"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Did anyone bet on this guy?
We need to bear Lammy in mind once the ‘next PM after Burnham’ markets open. I expect Farage will be favourite so we'd need to consider whether he will still be in place in 2029, whether Burnham goes early, whether poll ratings are essentially frozen.
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
For sure. Althoigh my sense is the net PB punting position on Burnham was short.
Many many headers and posts over the last few months saying he was a sell because he wasn't an MP.
Even so, it means PBers (or at least the ones who bet) have considered the options and mechanisms necessary. The quality of MSM punditry might be enhanced if ‘experts’ had to invest even a tenner in their forecasts coming to pass.
With you there. I'll take PB over Hodges, Rentoul etc any day.
Two things the next Chancellor should immediately promise are:
1) No more increases in business taxation 2) No more increases in pension taxation
Reeves twice allowing months of speculation about increases in business and pension taxation had detrimental effects on business investment and pension planning.
I'm a pensioner, and most of my friends are now pensioners. It's eccentric to suggest that we should be exempt from tax increases (especially as pensioners tend to vote Tory or Reform anyway). A means-tested increase, including abolition of the right to a state pension if one's already got ample private pension, would meet widespread approval. I appreciate that this would go against promises made in ca. 1945 but really one needs to revisit these things sometimes - someone getting £80K in private pension really doesn't need the national pension.
Tax (for example merging IT and NI, and applying it to pensioners) would probably a better way of addressing that, though, wouldn't it ? Means testing always implies ongoing administrative costs.
Merging employee NI into Income Tax should be a no-brainer for the Treasury, yet for some reason there’s significant institutional inertia towards the idea.
You could give a higher personal allowance to pensioners if you wanted to smooth the transition.
If there is institutional inertia then it can hardly be a no-brainer. One problem might be that NI is the mechanism by which we qualify for pensions in the first place. Now, obviously this could be changed but that might take some thinking about and probably some cross-departmental committees so beloved of Sir Humphrey.
ETA another might be that to avoid swamping HMRC in paperwork, pensions would change to PAYE. Again, doable but would take time to set up.
One issue no-one has ever mentioned is that self employed people pay national insurance differently to employed people.
But as most people here are in well paid office jobs are in a position where they work through a limited company - they won’t have picked up that fact
Sadly they are imbued, especially in Officer ranks with a sense of entitlement, position and rank. You don't answer them back, that's in subordinate.
The armed forces, and this goes double for the RN/Marines, teach you to lead in a very specific and structured way on the assumption you'll be dealing with childlike morons who will get everyone killed if they make a mistake. This is a very hands on and direct style that's difficult to shake after years of intense psychological conditioning.
It's just one more reason why nobody who's had significant armed forces experience should be anywhere near high political office.
Eisenhower did OK. MacArthur would have been a disaster. Bush Snr ?
Jones also confirms Burnham will borrow more. However mostly for infrastructure which is an excellent idea.
Council house building.
Put like that, it's pretty sensible, isn't it? Borrowing to create things that are both useful and should generate income.
And, splendid as the profit motive is, in housebuilding it seems to lead to a throttling of supply.
Borrowing for investment in new labour speak was simply spending money on day to day stuff so if they do this, I cannot see an issue. As long as it is a proper market based return and not heavily subsidised.
There is plenty of spare capacity in the house building industry. Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off
If,you can’t make a profit or adequate return doing something, why do it. I listened to a Bloomberg money podcast on housing. In some parts of London if a builder had the land for free they wouldn’t make any money. We need to encourage private businesses.
Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off because the demand isn't there for houses at the current cost of building.
Unless the Government kicks off a social housing scheme which would open up a whole set of Nimby issues I can't see much that can be done to resolve the issue.
Build pairs of council houses in every village in Britain (up to perhaps 2% or 5% of the existing housing stock) and let them to respectable people with 50 years of local roots.
The nimbyism against council housing is based upon:
1) What the council housing of the 1970s had become - edge of conurbation sink estates or slums in the sky or slums in the sky in edge of conurbation sink estates.
2) The suspicion that new council housing will be given to immigrants or undesirables.
3) That the 1940s edge of village council houses are ugly.
Can we do better this time?
Fair point.
Although private housing of that era also tended to be estates of identical houses.
At least the ability to vary houses in size, shape and style has been achieved since then.
Building identical houses isn’t the problem
It is affected by who lives in them and the wider socioeconomic conditions.
There were elegant Georgian terraces in Notting Hill which had become slums in the 1960s.
It only took one movie to make them all worth millions!
Jones also confirms Burnham will borrow more. However mostly for infrastructure which is an excellent idea.
Council house building.
Put like that, it's pretty sensible, isn't it? Borrowing to create things that are both useful and should generate income.
And, splendid as the profit motive is, in housebuilding it seems to lead to a throttling of supply.
Borrowing for investment in new labour speak was simply spending money on day to day stuff so if they do this, I cannot see an issue. As long as it is a proper market based return and not heavily subsidised.
There is plenty of spare capacity in the house building industry. Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off
If,you can’t make a profit or adequate return doing something, why do it. I listened to a Bloomberg money podcast on housing. In some parts of London if a builder had the land for free they wouldn’t make any money. We need to encourage private businesses.
Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off because the demand isn't there for houses at the current cost of building.
Unless the Government kicks off a social housing scheme which would open up a whole set of Nimby issues I can't see much that can be done to resolve the issue.
Down here in the South after all the pressure to build new homes, Vistry are offering shared ownership on a large 600+ homes development. Normally it would be 50% equity. Then it dropped to 25% equity. Now they are offering 10% which equates to £45K on a £450K 3 bed. Desperate not to cut prices.
I covered this a while back and you can do your own AI version to check.
In large parts of the UK particulary the South East, not just the market price but also the new build cost of a starter home is more than a single persson and sometimes a couple on average wages for an area can get a mortgage for.
If the customer can't afford the product you don't sell the product. If there are no customers you don't make it. You either make something cheaper or make sometime else others can buy.
Housing is getting like the highstreet;a few bespoke up markets shops in the nice parts and the rest charity shops, discounters and boarded up!
