It is absurd that we live in a country that is enthusiastic to arrest people for tweets, but seemingly unable to unplug Steve Bray’s amplifier whenever a Prime Minister resigns.
There’s a legitimacy to people shouting at the end of Downing Street.
But amplifying your voice or music with a massive speaker? Piss off.
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 boils down to whether a prime minister's success is entirely measured by people's opinion of them as a leader or person, or whether their decisions and actions matter in their own right and can be assessed in some objective way.
Not really commenting on whether I think Starmer's actions were the right ones but I am sympathetic to the idea they should be assessed separately from a sentiment the prime minister is crap.
I don’t like Andy Burnham. I’ve said so on these pages several times and don’t intend to revisit the argument.
However.
If he is to be the next PM, and if he is to effect meaningful change, then I wish him well. I want the government to succeed. Only a churl would actively wish it to fail.
The country can seem ungovernable at times, but that is a symptom rather than a cause of our malaise. When people feel poorer, when standards appear to be slipping, and when government seems cloth-eared to the national mood on issue after issue, no leader or party is given anything resembling a fair hearing.
Labour’s shallow landslide was evidence of this: more a reaction to the Tory omni-shambles than a wholehearted endorsement of Labour’s programme.
Labour can turn this around, but not by persisting with Starmer-style managerialism. Can Burnham bring some of Manchester with him? Can he offer a clearer sense of direction and purpose? Can he make any real difference?
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.
So-called split unit air conditioners seem popular now, as a better approach to venting hot air than trailing a hot pipe across the room.
So reading up you have refridegerant lines linking the two.
We position our portable air con by the window so the elephant trunk to vent the warm air is close to the window. Works pretty well. Bedroom temp was 19 deg C when the lounge next door was 30 deg C.
"“He got to the top without any political savvy,” says a politico on Labour’s centrist wing. “I’m not sure he even likes politics. He has an inability to read the room and did nothing to bring the parliamentary party with him. He picked all the wrong fights with all the wrong people at all the wrong times – and then lost them.”"
During 2020, that stupidly nice weather in lockdown, I managed to get close to heat stroke painting my house on my flat garage roof. It wasn't this hot. At work we have some contractors doing roof work all day in the sun. I genuinely think they need to look at their risk assessments.
I don’t like Andy Burnham. I’ve said so on these pages several times and don’t intend to revisit the argument.
However.
If he is to be the next PM, and if he is to effect meaningful change, then I wish him well. I want the government to succeed. Only a churl would actively wish it to fail.
The country can seem ungovernable at times, but that is a symptom rather than a cause of our malaise. When people feel poorer, when standards appear to be slipping, and when government seems cloth-eared to the national mood on issue after issue, no leader or party is given anything resembling a fair hearing.
Labour’s shallow landslide was evidence of this: more a reaction to the Tory omni-shambles than a wholehearted endorsement of Labour’s programme.
Labour can turn this around, but not by persisting with Starmer-style managerialism. Can Burnham bring some of Manchester with him? Can he offer a clearer sense of direction and purpose? Can he make any real difference?
I remain sceptical, but I wish him well.
BIB - too often in recent times we have had this or at least the impression of this. Over Brexit too many remainers seemed over joyed by bad economic news, for instance. And there is little doubt that Starmer made hay out of covid and tried to pin everything on the government.
The Russian plant at Voronezh, hit this morning, appears to be a significant target. They make electonics such as guidance and targeting systems for weapons.
Donald Trump may not attend a World Cup match involving an English-speaking team, after brutal fan chants linking the president to his old pal Jeffrey Epstein went viral.
Concern is understood to be so high that questions are being asked about whether the US leader will present the trophy at the July 19 final, amid fears over what supporters could sing should he appear. White House officials are claimed to be attempting to shield Trump from the hostility on the terraces, particularly from fans of English-speaking nations.
Supporters from England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand have all created songs that now echo through bars before matches and inside stadiums during games. A source said: "There isn't a fan alive who doesn't know how fragile Trump's ego is. In recent months, he has had to contend with widespread booing whenever he attends major sporting events in America, but this is another level entirely.
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 it's taken a decade to offer that analysis doesn't say much for Brexit "working as it should".
During 2020, that stupidly nice weather in lockdown, I managed to get close to heat stroke painting my house on my flat garage roof. It wasn't this hot. At work we have some contractors doing roof work all day in the sun. I genuinely think they need to look at their risk assessments.
Yep. Contractors and councils should look at something similar to the Midday Break rule in extremis.
Work split shifts or work in the shade during the heat of the day.
It is absurd that we live in a country that is enthusiastic to arrest people for tweets, but seemingly unable to unplug Steve Bray’s amplifier whenever a Prime Minister resigns.
There’s a legitimacy to people shouting at the end of Downing Street.
But amplifying your voice or music with a massive speaker? Piss off.
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.
Yet the BBC says 35 degrees in B'ham as the peak temperature. That's a significant difference.
Remember that the BBC forecast is ultimately derived from a global US model, while the Met Office forecast uses a much higher resolution UK model (nested within a European model, nested within a global model).
The Met Office global model is also better than the US global model.
Most of the time you would expect the Met Office forecast to be more accurate.
I am amused that, having been champing at the bit for the top job for years and with ever-increasing determination, Burnham's people have let it be known that he wants Starmer to stay for a while, while he works out exactly what his agenda as Prime Minister should be.
Lord, give me the reigns of government, but not yet.
As an anonymous Starmer ally put it to the New Statesman, they want Starmer to wait while Burnham 'learns his ABCS'.
Given how long he has been angling for this position, he really ought to have prepared. Then again, the same could have been said of Starmer in 2024.
