Does anyone know how long nomiations will be open for? Trying to work out the earliest date that Burnham could become PM.
Nominations open from 9th to 16th July.
I guess the question is can the NEC truncate the campaign at that point, if there’s only one unopposed nomination? Presumably they meet this week to set the rules.
Thanks. So Burnham could be PM on Friday 17th July.
I think we are close to that point already. On Radio 5 this morning the listeners texting the show were almost entirely opposed to what is happening. The only people who seem convinced that Burnham is the answer, and that a change of leadership will solve our problems, are the Parliamentary Labour Party. The listeners to Radio 5 many of whom claimed to be Labour supporters and members were adamant that the goings-on in Westminster were not to their liking.
Iran Has Humiliated Trump - Officials in Tehran got the United States to sign a document that even Americans described as degrading, mortifying, a total capitulation.
Normally one would have to pay a lot of money to a discreet professional to be humiliated this badly. Watching Trump and his aides sell the deal is in some ways as humiliating as the deal itself.
Humiliation, however, is distinct from defeat. Only the United States was humiliated; both countries have experienced a catastrophic loss. The defeat for the United States is the more obvious of the two: a loss of standing and the confirmation that even a rich country cannot force its will on a poor but determined one. For Iran, the defeat is subtler. Bordering countries once considered it a problem neighbor and now know it to be an outright threat.
Does anyone know how long nomiations will be open for? Trying to work out the earliest date that Burnham could become PM.
Nominations open from 9th to 16th July.
I guess the question is can the NEC truncate the campaign at that point, if there’s only one unopposed nomination? Presumably they meet this week to set the rules.
Thanks. So Burnham could be PM on Friday 17th July.
Can we have a list of media lefties from July 2024 with their predictions of how successful Starmer would be as PM.
Here's one to start off with:
The arrogant, reckless Tory government left behind a mountain of mess. In one week, we’ve begun to clear it.
Now is the time for politics as public service. A government committed not to its self-preservation but to uniting the country in the shared mission of national renewal. The start of the road back to restoring people’s hope and faith that politics can be a force for good. No more gimmicks, lies and self-serving self-obsession – this government knows we have a duty to the people we are elected to serve.
Iran Has Humiliated Trump - Officials in Tehran got the United States to sign a document that even Americans described as degrading, mortifying, a total capitulation.
Normally one would have to pay a lot of money to a discreet professional to be humiliated this badly. Watching Trump and his aides sell the deal is in some ways as humiliating as the deal itself.
Humiliation, however, is distinct from defeat. Only the United States was humiliated; both countries have experienced a catastrophic loss. The defeat for the United States is the more obvious of the two: a loss of standing and the confirmation that even a rich country cannot force its will on a poor but determined one. For Iran, the defeat is subtler. Bordering countries once considered it a problem neighbor and now know it to be an outright threat.
That sounds like their Washington Week at the weekend?
They strangely to me seem to persist in trying to understand Trump through a lens of rationality and considered outcomes, which I do not understand.
I half wonder if Ed Balls might be drafted into the Lords and appointed Chancellor....
Him and Burnham are pals from the old days, aren't they? I remember that swing photoshoot.
Burnham has 400 MPs to choose from, comes in with few obligations to existing cabinet members, and has a mandate to clear the dead wood. I suspect we'll see a lot of turnover in the cabinet, just as with Johnson when he became PM.
I think for CoE you want, as PM:
1. An ability to make the numbers add up. There's relatively little room for fudge; 2. Someone you trust. Your CoE is key to delivering your agenda and can make or break your premiership; 3. A canny political operator. The CoE has more agency than any other minister, probably including yourself - make it count politically. They also get a huge amount of attention.
Contrary to many on here I think Rachel Reeves was fine for 1 & 2, as Ed Miliband would also be. The problem is neither has the political nous.
Days like this you realise how overstaffed the BBC is. Instead of insight and comment from people in the know, you have them interviewing each other while spouting unevidenced comments.
Just waiting from Trump to announce his support for his long time friend Andy Burnham, and then the BBC interviewing each other about what it means.
Days like this you realise how overstaffed the BBC is. Instead of insight and comment from people in the know, you have them interviewing each other while spouting unevidenced comments.