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Stand back a minute. Burnham's team briefed they'd like a longer transition and it was unfair Starmer would be gone in July. In that case, Carns or AN Other running against Burnham would not be a Starmerite spanner in the works. Indeed, it might be that Burnham would arrange it himself. (On the other hand, Burnham does seem to be reverse ferreting on the idea he is not ready and needs the whole summer.)
Really doesn't bode well given what we discussed here about Presidential v Collegiate that Burnham already has his "Team".
Yet another Great Leader with his close circle of friends and advisers and dare we say it, sycophants?
Peter.
Stop it.
Tbf I think it's ok as a personal quirk so long as it doesn't catch on. Bit like Morris's 'Mr' and 'Ms' business.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
Badenoch - Sesame Street Oscar the Grouch. Anderson - Adams Family "Lurch".
I'm struggling for a Farage...
Any more for any more?
Waldorf? Mr Curry in Paddington ?
For Mr Starmer I want a TV character who would match the Planet Earth being "mostly harmless" in Hitch Hiker, so decent and careful but perceived as a little ineffectual and who will much far more appreciated later, a little like John Major - and I'm speculating about children's TV policemen as in PC Dibble or PC Copper from Bod, or someone from Trumpton or Chigley or Camberwick Green.
I'm sure there are good comparators for all the Reform MPs, as they have very distinct characters.
Evil Edna from "Ludwig" is Nadine Dorries or Sarah Pochin, though that is edgy in 2026 as Evil Edna is a witch in the shape of a television. For Robert Jenrick I would say Mr Benn for the costume changes, but Mr Benn is a sympathetic character. I think Mr Tice could be Wile E Coyote.
A Burnham story before they become overwhelming......
A friend just told me that she went to an art gallery in Manchester on a motor scooter and parked on a bit of waste ground and got a parking ticket. She was so pissed off that she wrote to new Mayor Andy B and told him he should introduce motor bike parking like they have everywhere in France. He replied that sounded like good idea and could she elaborate which she did and apparently Manchester now has a plethora of bike and motor bike parking.
Why was Manchester so behind the rest of the country in providing bike and motorbike parking that Burnham had to introduce it there? And why hadn’t Burnham known of the idea before from times he spent pretty much anywhere before he became Mayor, like London for example in the years he was an MP.
Sadly they are imbued, especially in Officer ranks with a sense of entitlement, position and rank. You don't answer them back, that's in subordinate.
The armed forces, and this goes double for the RN/Marines, teach you to lead in a very specific and structured way on the assumption you'll be dealing with childlike morons who will get everyone killed if they make a mistake. This is a very hands on and direct style that's difficult to shake after years of intense psychological conditioning.
It's just one more reason why nobody who's had significant armed forces experience should be anywhere near high political office.
Surely that is perfect preparation for leading a political party and large swathes of this country?
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
Jones also confirms Burnham will borrow more. However mostly for infrastructure which is an excellent idea.
Council house building.
Put like that, it's pretty sensible, isn't it? Borrowing to create things that are both useful and should generate income.
And, splendid as the profit motive is, in housebuilding it seems to lead to a throttling of supply.
Borrowing for investment in new labour speak was simply spending money on day to day stuff so if they do this, I cannot see an issue. As long as it is a proper market based return and not heavily subsidised.
There is plenty of spare capacity in the house building industry. Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off
If,you can’t make a profit or adequate return doing something, why do it. I listened to a Bloomberg money podcast on housing. In some parts of London if a builder had the land for free they wouldn’t make any money. We need to encourage private businesses.
Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off because the demand isn't there for houses at the current cost of building.
Unless the Government kicks off a social housing scheme which would open up a whole set of Nimby issues I can't see much that can be done to resolve the issue.
Build pairs of council houses in every village in Britain (up to perhaps 2% or 5% of the existing housing stock) and let them to respectable people with 50 years of local roots.
The nimbyism against council housing is based upon:
1) What the council housing of the 1970s had become - edge of conurbation sink estates or slums in the sky or slums in the sky in edge of conurbation sink estates.
2) The suspicion that new council housing will be given to immigrants or undesirables.
3) That the 1940s edge of village council houses are ugly.
Can we do better this time?
Fair point.
Although private housing of that era also tended to be estates of identical houses.
At least the ability to vary houses in size, shape and style has been achieved since then.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
Jones also confirms Burnham will borrow more. However mostly for infrastructure which is an excellent idea.
Council house building.
Put like that, it's pretty sensible, isn't it? Borrowing to create things that are both useful and should generate income.
And, splendid as the profit motive is, in housebuilding it seems to lead to a throttling of supply.
Borrowing for investment in new labour speak was simply spending money on day to day stuff so if they do this, I cannot see an issue. As long as it is a proper market based return and not heavily subsidised.
There is plenty of spare capacity in the house building industry. Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off
If,you can’t make a profit or adequate return doing something, why do it. I listened to a Bloomberg money podcast on housing. In some parts of London if a builder had the land for free they wouldn’t make any money. We need to encourage private businesses.
Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off because the demand isn't there for houses at the current cost of building.
Unless the Government kicks off a social housing scheme which would open up a whole set of Nimby issues I can't see much that can be done to resolve the issue.
Down here in the South after all the pressure to build new homes, Vistry are offering shared ownership on a large 600+ homes development. Normally it would be 50% equity. Then it dropped to 25% equity. Now they are offering 10% which equates to £45K on a £450K 3 bed. Desperate not to cut prices.
I covered this a while back and you can do your own AI version to check.
In large parts of the UK particulary the South East, not just the market price but also the new build cost of a starter home is more than a single persson and sometimes a couple on average wages for an area can get a mortgage for.
If the customer can't afford the product you don't sell the product. If there are no customers you don't make it. You either make something cheaper or make sometime else others can buy.
Housing is getting like the highstreet;a few bespoke up markets shops in the nice parts and the rest charity shops, discounters and boarded up!
Peter.
Having spent decades making building homes more difficult and expensive to build, each year, homes are hard to find and expensive.
Proof if it were needed than PBers are on the money. They have been in the vanguard of the Kemi Badenoch renaissance since the Rayner defenestration.