Thankfully for Burnham, Starmer seems happy to comply for the time being.
He should have waited a bit to make it less obvious.
Why? The whole point is to stop this going into a contested election.
Perish the thought there might be any hint of democracy in the Labour party....
Yes, democracy worked so well when the membership chose Truss instead of Sunak. Or IDS instead of Ken Clarke. Or Labour chose Magic Grandpa. Twice. Let's face it the membership of political parties have not covered themselves in glory recently.
Streeting as Chancellor then? There must have been a deal.
Streeting as Chancellor would be a very good start for Burnham. The markets would like that a lot more than Ed.
And Burnham would know where his rival was and be able to gift him a lot of the unpopularity incoming. On the downside, governments rarely work well without trust and a decent relationship between PM and CoE, and I don’t know whether those two have that?
It is absurd that we live in a country that is enthusiastic to arrest people for tweets, but seemingly unable to unplug Steve Bray’s amplifier whenever a Prime Minister resigns.
There’s a legitimacy to people shouting at the end of Downing Street.
But amplifying your voice or music with a massive speaker? Piss off.
If only they could pin Bray to the ground and put a 'I support Palestine action' t shirt on him, everything would be sorted.
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
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
He is right.
I'm fairly certain that the Conservative government could have managed to be utterly dire inside the EU. We've got the evidence.
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
He is right.
I'm fairly certain that the Conservative government could have managed to be utterly dire inside the EU. We've got the evidence.
According to Gove, Brexit allowed the government he was a part of to be dire in specific ways. A Brexit benefit apparently.
I used the phrase "Amaze amaze amaze!" which is spoken by one of the characters in the film. Sweeney74 picked up on it and we started talking about the book/film
Comments
Tom Harwood
@tomhfh
It is absurd that we live in a country that is enthusiastic to arrest people for tweets, but seemingly unable to unplug Steve Bray’s amplifier whenever a Prime Minister resigns.
There’s a legitimacy to people shouting at the end of Downing Street.
But amplifying your voice or music with a massive speaker? Piss off.
Not really commenting on whether I think Starmer's actions were the right ones but I am sympathetic to the idea they should be assessed separately from a sentiment the prime minister is crap.
However.
If he is to be the next PM, and if he is to effect meaningful change, then I wish him well. I want the government to succeed. Only a churl would actively wish it to fail.
The country can seem ungovernable at times, but that is a symptom rather than a cause of our malaise. When people feel poorer, when standards appear to be slipping, and when government seems cloth-eared to the national mood on issue after issue, no leader or party is given anything resembling a fair hearing.
Labour’s shallow landslide was evidence of this: more a reaction to the Tory omni-shambles than a wholehearted endorsement of Labour’s programme.
Labour can turn this around, but not by persisting with Starmer-style managerialism. Can Burnham bring some of Manchester with him? Can he offer a clearer sense of direction and purpose? Can he make any real difference?
I remain sceptical, but I wish him well.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/uae-midday-break-starts-june-15-work-under-direct-sunlight-banned-during-peak-afternoon-hours
Stay safe people.
We position our portable air con by the window so the elephant trunk to vent the warm air is close to the window. Works pretty well. Bedroom temp was 19 deg C when the lounge next door was 30 deg C.
Sinner will be very relieved that Wimbledon starts next Monday and not today !
I would fancy batting first in the test on Thursday (Trent Bridge). Not in the red, but will be plenty hot enough!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/22/keir-starmer-labour-landslide-failure/
I'm not sure the game should even go ahead if that is anywhere close to the truth.
They think it's all over...
https://x.com/tendar/status/2068992409371832756
https://x.com/bayraktar_1love/status/2068988586779705805
A shame not to be able to have the windows open though.
BREAKING: Wes Streeting folds in behind Andy Burnham.
Burnham looks set to be Prime Minister in July.
https://bsky.app/profile/paulbrand.bsky.social/post/3mounfcqac22n
Donald Trump may not attend a World Cup match involving an English-speaking team, after brutal fan chants linking the president to his old pal Jeffrey Epstein went viral.
Concern is understood to be so high that questions are being asked about whether the US leader will present the trophy at the July 19 final, amid fears over what supporters could sing should he appear. White House officials are claimed to be attempting to shield Trump from the hostility on the terraces, particularly from fans of English-speaking nations.
Supporters from England, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand have all created songs that now echo through bars before matches and inside stadiums during games. A source said: "There isn't a fan alive who doesn't know how fragile Trump's ego is. In recent months, he has had to contend with widespread booing whenever he attends major sporting events in America, but this is another level entirely.
Work split shifts or work in the shade during the heat of the day.
He’s got a decent career as a TV personality now.
Easy money, little stress, Susanne on the Sofa.
NEW THREAD
The Met Office global model is also better than the US global model.
Most of the time you would expect the Met Office forecast to be more accurate.
Lord, give me the reigns of government, but not yet.
As an anonymous Starmer ally put it to the New Statesman, they want Starmer to wait while Burnham 'learns his ABCS'.
Given how long he has been angling for this position, he really ought to have prepared. Then again, the same could have been said of Starmer in 2024.
Thankfully for Burnham, Starmer seems happy to comply for the time being.
The UK humidity this time is way higher than in 2022. Fewer wildfires, but more OAP heat deaths.
Far left coup against Burnham?
Burnham jumps the gun on thanking Starmer (Burnham already considering himself PM).
Horrific sculpting.
Take heart, you could still be right!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary_(film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Hail_Mary
I used the phrase "Amaze amaze amaze!" which is spoken by one of the characters in the film. Sweeney74 picked up on it and we started talking about the book/film