Just waiting from Trump to announce his support for his long time friend Andy Burnham, and then the BBC interviewing each other about what it means.
They have 24 hours of news tv to fill with no news.
Unless it’s immensely profitable form overseas sales (which it can’t be) I would be closing that channel down to save money
Days like this you realise how overstaffed the BBC is. Instead of insight and comment from people in the know, you have them interviewing each other while spouting unevidenced comments.
Just waiting from Trump to announce his support for his long time friend Andy Burnham, and then the BBC interviewing each other about what it means.
Any of the media podcasts are the same – Times hacks interviewing Times hacks; Telegraph same; Spectator same.
If I understood Starmer's speech correctly, he agreed to be a senior shadow cabinet member of a corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition, and in the following six years as leader then PM sorted first the party and then as PM the country so that country and party are on the best possible track; in the process of performing this six year miracle he has lost the confidence of his own MPs to the extent that they have more or less no belief that they can keep their seats with him as leader.
Thinking about all the living ex-PMs, and I can't say that I think any of them went before their time.
I would say that Britain is going through PMs extraordinarily quickly because the people chosen to become PM simply aren't that good at it.
Will Burnham be better? Will he be good enough to remain PM after the next election?
I would guess not. But he has a better chance than Starmer did.
We’re about to have 10 living PMs. Must have been a while since that was the case.
Major Blair Brown Cameron May Johnson Truss Sunak Starmer
It's a great shame that Howard was never PM. We'd have 10 living and one unliving if that'd been the case.
(I hope he's well)
If Wiki is right, there’s 14 living LOTOs, back to Kinnock. The only one since then to pass away is John Smith.
It does include Margaret Beckett and Hattie Harman (x2) though, who were in post only temporarily, alongside Major and Sunak who stayed in post until after leadership elections.
I'm off topic today, so I have a question about Council Problem Reporting Apps.
Does anyone have any experience with these? I'm playing with the Notts CC one, which lets me report from the spot just by talking to my mobile phone, and my first reported broken fence was repaired in about 3 days - which is somewhere between outstanding and commendable. So they are now going to get various problems reported from my daily constitutionals.
Of course, the bloody thing limits locations it recognises largely to ROADS. Public highways such as Public Footpaths and Bridleways, and Council provided pathways - nope, so it engages a reporting process which takes 5x as long, unless one can finesse it into a roads-adjacent category. Parks - not sure yet. And so on.
And the categories of fault are what we refer to as motor-normative. I can report a smashed up pavement caused by people parking on it on a massively wide road, causing trip hazards and compensation payments to pensioners with broken bones, but deal with the cause of the smashed up pavement - no hope there, at least in Notts at this time.
We shall see.
Do they display the reported problems on a publicly accessible web site? With a map?
That's the key to getting something does, I reckon....
If I understood Starmer's speech correctly, he agreed to be a senior shadow cabinet member of a corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition, and in the following six years as leader then PM sorted first the party and then as PM the country so that country and party are on the best possible track; in the process of performing this six year miracle he has lost the confidence of his own MPs to the extent that they have more or less no belief that they can keep their seats with him as leader.
His account makes no sense.
It was a succinct account of why he failed as PM provided you are aware of all the context missing from it.
If I understood Starmer's speech correctly, he agreed to be a senior shadow cabinet member of a corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition, and in the following six years as leader then PM sorted first the party and then as PM the country so that country and party are on the best possible track; in the process of performing this six year miracle he has lost the confidence of his own MPs to the extent that they have more or less no belief that they can keep their seats with him as leader.
His account makes no sense.
Well it does, if you assume being leader of the Labour Party and being PM might actually be two different jobs.
Despite all the sneering, I thought Starmer's exit statement was statesmanlike and dignified, clearly putting the Labour Party before his own ego. Very different from Boris's waspish words when he left the stage.
One of his better speeches, for sure.
If he'd been able to sell that list of achievements, he might not be out!
From the beginning of his time in office, Starmer's comms were mostly terrible. The contrast between suited Starmer and more casual Burnham is already a visual metaphor for something changing. However, colour me sceptical about whether Burnham can actually make a difference. Starmer has some solid achievements, but they are all rather bitty and partial.