I still can't see it myself, but proof if needed, that I am wrong and you are all correct.
Despite rising public approval for the gap toothed goddess, there doesn’t seem to be the slightest shift in the public opinion that the Tory party is shit. The settled conclusion might suggest that the Tory party is indeed shit.
Well, if only the Tory Party could rise to just being shit... but they do nevertheless have a hidden advantage: Reform is an Astroturf fake party led by a guy whose best friend is Toxic Waste Trump. So, it is only a matter of time before the Turdies, sorry, Tories, start to get the swing of the pendulum.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
A Burnham story before they become overwhelming......
A friend just told me that she went to an art gallery in Manchester on a motor scooter and parked on a bit of waste ground and got a parking ticket. She was so pissed off that she wrote to new Mayor Andy B and told him he should introduce motor bike parking like they have everywhere in France. He replied that sounded like good idea and could she elaborate which she did and apparently Manchester now has a plethora of bike and motor bike parking.
Why was Manchester so behind the rest of the country in providing bike and motorbike parking that Burnham had to introduce it there? And why hadn’t Burnham known of the idea before from times he spent pretty much anywhere before he became Mayor, like London for example in the years he was an MP.
The story will be nine or ten years old. Do all English cities now cater for motorbikes?. I know everywhere now has rental bikes but I'm not sure there has been much of an effort to make it easier to use and park motorbikes until recently.
A Burnham story before they become overwhelming......
A friend just told me that she went to an art gallery in Manchester on a motor scooter and parked on a bit of waste ground and got a parking ticket. She was so pissed off that she wrote to new Mayor Andy B and told him he should introduce motor bike parking like they have everywhere in France. He replied that sounded like good idea and could she elaborate which she did and apparently Manchester now has a plethora of bike and motor bike parking.
Why was Manchester so behind the rest of the country in providing bike and motorbike parking that Burnham had to introduce it there? And why hadn’t Burnham known of the idea before from times he spent pretty much anywhere before he became Mayor, like London for example in the years he was an MP.
That spectacularly misses the point of the anecdote. He may have been thinking of doing such a thing for months but the ability to connect with a voter and make them feel that they made a contribution to their city is just as important of thinking up the policy.
A Burnham story before they become overwhelming......
A friend just told me that she went to an art gallery in Manchester on a motor scooter and parked on a bit of waste ground and got a parking ticket. She was so pissed off that she wrote to new Mayor Andy B and told him he should introduce motor bike parking like they have everywhere in France. He replied that sounded like good idea and could she elaborate which she did and apparently Manchester now has a plethora of bike and motor bike parking.
Why was Manchester so behind the rest of the country in providing bike and motorbike parking that Burnham had to introduce it there? And why hadn’t Burnham known of the idea before from times he spent pretty much anywhere before he became Mayor, like London for example in the years he was an MP.
What makes you think that the rest of the country had decent amounts of bike and motorbike parking? When I was doing a blood test at my local hospital on Monday the bicycle parking immediately outside the entrance was full of motorbikes, chained to the Sheffield stands.
Do you have a date that the story occurred (it would help as context)? It sounds like the sort of thing that a Mayor who listened and took the initiative would do.
There's been a similar story about simplified side-road Zebra crossings (similar to central Paris), which has relied on personal commitment from people at the centre in Manchester - and has been a decade long process through quicksand to be made possible in the face of DFT set-in-the-1970s culture and small-c conservatism.
One example was that a number of Councils were lined up to do "live trials" for a period of time to demonstrate that side-road simplified Zebras without Belisha Beacons (that makes much cheaper as no power supply is required) were safe and beneficial, but they all dropped out but one because no one could irrefutably prove in advance that the trials would be "safe".
In the event the trials showed that the tendency for drivers to stop for pedestrians vs a bare junction is much greater.
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Yet no-one had him down as PM at the end of this year in the PB competition. Only five (of 66 entries) even thought he’d be an MP in 2026.
Yep. The critical mass 'we' did not call this at all. We got it wrong.
I don't believe we imagined the Starmer collapse would be so comprehensive and so swift.
Indeed. The 2nd 'hero to zero' PM in 4 years - from newly elected with a big majority to ousted by his own party within half a parliament. Amazing. It must be saying something about where our politics is atm.
The gap between what we think we are entitled to and what we can actually afford grows ever wider. I fear that Burnham, if anything, is currently pushing that gap even wider and there is going to be fairly rapid and profound disappointment when reality hits. But hopefully I am wrong.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
Patel and Davis ?
Patel still thinks she can get the top job so is hanging around. Davis is a bit of a throwback, flawed in some ways but the type of character our politics should encourage to stay around for a couple of decades or more.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Yet no-one had him down as PM at the end of this year in the PB competition. Only five (of 66 entries) even thought he’d be an MP in 2026.
Yep. The critical mass 'we' did not call this at all. We got it wrong.
I don't believe we imagined the Starmer collapse would be so comprehensive and so swift.
Indeed. The 2nd 'hero to zero' PM in 4 years - from newly elected with a big majority to ousted by his own party within half a parliament. Amazing. It must be saying something about where our politics is atm.
The gap between what we think we are entitled to and what we can actually afford grows ever wider. I fear that Burnham, if anything, is currently pushing that gap even wider and there is going to be fairly rapid and profound disappointment when reality hits. But hopefully I am wrong.
Just someone less vapid and authoritarian. Anything else will be a bonus.
Excl: Senior community leaders, lawyers and academics in Britain have helped to advance the political priorities of President Xi through a series of Chinese state-linked organisations across the UK.
The organisations, often presenting themselves as cultural or business groups, have also in some cases functioned as “liaison stations” and “talent recruitment bases” for Chinese provincial governments and state organs.
The files, which include official Chinese government notices, archived websites, internal speeches, and freedom of information disclosures, indicate that prominent figures in Britain’s Chinese community held roles within organisations linked to the Beijing's United Front Work Department.
There is no evidence those involved believed they were acting for the Chinese Communist Party or have acted illegally, but the material illustrates the breadth of Beijing’s overseas influence networks.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Yet no-one had him down as PM at the end of this year in the PB competition. Only five (of 66 entries) even thought he’d be an MP in 2026.
