the announcement of banning “the scourge of unlicensed pedicabs” from the dying days of the Tories.
    Now that's a proper challenge. Let's see what they can do to match that.
    There's actually a long list of quite significant bills.
    It's rather that many are of deeply questionable benefit.
  • SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 25,472
    If thr King's Speech contains the phrase "at pace" then whoever wrote it needs shooting.
This discussion has been closed.