Will Burnham change the electoral system? That seems to me to be the acid test of how serious he is going to be about really changing the country. Will he tackle the structure of government and put the Treasury in its place? Will he address the crisis in local government? Infrastructure? Education? Productivity? Start the process of tax simplification?
As we know, we campaign in poetry but govern in prose. Can Burnham do that? For the sake of the country, I hope he can, but I am not so certain that the country even wants to be governed. Politics McPoliticsface- Farage- is a fundamentally dangerous choice, but still nearly a quarter of the UK wants to make that choice.
It'll be my daughter's fifth and she only turned 4 a couple of months ago.
Burham will be the sixth PM since July 2016 so six PMs in 10 years.
Prior to that, we only had six PMs in 40 years.
The point of Brexit was to take back control.
I think all it’s showing is how ungovernable this country is with expectations well beyond reality
One of the more plausible arguments for Brexit was the one that said it stopped British politicians slopey-sholdering things that go wrong onto Europe. One point of sharp accountability. If the Westminster government doesn't deliver what the people want, the Westminster government is responsible and they're out.
What that argument doesn't account for is when the people want things that are impossible. Or impossible without absurd cost or consequences. Or get overtaken by events. Or when the people want multiple things that contradict.
That problem was there before 2016, but it's been worse... much worse... since.
Quite a mixed bag of results from the 18 or thereabouts last week, too. Too early, I suspect, to be sure that Reform has peaked, but I wonder if Sir Keir's resignation will improve Labour's chances.
Days like this you realise how overstaffed the BBC is. Instead of insight and comment from people in the know, you have them interviewing each other while spouting unevidenced comments.
Just waiting from Trump to announce his support for his long time friend Andy Burnham, and then the BBC interviewing each other about what it means.
They have 24 hours of news tv to fill with no news.
Unless it’s immensely profitable form overseas sales (which it can’t be) I would be closing that channel down to save money
They should just relegate the Starmer stuff to a short slot in the hourly bulletin. It's a bit like "the Queen is still dead, despite the fact that the usual stuff is still happening in the UK and around the world, we'll continue to talk bollocks about it despite the fact nothing new has happened for 36 hours"
Looks like a serious missile strike has happened in the city of Voronezh, Russia. Huge plumes of smoke rise in the city.
Voronezh’s VZPP-S semiconductor plant was attacked. The facility produces transistor matrices used in Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K missiles and Pantsir-S1 systems. VZPP-S is known as key Russian microelectronics suppliers tied to military, aerospace and defense electronics production.
More footage from Voronezh. The VZPP-S semiconductor plant was hit on at least two separate places and is now burning.
It'll be my daughter's fifth and she only turned 4 a couple of months ago.
Burham will be the sixth PM since July 2016 so six PMs in 10 years.
Prior to that, we only had six PMs in 40 years.
The point of Brexit was to take back control.
I think all it’s showing is how ungovernable this country is with expectations well beyond reality
One of the more plausible arguments for Brexit was the one that said it stopped British politicians slopey-sholdering things that go wrong onto Europe. One point of sharp accountability. If the Westminster government doesn't deliver what the people want, the Westminster government is responsible and they're out.
What that argument doesn't account for is when the people want things that are impossible. Or impossible without absurd cost or consequences. Or get overtaken by events. Or when the people want multiple things that contradict.
That problem was there before 2016, but it's been worse... much worse... since.
Before 2016 - there was someone else that could and would take the blame for impossible demands - but we’ve left the organization that governments could claim made the impossible impossible.
Another article in the Atlantic, it's coming thick and fast from them right now:
The world now faces something new and frightening: a psychotic state. The administration is consistently detached from reality; the normal policy process we have seen in past administrations is nonexistent in this one. No one around the president even hints that anything he does is inappropriate, unpopular, or unwise. His Cabinet meetings have become exercises in self-abasement, with one member after another obsequiously groveling, each trying to outdo the next in their adoration. Trump, left on his own without adult supervision, has lurched from blunder to catastrophe.
The utter hatred of Starmer for his eulogy to his father on Father's Day in X yesterday is worth a look. The entire nation loathe him.
It would have been very surprising if it hadn't been emotional and on a human level one can sympathise
It's just more evidence of his incompetence. He should have worked out he was crap and planned a departure in an orderly manner.