Yep. The critical mass 'we' did not call this at all. We got it wrong.
I don't believe we imagined the Starmer collapse would be so comprehensive and so swift.
Indeed. The 2nd 'hero to zero' PM in 4 years - from newly elected with a big majority to ousted by his own party within half a parliament. Amazing. It must be saying something about where our politics is atm.
The gap between what we think we are entitled to and what we can actually afford grows ever wider. I fear that Burnham, if anything, is currently pushing that gap even wider and there is going to be fairly rapid and profound disappointment when reality hits. But hopefully I am wrong.
Just someone less vapid and authoritarian. Anything else will be a bonus.
We certainly need both of those.
But we also need someone who can face reality, explain what it means to the country in a comprehensible way and take concrete steps to at least ameliorate some of it. I think Burnham is much, much better at relating to others and telling a story but whether he has any solutions is still to be determined.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer scottish.
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Yet no-one had him down as PM at the end of this year in the PB competition. Only five (of 66 entries) even thought he’d be an MP in 2026.
Yep. The critical mass 'we' did not call this at all. We got it wrong.
I don't believe we imagined the Starmer collapse would be so comprehensive and so swift.
Indeed. The 2nd 'hero to zero' PM in 4 years - from newly elected with a big majority to ousted by his own party within half a parliament. Amazing. It must be saying something about where our politics is atm.
The gap between what we think we are entitled to and what we can actually afford grows ever wider. I fear that Burnham, if anything, is currently pushing that gap even wider and there is going to be fairly rapid and profound disappointment when reality hits. But hopefully I am wrong.
Premature. Burnham isn't doing anything yet, let alone "currently pushing that gap even wider". Give him a chance, at least.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
Interesting, and not many stars in there. But please don't mention 'Grayling' again; I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
I'll be kind and save you the first Johnson ministry.
It will be the same for Starmer and Burnhams cabinets however, it will be 1-3 from 20 who are still active in 2036 politics. Why would they prioritise how effective the country is in 2036 rather than how popular Labour are in 2028?
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
I spent around 2.5 of those years in Singapore and another couple in Germany. Doesn't mean diddlysquat. I agree Blair has a better claim to being Scottish, should he wish to make it.
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Yet no-one had him down as PM at the end of this year in the PB competition. Only five (of 66 entries) even thought he’d be an MP in 2026.
Yep. The critical mass 'we' did not call this at all. We got it wrong.
I don't believe we imagined the Starmer collapse would be so comprehensive and so swift.
Indeed. The 2nd 'hero to zero' PM in 4 years - from newly elected with a big majority to ousted by his own party within half a parliament. Amazing. It must be saying something about where our politics is atm.
The gap between what we think we are entitled to and what we can actually afford grows ever wider. I fear that Burnham, if anything, is currently pushing that gap even wider and there is going to be fairly rapid and profound disappointment when reality hits. But hopefully I am wrong.
Just someone less vapid and authoritarian. Anything else will be a bonus.
Labour are always authoritarian, more so than the Conservatives. They just use less authoritarian language than their policies indicate whereas the Tories do the opposite.
Wait & see seems to be the watchword for every area of life for me nowadays.
Interesting. The underlying reasons for that are, it seems to me, entirely philosophical and world viewish rather than political. Partly it's inevitable that we must wait and see because the nature of time and its ordering, so that everything doesn't happen all at once, means that the future hasn't happened yet. And it isn't going to start doing so. as all punters know.
'Wait and see' about everything is the opposite of the excellent and ancient 'mindfulness' which is supposed to be a thing in these media soaked days. All the great wisdom people emphasise that unless you focus on 'now' - the moment memorably described by CS Lewis and maybe others as the point at which time touches eternity - you will be waiting and seeing a long time.
Today is the traditional midsummer day.
That's a really interesting perspective, thank you. To me wait & see is the inverse of what you describe - in the present moment most things are unresolved, until their own moment arrives.
Thanks. The nature of time means nothing is ever resolved from the perspective of anyone still sentient enough to be within its flow. It's like resolving a fast flowing beck.
reminds me of Picard saying Now is the most important time. It will never come again.
I've noticed that it's always Now and Here. Now and Here are overwhelmingly present. At least to me.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
Don't think so. The Scottish emigration culture is very strong. Probably second to the Irish.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Those that say we need to borrow more to invest need to explain how the return on that investment is going to pay the interest and, hopefully, a little bit more. As gilt rates go up this gets more and more difficult. Sometimes that forces us to be penny wise and pound foolish but that is the price of poverty and current overspending. See Vimes boots.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
The way to hit back is to use the adjective "Scotch" which annoys them intensely for some reason.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer scottish.
There’s 50,000 of them in Miami right now!
You would have a problem with my wife who traces herself back through generations of North East Scotland fishermen and retains her lovely accent despite coming to North Wales in 1965
Though I do accept there are some who have that view
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
The way to hit back is to use the adjective "Scotch" which annoys them intensely for some reason.
Jones also confirms Burnham will borrow more. However mostly for infrastructure which is an excellent idea.
Council house building.
Put like that, it's pretty sensible, isn't it? Borrowing to create things that are both useful and should generate income.
And, splendid as the profit motive is, in housebuilding it seems to lead to a throttling of supply.
Borrowing for investment in new labour speak was simply spending money on day to day stuff so if they do this, I cannot see an issue. As long as it is a proper market based return and not heavily subsidised.
There is plenty of spare capacity in the house building industry. Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off
If,you can’t make a profit or adequate return doing something, why do it. I listened to a Bloomberg money podcast on housing. In some parts of London if a builder had the land for free they wouldn’t make any money. We need to encourage private businesses.
Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off because the demand isn't there for houses at the current cost of building.
Unless the Government kicks off a social housing scheme which would open up a whole set of Nimby issues I can't see much that can be done to resolve the issue.
Down here in the South after all the pressure to build new homes, Vistry are offering shared ownership on a large 600+ homes development. Normally it would be 50% equity. Then it dropped to 25% equity. Now they are offering 10% which equates to £45K on a £450K 3 bed. Desperate not to cut prices.
Shared ownership, I’d run like hell from it.
Taz, at 10% it would likely be far cheaper than renting.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer scottish.
There’s 50,000 of them in Miami right now!
You would have a problem with my wife who traces herself back through generations of North East Scotland fishermen and retains her lovely accent despite coming to North Wales in 1965
Though I do accept there are some who have that view
Not me personally. My father grew up in Glasgow, got on a plane to London aged 20 in 1970 and never went back!
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
"Empty suit" "Starmer with a northern accent" "Vacuous and weak"
Well this is impressive, I must say. I've been reading elsewhere that the big problem with Andy Burnham PM is that few outside Manchester know what he's all about. But plenty on PB have sussed him already, even before he starts.
It's what makes us special.
Plenty on PB will have bet on Burnham becoming Prime Minister. *That* is what makes us special.
Yet no-one had him down as PM at the end of this year in the PB competition. Only five (of 66 entries) even thought he’d be an MP in 2026.
Yep. The critical mass 'we' did not call this at all. We got it wrong.
I don't believe we imagined the Starmer collapse would be so comprehensive and so swift.
Indeed. The 2nd 'hero to zero' PM in 4 years - from newly elected with a big majority to ousted by his own party within half a parliament. Amazing. It must be saying something about where our politics is atm.
The gap between what we think we are entitled to and what we can actually afford grows ever wider. I fear that Burnham, if anything, is currently pushing that gap even wider and there is going to be fairly rapid and profound disappointment when reality hits. But hopefully I am wrong.
Premature. Burnham isn't doing anything yet, let alone "currently pushing that gap even wider". Give him a chance, at least.
Fifa’s shift from goal difference to head-to-head to decide groups is an inexplicably terrible decision that has needlessly killed or muted loads of final-round group games
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
IIRC this was a running joke on here for several years. Every time Andy won a set he became more British but every time he lost one he became Scottish again. I don't think anyone took it remotely seriously.
Recommended educational listening from the BBC World service:
The history of segregated categorisation of disabled people in Germany as "them, not us", and the elements of historical legacy that still persist.
There exists a range of separated institutions called "Workshops", where disabled people get subsidised jobs and work from major companies - who are often unwilling publicly to admit they are in the scheme, and do not themselves meet their legal obligations to employ 5% of their workforce being with a disability.
I'm fascinated by the mental baggage / assumptions which still exist in the culture from earlier (read 1920s/30s) times, especially around embarrassment and stigma, and permeates career advice, employment practice, employer attitudes, imposed unnecessary exclusion and denial of autonomy.
It is a different set of issues to the UK, but in some ways socially parallel.
Part of the BBC WS "Assigment" series. 30 minutes. It is better than the slightly clickbait title suggests ("How Germany fails disabled people.")
Two things the next Chancellor should immediately promise are:
1) No more increases in business taxation 2) No more increases in pension taxation
Reeves twice allowing months of speculation about increases in business and pension taxation had detrimental effects on business investment and pension planning.
I'm a pensioner, and most of my friends are now pensioners. It's eccentric to suggest that we should be exempt from tax increases (especially as pensioners tend to vote Tory or Reform anyway). A means-tested increase, including abolition of the right to a state pension if one's already got ample private pension, would meet widespread approval. I appreciate that this would go against promises made in ca. 1945 but really one needs to revisit these things sometimes - someone getting £80K in private pension really doesn't need the national pension.
Utter bollox, pensioners pay tax and are not exempt from anything. Also if they have paid over 50 years for a state pension then they deserve it, lazy spongers should not be entitled just because they did nothing and expect people. who worked hard to have some money for retirement have to pay to keep the lazy barstewards living high on the hog for free. Only MP's are likely to have 80K private pension, will be very few others for sure having more than a small amount which precludes them from all the freebies the spongers get on top of pension tax free.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
And this makes her Scottish?? Not even the SRU would claim that.
She spent her formative years in Scotland (ages 4 to 10), if that's not Scottish then I don't know what is.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
To some Scots, if a Scot has ever left Scotland for more than a holiday they are no longer Scottish.
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Those that say we need to borrow more to invest need to explain how the return on that investment is going to pay the interest and, hopefully, a little bit more. As gilt rates go up this gets more and more difficult. Sometimes that forces us to be penny wise and pound foolish but that is the price of poverty and current overspending. See Vimes boots.
The problem is that 100% worth of U.K. GDP has been invested already.
This is why people are dubious about promises to “invest”.
Jones also confirms Burnham will borrow more. However mostly for infrastructure which is an excellent idea.
Council house building.
Put like that, it's pretty sensible, isn't it? Borrowing to create things that are both useful and should generate income.
And, splendid as the profit motive is, in housebuilding it seems to lead to a throttling of supply.
Borrowing for investment in new labour speak was simply spending money on day to day stuff so if they do this, I cannot see an issue. As long as it is a proper market based return and not heavily subsidised.
There is plenty of spare capacity in the house building industry. Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off
If,you can’t make a profit or adequate return doing something, why do it. I listened to a Bloomberg money podcast on housing. In some parts of London if a builder had the land for free they wouldn’t make any money. We need to encourage private businesses.
Vistry and Crest Nicholson are laying people off because the demand isn't there for houses at the current cost of building.
Unless the Government kicks off a social housing scheme which would open up a whole set of Nimby issues I can't see much that can be done to resolve the issue.
Down here in the South after all the pressure to build new homes, Vistry are offering shared ownership on a large 600+ homes development. Normally it would be 50% equity. Then it dropped to 25% equity. Now they are offering 10% which equates to £45K on a £450K 3 bed. Desperate not to cut prices.
I covered this a while back and you can do your own AI version to check.
In large parts of the UK particulary the South East, not just the market price but also the new build cost of a starter home is more than a single persson and sometimes a couple on average wages for an area can get a mortgage for.
If the customer can't afford the product you don't sell the product. If there are no customers you don't make it. You either make something cheaper or make sometime else others can buy.