(I'm toying with the idea he has been planning this all aling to get Burnham into the job. In which case, why did he block Burnham from standing at Gorton? Maybe he didn't think it was an obvious win, or maybe it was actually an NEC decision he didn't have the political capital to steer in the other direction)
If I understood Starmer's speech correctly, he agreed to be a senior shadow cabinet member of a corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition, and in the following six years as leader then PM sorted first the party and then as PM the country so that country and party are on the best possible track; in the process of performing this six year miracle he has lost the confidence of his own MPs to the extent that they have more or less no belief that they can keep their seats with him as leader.
His account makes no sense.
"I was much better than people think I was"
Obviously those people don't think that, hence his departure. Starmer doesn't have to agree.
Means tested the winter fuel allowance Wasted Billions on Ukraine Appointed the friend of a notorious paedophile Lied about the above appointment Achieved the worst LE results for LAB ever. Said Israel had the right to cut off food and water in Gaza Enabled Genocide Managed to dismantle the broad church Suspended MPs who voted for abolition of 2 child benefit cap Aped Reform rhetoric on immigration despite nobody wanting Reform Lite Preferred a Reform PM to a Socialist Enabled the selection of Right Wing factionalist over the wishes of local parties Cried on his departure fantasy island speech
With the Tories, nominations would probably open tomorrow, and the new PM would be in place by next week (assuming only one candidate).
Except with the Tories there'd be an incessant tour of the country lasting three months talking to small audiences of the over 60's. Before choosing the least suitable option.
Looks like a serious missile strike has happened in the city of Voronezh, Russia. Huge plumes of smoke rise in the city.
Voronezh’s VZPP-S semiconductor plant was attacked. The facility produces transistor matrices used in Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K missiles and Pantsir-S1 systems. VZPP-S is known as key Russian microelectronics suppliers tied to military, aerospace and defense electronics production.
More footage from Voronezh. The VZPP-S semiconductor plant was hit on at least two separate places and is now burning.
Amid everything else that’s been going on in the past few weeks, Russia now being properly on fire every day is the one thing that’s not really getting enough media attention.
Ukranians are more optimistic now than at any time in the last four years.
When does Burnham’s long march to London begin? Can we expect tanks?
Rebellious Catholic northerners usually u-turn at Derby.
It's a revived Pilgrimage of Grace. Wiki sums it up thus, from just 490 years ago.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was an English Catholic popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536 before spreading to other parts of Northern England, including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire. The protests occurred under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most serious of all Tudor period rebellions", the Pilgrimage was a revolt against King Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church, the dissolution of the lesser monasteries, and the policies of the King's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell Keir Starmer, as well as other specific political, social, and economic grievances.
Looks like a serious missile strike has happened in the city of Voronezh, Russia. Huge plumes of smoke rise in the city.
Voronezh’s VZPP-S semiconductor plant was attacked. The facility produces transistor matrices used in Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K missiles and Pantsir-S1 systems. VZPP-S is known as key Russian microelectronics suppliers tied to military, aerospace and defense electronics production.
More footage from Voronezh. The VZPP-S semiconductor plant was hit on at least two separate places and is now burning.
Amid everything else that’s been going on in the past few weeks, Russia now being properly on fire every day is the one thing that’s not really getting enough media attention.
Ukranians are more optimistic now than at any time in the last four years.
BBC is still running an Iran War half hour slot. They could easily do the same with Ukraine. And their "neutrality" means that when they do report on the war they tend to report "Russia says..." without pointing out that it is likely to be a lie
Another article in the Atlantic, it's coming thick and fast from them right now:
The world now faces something new and frightening: a psychotic state. The administration is consistently detached from reality; the normal policy process we have seen in past administrations is nonexistent in this one. No one around the president even hints that anything he does is inappropriate, unpopular, or unwise. His Cabinet meetings have become exercises in self-abasement, with one member after another obsequiously groveling, each trying to outdo the next in their adoration. Trump, left on his own without adult supervision, has lurched from blunder to catastrophe.
Late stage Stalin / Henry VIII / Tiberias.
I wonder if anyone would imitate Naevius Macro alongside Vance.
The utter hatred of Starmer for his eulogy to his father on Father's Day in X yesterday is worth a look. The entire nation loathe him.
X is only representative of Russian bots and deranged and angry divorced men. Starmer’s dreadful ratings are a result of the complete disillusionment of the left - nothing more.
Since the terrorist attack on Friday it’s been quite astonishing the levels of foreign interference in our local social media - I’ve counted over 30 instances of direct incitement of terrorism and, having done extensive online sleuthing, only one of them actually lives in Leith/Edinburgh.
It's easy to forget that Starmer probably came within 300 votes of standing down as Labour leader in 2021 at the Batley & Spen by-election. If Labour had lost that, following on from losing Hartlepool, his position would have become untenable.
It'll be my daughter's fifth and she only turned 4 a couple of months ago.
Burham will be the sixth PM since July 2016 so six PMs in 10 years.
Prior to that, we only had six PMs in 40 years.
The point of Brexit was to take back control.
I think all it’s showing is how ungovernable this country is with expectations well beyond reality
One of the more plausible arguments for Brexit was the one that said it stopped British politicians slopey-sholdering things that go wrong onto Europe. One point of sharp accountability. If the Westminster government doesn't deliver what the people want, the Westminster government is responsible and they're out.
What that argument doesn't account for is when the people want things that are impossible. Or impossible without absurd cost or consequences. Or get overtaken by events. Or when the people want multiple things that contradict.
That problem was there before 2016, but it's been worse... much worse... since.
One might say that in that case Brexit has worked exactly as it should. Now we can all see the Emperor (PM) has no clothes, hence the reason we get through them so quickly.
We need a completely different type of PM, one who is not simply managing on behalf of the EU but is actually leading the country and taking responsibility. I don't think any of them have really grasped this concept yet.
I'm reading the Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. At the end of the Ramesside era there were countless short reigns, increasing political instability, a death spiral of woe, loss of confidence in authority, destruction of the 'social contract', economic weakness.
Looks like a serious missile strike has happened in the city of Voronezh, Russia. Huge plumes of smoke rise in the city.
Voronezh’s VZPP-S semiconductor plant was attacked. The facility produces transistor matrices used in Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K missiles and Pantsir-S1 systems. VZPP-S is known as key Russian microelectronics suppliers tied to military, aerospace and defense electronics production.
More footage from Voronezh. The VZPP-S semiconductor plant was hit on at least two separate places and is now burning.
Amid everything else that’s been going on in the past few weeks, Russia now being properly on fire every day is the one thing that’s not really getting enough media attention.
Ukranians are more optimistic now than at any time in the last four years.
If Ukraine can successfully disrupt Russian ballistic missile production then it means life will be more comfortable for their civilians next winter - a major boost for Ukrainian morale.
It would also make the failure to ramp up production of Patriot interceptors less consequential.
I'm reading the Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt. At the end of the Ramesside era there were countless short reigns, increasing political instability, a death spiral of woe, loss of confidence in authority, destruction of the 'social contract', economic weakness.
It'll be my daughter's fifth and she only turned 4 a couple of months ago.
Burham will be the sixth PM since July 2016 so six PMs in 10 years.
Prior to that, we only had six PMs in 40 years.
The point of Brexit was to take back control.
I think all it’s showing is how ungovernable this country is with expectations well beyond reality
One of the more plausible arguments for Brexit was the one that said it stopped British politicians slopey-sholdering things that go wrong onto Europe. One point of sharp accountability. If the Westminster government doesn't deliver what the people want, the Westminster government is responsible and they're out.
What that argument doesn't account for is when the people want things that are impossible. Or impossible without absurd cost or consequences. Or get overtaken by events. Or when the people want multiple things that contradict.
That problem was there before 2016, but it's been worse... much worse... since.
One might say that in that case Brexit has worked exactly as it should. Now we can all see the Emperor (PM) has no clothes, hence the reason we get through them so quickly.
We need a completely different type of PM, one who is not simply managing on behalf of the EU but is actually leading the country and taking responsibility. I don't think any of them have really grasped this concept yet.
We need someone who is capable of management as referred to in that very good article linked to yesterday. Either that or they need an Osborne to do the management for them. Since Cameron PMs have simply responded to events with very little clarity as to how to shape them and how the various constituent parts of government might facilitate that.