Housing is getting like the highstreet;a few bespoke up markets shops in the nice parts and the rest charity shops, discounters and boarded up!
Peter.
Having spent decades making building homes more difficult and expensive to build, each year, homes are hard to find and expensive.
Weird, eh?
The increase in the cost of homes caused by improvemnets to insulation standards and the like are marginal if anything. Size has made a difference but that is an improvemnet surely.
The inflated cost of land is supply and demand, and the rise in the cost of materials, particularly post covid has contributed more than anything new regs have done. House sizes have increased over the last 40 years but not since covid when material prices went up by nearly a quarter.
The biggest gap isn't between the cost then and now caused by higher standards, which anyway are good for consumers because they lower bills for decades, your buying a better product. It's larger and cheaper to heat.
The size of a 1bed flat in the 80's was about 40m2, by 2000 it was close to 50m2 and now it's about 55m2. for a two bed semi it's gone from under 75m2 to nearly 95m2.
The could say the solution is to go back to boxes but I am not keen on that.
The other side of the equation is that the cost of new build has outsripped wage growth for those on low incomes and the rise in interest rates from historic lows has squeezed waht people can afford, so the gap between what people can buy and the price of teh product has widened so the demand shrinks and over time supply reduces to match demand.
Fifa’s shift from goal difference to head-to-head to decide groups is an inexplicably terrible decision that has needlessly killed or muted loads of final-round group games
Two things the next Chancellor should immediately promise are:
1) No more increases in business taxation 2) No more increases in pension taxation
Reeves twice allowing months of speculation about increases in business and pension taxation had detrimental effects on business investment and pension planning.
I'm a pensioner, and most of my friends are now pensioners. It's eccentric to suggest that we should be exempt from tax increases (especially as pensioners tend to vote Tory or Reform anyway). A means-tested increase, including abolition of the right to a state pension if one's already got ample private pension, would meet widespread approval. I appreciate that this would go against promises made in ca. 1945 but really one needs to revisit these things sometimes - someone getting £80K in private pension really doesn't need the national pension.
Utter bollox, pensioners pay tax and are not exempt from anything. Also if they have paid over 50 years for a state pension then they deserve it, lazy spongers should not be entitled just because they did nothing and expect people. who worked hard to have some money for retirement have to pay to keep the lazy barstewards living high on the hog for free. Only MP's are likely to have 80K private pension, will be very few others for sure having more than a small amount which precludes them from all the freebies the spongers get on top of pension tax free.
The bit I find funny is that most people will be on defined contribution schemes that they have some or all control over.
Start tapering away the state pension at £55,000 say and I and most others will make sure to never extract more than £55,000.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Those that say we need to borrow more to invest need to explain how the return on that investment is going to pay the interest and, hopefully, a little bit more. As gilt rates go up this gets more and more difficult. Sometimes that forces us to be penny wise and pound foolish but that is the price of poverty and current overspending. See Vimes boots.
The problem is that 100% worth of U.K. GDP has been invested already.
This is why people are dubious about promises to “invest”.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
I did not know that. I wonder why they moved to cold war Warsaw?
We need a consistent definition of this. If you're born in a place, you're from that place. Obviously Tony Blair is Scottish. I wouldn't quibble at calling Boris Johnson American, nor Terry Butcher Singaporean. But clearly there is more to it than that.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Those that say we need to borrow more to invest need to explain how the return on that investment is going to pay the interest and, hopefully, a little bit more. As gilt rates go up this gets more and more difficult. Sometimes that forces us to be penny wise and pound foolish but that is the price of poverty and current overspending. See Vimes boots.
The problem is that 100% worth of U.K. GDP has been invested already.
This is why people are dubious about promises to “invest”.
No, its been spent which is entirely different.
When asked, the politicians always resort to “investing in the…”
This is because, in politics, “investing” means “pay for what I want to do”, not “putting money into things that will yield a return”
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
I did not know that. I wonder why they moved to cold war Warsaw?
We need a consistent definition of this. If you're born in a place, you're from that place. Obviously Tony Blair is Scottish. I wouldn't quibble at calling Boris Johnson American, nor Terry Butcher Singaporean. But clearly there is more to it than that.
IIRC both her parents are proper lefties, perhaps they liked the idea of communism.
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Those that say we need to borrow more to invest need to explain how the return on that investment is going to pay the interest and, hopefully, a little bit more. As gilt rates go up this gets more and more difficult. Sometimes that forces us to be penny wise and pound foolish but that is the price of poverty and current overspending. See Vimes boots.
The problem is that 100% worth of U.K. GDP has been invested already.
This is why people are dubious about promises to “invest”.
No, its been spent which is entirely different.
When asked, the politicians always resort to “investing in the…”
This is because, in politics, “investing” means “pay for what I want to do”, not “putting money into things that will yield a return”
Indeed. For those who can't be bothered to read it, this is Badenoch's claim that for the first time income tax receipts are lower than welfare spending. In summary:
....figures from the OBR show that welfare spending has exceeded income tax receipts since at least 2011. Furthermore, the gap between welfare spending and income tax receipts has narrowed in recent years, with the positions forecast to reverse in 2026/27 and beyond.
A Burnham story before they become overwhelming......
A friend just told me that she went to an art gallery in Manchester on a motor scooter and parked on a bit of waste ground and got a parking ticket. She was so pissed off that she wrote to new Mayor Andy B and told him he should introduce motor bike parking like they have everywhere in France. He replied that sounded like good idea and could she elaborate which she did and apparently Manchester now has a plethora of bike and motor bike parking.
Why was Manchester so behind the rest of the country in providing bike and motorbike parking that Burnham had to introduce it there? And why hadn’t Burnham known of the idea before from times he spent pretty much anywhere before he became Mayor, like London for example in the years he was an MP.
Cycle parking has historically been crap pretty much everywhere. I'm pretty sure that Stow-on-the-Wold, the most significant tourist town in the Cotswolds, doesn't have any.
Two things the next Chancellor should immediately promise are:
1) No more increases in business taxation 2) No more increases in pension taxation
Reeves twice allowing months of speculation about increases in business and pension taxation had detrimental effects on business investment and pension planning.