If I understood Starmer's speech correctly, he agreed to be a senior shadow cabinet member of a corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition, and in the following six years as leader then PM sorted first the party and then as PM the country so that country and party are on the best possible track; in the process of performing this six year miracle he has lost the confidence of his own MPs to the extent that they have more or less no belief that they can keep their seats with him as leader.
His account makes no sense.
"I was much better than people think I was"
Obviously those people don't think that, hence his departure. Starmer doesn't have to agree.
I can comprehend a PM getting everything right - as he told us - but still losing the confidence of a slightly dim public. But to get everything miraculously right, and your own MPs, who mostly owe their careers to your electoral genius, have no confidence in you and call on you to go makes no sense.
Personally, the moment the PM lost me morally was when he fictitiously blamed a civil servant, who got sacked, for the PMs decision over Mandelson.
It'll be my daughter's fifth and she only turned 4 a couple of months ago.
Burham will be the sixth PM since July 2016 so six PMs in 10 years.
Prior to that, we only had six PMs in 40 years.
The point of Brexit was to take back control.
I think all it’s showing is how ungovernable this country is with expectations well beyond reality
One of the more plausible arguments for Brexit was the one that said it stopped British politicians slopey-sholdering things that go wrong onto Europe. One point of sharp accountability. If the Westminster government doesn't deliver what the people want, the Westminster government is responsible and they're out.
What that argument doesn't account for is when the people want things that are impossible. Or impossible without absurd cost or consequences. Or get overtaken by events. Or when the people want multiple things that contradict.
That problem was there before 2016, but it's been worse... much worse... since.
One might say that in that case Brexit has worked exactly as it should. Now we can all see the Emperor (PM) has no clothes, hence the reason we get through them so quickly.
We need a completely different type of PM, one who is not simply managing on behalf of the EU but is actually leading the country and taking responsibility. I don't think any of them have really grasped this concept yet.
That was the gist of Michael Gove's article in the Spectator defending Brexit against all evidence (that he ignored obviously). Brexit allowed the Conservative government to be utterly dire. Made no sense to me but I am not the target readership I guess
I see the Met Office has just upped its heat warning for Wednesday and Thursday to red. They're forecasting 39C here in the midlands.
Tomorrow, the midnight 'feels like' is forecast to be 28C. That'll be fun.
On an entirely unrelated note, does anyone have a portable aircon unit and, if so, is it worth getting?
Yes, but make sure you've got somewhere you put the tail pipe out of a window.
Also, get a twin hose one if you can. They are much more efficient because you're not sucking in hot air from outside to replace the exhaust air being pumped out.
If I understood Starmer's speech correctly, he agreed to be a senior shadow cabinet member of a corrupt and morally bankrupt opposition, and in the following six years as leader then PM sorted first the party and then as PM the country so that country and party are on the best possible track; in the process of performing this six year miracle he has lost the confidence of his own MPs to the extent that they have more or less no belief that they can keep their seats with him as leader.
His account makes no sense.
"I was much better than people think I was"
Obviously those people don't think that, hence his departure. Starmer doesn't have to agree.
I can comprehend a PM getting everything right - as he told us - but still losing the confidence of a slightly dim public. But to get everything miraculously right, and your own MPs, who mostly owe their careers to your electoral genius, have no confidence in you and call on you to go makes no sense.
Personally, the moment the PM lost me morally was when he fictitiously blamed a civil servant, who got sacked, for the PMs decision over Mandelson.
Yes, the Olly Robbins episode was shameful. He really badly let himself down there. I was never much of a fan but he was better than that normally.
Looks like a serious missile strike has happened in the city of Voronezh, Russia. Huge plumes of smoke rise in the city.
Voronezh’s VZPP-S semiconductor plant was attacked. The facility produces transistor matrices used in Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K missiles and Pantsir-S1 systems. VZPP-S is known as key Russian microelectronics suppliers tied to military, aerospace and defense electronics production.
More footage from Voronezh. The VZPP-S semiconductor plant was hit on at least two separate places and is now burning.
Amid everything else that’s been going on in the past few weeks, Russia now being properly on fire every day is the one thing that’s not really getting enough media attention.
Ukranians are more optimistic now than at any time in the last four years.
If Ukraine can successfully disrupt Russian ballistic missile production then it means life will be more comfortable for their civilians next winter - a major boost for Ukrainian morale.
It would also make the failure to ramp up production of Patriot interceptors less consequential.
Yes, Ukraine are working on their own ballistic interceptors, as between their conflict and the Gulf conflict there’s not an awful lot of Patriots left, and the lead time on them is two years.
They’re also getting the Flamingos to fly more than 2,000km, and say that 3,000km is coming, which makes most of Russia a target. They have to use their own weapons to hit ‘91 border Russia, as allies don’t give permission for the use of imported weapons.
A summer of disruption to Moscow (airports all closed again this morning, visible drone attacks on the city) is really bringing the war home to ordinary Russians.
Comments
The never crossed desk and the collapsing cabinet
From the “I Keir” range
The book is much better.
Just like The Martian was a good film, just not as good as the book.
Major
Blair
Brown
Cameron
May
Johnson
Truss
Sunak
Starmer
Total lack of self awareness to the end.
If he has been as successful as he thinks why has he gone. SKS Fans please explain
Iran Has Humiliated Trump - Officials in Tehran got the United States to sign a document that even Americans described as degrading, mortifying, a total capitulation.
Normally one would have to pay a lot of money to a discreet professional to be humiliated this badly. Watching Trump and his aides sell the deal is in some ways as humiliating as the deal itself.
Humiliation, however, is distinct from defeat. Only the United States was humiliated; both countries have experienced a catastrophic loss. The defeat for the United States is the more obvious of the two: a loss of standing and the confirmation that even a rich country cannot force its will on a poor but determined one. For Iran, the defeat is subtler. Bordering countries once considered it a problem neighbor and now know it to be an outright threat.
(I hope he's well)
I think all it’s showing is how ungovernable this country is with expectations well beyond reality
They strangely to me seem to persist in trying to understand Trump through a lens of rationality and considered outcomes, which I do not understand.
I think for CoE you want, as PM:
1. An ability to make the numbers add up. There's relatively little room for fudge;
2. Someone you trust. Your CoE is key to delivering your agenda and can make or break your premiership;
3. A canny political operator. The CoE has more agency than any other minister, probably including yourself - make it count politically. They also get a huge amount of attention.
Contrary to many on here I think Rachel Reeves was fine for 1 & 2, as Ed Miliband would also be. The problem is neither has the political nous.
Jessica Elgot
@jessicaelgot
·
25m
If there are no challengers then you can expect Andy Burnham to be prime minister on or around July 17th.
Two members of NEC confirm to the Guardian that Burnham can in theory be prime minister the day after nominations close.
https://x.com/jessicaelgot/status/2068981700915331294
Just waiting from Trump to announce his support for his long time friend Andy Burnham, and then the BBC interviewing each other about what it means.
Unless it’s immensely profitable form overseas sales (which it can’t be) I would be closing that channel down to save money
'Give us a chance luv, haven't even got me keks off'
Election Maps UK
@ElectionMapsUK
A massive TWENTY-ONE Council By-Elections are taking place this Thursday, alongside 2 Countermanded Elections:
https://x.com/ElectionMapsUK/status/2068968237673447430?s=20
His account makes no sense.
It does include Margaret Beckett and Hattie Harman (x2) though, who were in post only temporarily, alongside Major and Sunak who stayed in post until after leadership elections.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leader_of_the_Opposition_(United_Kingdom)
That's the key to getting something does, I reckon....
The utter hatred of Starmer for his eulogy to his father on Father's Day in X yesterday is worth a look. The entire nation loathe him.
Will Burnham change the electoral system? That seems to me to be the acid test of how serious he is going to be about really changing the country. Will he tackle the structure of government and put the Treasury in its place? Will he address the crisis in local government? Infrastructure? Education? Productivity? Start the process of tax simplification?
As we know, we campaign in poetry but govern in prose. Can Burnham do that? For the sake of the country, I hope he can, but I am not so certain that the country even wants to be governed. Politics McPoliticsface- Farage- is a fundamentally dangerous choice, but still nearly a quarter of the UK wants to make that choice.
https://www.brent.gov.uk/-/media/files/news-documents/brent-council-open-letter-on-gambling-harms.pdf
What that argument doesn't account for is when the people want things that are impossible. Or impossible without absurd cost or consequences. Or get overtaken by events. Or when the people want multiple things that contradict.