I'm a pensioner, and most of my friends are now pensioners. It's eccentric to suggest that we should be exempt from tax increases (especially as pensioners tend to vote Tory or Reform anyway). A means-tested increase, including abolition of the right to a state pension if one's already got ample private pension, would meet widespread approval. I appreciate that this would go against promises made in ca. 1945 but really one needs to revisit these things sometimes - someone getting £80K in private pension really doesn't need the national pension.
Utter bollox, pensioners pay tax and are not exempt from anything. Also if they have paid over 50 years for a state pension then they deserve it, lazy spongers should not be entitled just because they did nothing and expect people. who worked hard to have some money for retirement have to pay to keep the lazy barstewards living high on the hog for free. Only MP's are likely to have 80K private pension, will be very few others for sure having more than a small amount which precludes them from all the freebies the spongers get on top of pension tax free.
They didn't pay over 50 years for a state pension. They paid over 50 years for their parents and grandparents pension. I'm now contributing towards your ability to live in retirement which takes a lot more of my tax contributionsthan your parents did thanks to the triple lock. Happy to do so of course and no need to thank me.
"Voters want Andy Burnham to call a general election, a poll has found.
Almost half the public – 48 per cent – has said that whoever replaces Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister should call an election, according to a YouGov poll of 4,960 people conducted on Tuesday.
Some 35 per cent believed there was no need for a general election, while a further 17 per cent said they did not know."
'The prime minister's chief secretary Darren Jones might have ruled himself out of the Labour leadership contest - but former Armed Forces Minister Al Carns could still challenge Andy Burnham.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Tuesday, Carns insisted he is "pretty serious" in considering a leadership bid, but wants to "see behind Andy Burnham what the policies are" before making a final call.
As a reminder, leadership nominations open on 9 July and run until 16 July. Potential candidates have until then to amass the support of at least 81 Labour MPs to enter the race.
Asked whether he will back Burnham if he agrees with his policies, Carns tells BBC Newsnight: "I think that's a collective view across the Labour Party as a whole."
He explains the party wants to "get behind" Andy but says "we need to see that material before I can make a decision to back anyone".
If the party "wants to get behind Burnham", why does Carns want to waste a couple of months for him with a leadership election ?
In order to consider a leadership bid, you still need >80 other Labour MPs to think it is a wizard wheeze, don't you?
An interesting question. I suspect he doesn't, but OTOH there might just be enough pissed off Starmerites to grasp the opportunity of throwing a spanner into the works ?
I think it would be fairly irresponsible at this point, FWIW.
Burnham is facing a pretty steep learning curve as it is.
“There was a strong push from the Burnham camp to be given longer. But why should they tell Keir they want him out, then expect him to manage the ship through a potentially difficult summer? Keir will of course cooperate on transition, but it will be through gritted teeth,” one said.
Some in Burnham’s team were exasperated about the shorter timetable. “The last lot had years to prepare and still fucked it up. We’ll just have to do it in three weeks,” one senior source said. “The length of the transition will focus minds.”.
Yes must be a complete surprise to team Andy that he has become PM.
TBF, that's not really the point. No doubt he has at least some idea of what he wants to do (at least I hope so), but developing detailed policy that can quickly be implemented at government level requires civil service resources.
I think that point is overblown and a cheap excuse from politicians. The reason for inertia in government is not a lack of policy options but a lack of political will, money and consensus. I doubt Burnham will change much.
Ah the lack of Will. What was it Reagan said;
"There are simple answers to the nation's problems, but not easy ones. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right."
He was of course wrong.
What he offered weren't simple solutions but simpistic ones.
He put the practical difficulties of implimenting policy down to it being the governments fault and red tape. Take that away and we'll be fine. They weren't.
All of this from "Drain the Swamp!" to the "Blob" just comes down to peoples frustrations about how challenging Government and change are, and that they can't just decree change and make it happen.
Peter.
I disagree, I think the answers are generally quite simple. Invest, invest, invest. Create a vision and then build it rather than fiddling by focus group. We don't invest because the lifespan of a PM is now a couple of years, for them what is the point of thinking about 10-25 years ahead?
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
We already have 100% debt and struggle to pay teh interest in that. We could have before teh crash when it was 40% but the orthadoxy then was to keep it low. We also left investment to teh city not the "Dead Hand of Government!"
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher. We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that. Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Those that say we need to borrow more to invest need to explain how the return on that investment is going to pay the interest and, hopefully, a little bit more. As gilt rates go up this gets more and more difficult. Sometimes that forces us to be penny wise and pound foolish but that is the price of poverty and current overspending. See Vimes boots.
The problem is that 100% worth of U.K. GDP has been invested already.
This is why people are dubious about promises to “invest”.
No, its been spent which is entirely different.
When asked, the politicians always resort to “investing in the…”
This is because, in politics, “investing” means “pay for what I want to do”, not “putting money into things that will yield a return”
One remembers Gordon Brown’s “Investment” in PFI Skools’n’Ospitals, followed by his “Investment in tax credits.
Politicians still don’t understand the difference between CapEx and OpEx, none of them would last five minutes working as a department head in the private sector.
What a pompous arse she is (Penny Young). A political debate is not a lecture in statistics (unless done by Gordon Brown of course).
It is certainly more nuanced than TSE implies. The UKSA position seems to be that Kemi has once more blundered into the elephant trap of condemning something that started under the Conservatives.
What a pompous arse she is (Penny Young). A political debate is not a lecture in statistics (unless done by Gordon Brown of course).
The truth matters or we end up in a Trumpian world with alternative facts.
And the fact that benefit spending exceeded IT receipts was the truth. It may not have been novel but it was the truth and it is a vivid way of highlighting the problem. As for the promise this is going to change in the near future, well, lets see if Penny was telling the truth about that.
What a pompous arse she is (Penny Young). A political debate is not a lecture in statistics (unless done by Gordon Brown of course).
Disappointing from you, especially as your own lectures on the state of the economy are based entirely on statistics. It seems to me that it's a good thing that misuse of statistics by politicians, of any stripe, can be commented on by the UK Statistics Authority.