That problem was there before 2016, but it's been worse... much worse... since.
Looks like a serious missile strike has happened in the city of Voronezh, Russia. Huge plumes of smoke rise in the city.
Voronezh’s VZPP-S semiconductor plant was attacked. The facility produces transistor matrices used in Kh-101 cruise missiles, Iskander-K missiles and Pantsir-S1 systems. VZPP-S is known as key Russian microelectronics suppliers tied to military, aerospace and defense electronics production.
More footage from Voronezh. The VZPP-S semiconductor plant was hit on at least two separate places and is now burning.
https://t.me/noel_reports/48160
The next question is will he sit on the backbenches like Sunak or leave politics?
The world now faces something new and frightening: a psychotic state. The administration is consistently detached from reality; the normal policy process we have seen in past administrations is nonexistent in this one. No one around the president even hints that anything he does is inappropriate, unpopular, or unwise. His Cabinet meetings have become exercises in self-abasement, with one member after another obsequiously groveling, each trying to outdo the next in their adoration. Trump, left on his own without adult supervision, has lurched from blunder to catastrophe.
(I'm toying with the idea he has been planning this all aling to get Burnham into the job. In which case, why did he block Burnham from standing at Gorton? Maybe he didn't think it was an obvious win, or maybe it was actually an NEC decision he didn't have the political capital to steer in the other direction)
Obviously those people don't think that, hence his departure. Starmer doesn't have to agree.
Means tested the winter fuel allowance
Wasted Billions on Ukraine
Appointed the friend of a notorious paedophile
Lied about the above appointment
Achieved the worst LE results for LAB ever.
Said Israel had the right to cut off food and water in Gaza
Enabled Genocide
Managed to dismantle the broad church
Suspended MPs who voted for abolition of 2 child benefit cap
Aped Reform rhetoric on immigration despite nobody wanting Reform Lite
Preferred a Reform PM to a Socialist
Enabled the selection of Right Wing factionalist over the wishes of local parties
Cried on his departure fantasy island speech
Get him to the Hague ASAP
Before choosing the least suitable option.
Trump wasn't surprised at the failure.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/keir-starmer-donald-trump-iran-volodymyr-zelensky-jd-vance-b3000264.html
Oh…
Ukranians are more optimistic now than at any time in the last four years.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was an English Catholic popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536 before spreading to other parts of Northern England, including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire. The protests occurred under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most serious of all Tudor period rebellions", the Pilgrimage was a revolt against King Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church, the dissolution of the lesser monasteries, and the policies of the King's chief minister,
Thomas CromwellKeir Starmer, as well as other specific political, social, and economic grievances.European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you.
Thank you, dear Keir.
https://x.com/vonderleyen/status/2068979542153204011
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/06/22/pound-uk-bonds-borrowing-costs-starmer-burnham-ftse-100/
I wonder if anyone would imitate Naevius Macro alongside Vance.
Blair once
Brown once
Since the terrorist attack on Friday it’s been quite astonishing the levels of foreign interference in our local social media - I’ve counted over 30 instances of direct incitement of terrorism and, having done extensive online sleuthing, only one of them actually lives in Leith/Edinburgh.
(Clinton, Bush Jr, Obama, Trump, Biden)
We need a completely different type of PM, one who is not simply managing on behalf of the EU but is actually leading the country and taking responsibility. I don't think any of them have really grasped this concept yet.
Ahem.
It would also make the failure to ramp up production of Patriot interceptors less consequential.
On an entirely unrelated note, does anyone have a portable aircon unit and, if so, is it worth getting?
Now, if she can take Farage's too...
Or hospitals?
Personally, the moment the PM lost me morally was when he fictitiously blamed a civil servant, who got sacked, for the PMs decision over Mandelson.
They’re also getting the Flamingos to fly more than 2,000km, and say that 3,000km is coming, which makes most of Russia a target. They have to use their own weapons to hit ‘91 border Russia, as allies don’t give permission for the use of imported weapons.
A summer of disruption to Moscow (airports all closed again this morning, visible drone attacks on the city) is really bringing the war home to ordinary Russians.
39 degrees in Mecca bingo....