Indeed. For those who can't be bothered to read it, this is Badenoch's claim that for the first time income tax receipts are lower than welfare spending. In summary:
....figures from the OBR show that welfare spending has exceeded income tax receipts since at least 2011. Furthermore, the gap between welfare spending and income tax receipts has narrowed in recent years, with the positions forecast to reverse in 2026/27 and beyond.
The Alternative King’s Speech has a very Zia Yusuf shadow Home Secretary vibe. I suppose the lying is also pretty Reformy.
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
So you were talking bollox as suggested, keep your duds.
Two things the next Chancellor should immediately promise are:
1) No more increases in business taxation 2) No more increases in pension taxation
Reeves twice allowing months of speculation about increases in business and pension taxation had detrimental effects on business investment and pension planning.
I'm a pensioner, and most of my friends are now pensioners. It's eccentric to suggest that we should be exempt from tax increases (especially as pensioners tend to vote Tory or Reform anyway). A means-tested increase, including abolition of the right to a state pension if one's already got ample private pension, would meet widespread approval. I appreciate that this would go against promises made in ca. 1945 but really one needs to revisit these things sometimes - someone getting £80K in private pension really doesn't need the national pension.
Utter bollox, pensioners pay tax and are not exempt from anything. Also if they have paid over 50 years for a state pension then they deserve it, lazy spongers should not be entitled just because they did nothing and expect people. who worked hard to have some money for retirement have to pay to keep the lazy barstewards living high on the hog for free. Only MP's are likely to have 80K private pension, will be very few others for sure having more than a small amount which precludes them from all the freebies the spongers get on top of pension tax free.
The bit I find funny is that most people will be on defined contribution schemes that they have some or all control over.
Start tapering away the state pension at £55,000 say and I and most others will make sure to never extract more than £55,000.
So you can pay more IHT and repay more care costs when you die. Fair enough.
Two things the next Chancellor should immediately promise are:
1) No more increases in business taxation 2) No more increases in pension taxation
Reeves twice allowing months of speculation about increases in business and pension taxation had detrimental effects on business investment and pension planning.
I'm a pensioner, and most of my friends are now pensioners. It's eccentric to suggest that we should be exempt from tax increases (especially as pensioners tend to vote Tory or Reform anyway). A means-tested increase, including abolition of the right to a state pension if one's already got ample private pension, would meet widespread approval. I appreciate that this would go against promises made in ca. 1945 but really one needs to revisit these things sometimes - someone getting £80K in private pension really doesn't need the national pension.
Utter bollox, pensioners pay tax and are not exempt from anything. Also if they have paid over 50 years for a state pension then they deserve it, lazy spongers should not be entitled just because they did nothing and expect people. who worked hard to have some money for retirement have to pay to keep the lazy barstewards living high on the hog for free. Only MP's are likely to have 80K private pension, will be very few others for sure having more than a small amount which precludes them from all the freebies the spongers get on top of pension tax free.
They didn't pay over 50 years for a state pension. They paid over 50 years for their parents and grandparents pension. I'm now contributing towards your ability to live in retirement which takes a lot more of my tax contributionsthan your parents did thanks to the triple lock. Happy to do so of course and no need to thank me.
Utter bollox it is not the public's fault the government defrauds the system and spends the contributions. It was always clear that the payments were to include a state pension at age 65 , now rising to 68 or more. I have paid enough to give me the pension till I am two hundred years old
Excluding Liz Truss who is Scottish, Andy Burnham is first bona fide Northerner to become PM in 50 years.
Jessica Elgot @jessicaelgot · 58m I’m really sorry to do this but the last Northern PM was actually Roundhay’s Liz Truss - as much as she tried to disown our great city.
She was born in Oxford, that rules her out as a bona fide Northerner.
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
I'm not quibbling with your overall conclusion, but how does that make her Scottish?
In 1977 Truss and her parents moved to Warsaw in Poland, but returned to Britain after John and Priscilla found it "quite grim".
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
I did not know that. I wonder why they moved to cold war Warsaw?
We need a consistent definition of this. If you're born in a place, you're from that place. Obviously Tony Blair is Scottish. I wouldn't quibble at calling Boris Johnson American, nor Terry Butcher Singaporean. But clearly there is more to it than that.
What if you were conceived in a different place? I would have thought the pro-life types believe life begins at conception!
Comments
But as most people here are in well paid office jobs are in a position where they work through a limited company - they won’t have picked up that fact
MacArthur would have been a disaster.
Bush Snr ?
Macmillan; Churchill; Callaghan; Wellington...
In large parts of the UK particulary the South East, not just the market price but also the new build cost of a starter home is more than a single persson and sometimes a couple on average wages for an area can get a mortgage for.
If the customer can't afford the product you don't sell the product.
If there are no customers you don't make it.
You either make something cheaper or make sometime else others can buy.
Housing is getting like the highstreet;a few bespoke up markets shops in the nice parts and the rest charity shops, discounters and boarded up!
Peter.
Kuntibula
As the most bona fide Northerner on PB I can tell you we Northerners take this stuff very seriously.
Evil Edna from "Ludwig" is Nadine Dorries or Sarah Pochin, though that is edgy in 2026 as Evil Edna is a witch in the shape of a television.
For Robert Jenrick I would say Mr Benn for the costume changes, but Mr Benn is a sympathetic character.
I think Mr Tice could be Wile E Coyote.
Almost 50% of Russia’s natural gas goes through this plant.
https://x.com/jayinkyiv/status/2069674676159205550
After living briefly in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, the family moved to Paisley in Scotland when Truss was four years old, where she attended West Primary School. In 1985 they moved south to Leeds,
Big caveat though. He's Lancs and I'm Yorks. That stops me going overboard about it.
This is the cabinet from just 10 years ago:
May, Hammond, Rudd, Johnson, Fallon, Truss, Greening, Davis, Fox, Clark, Hunt, Green, Evans, Grayling, Javid, Lidington, Mundell, Cairns, Brokenshire, Leadsom, Patel, Bradley.
How many of those are still involved bar the odd TV or media interview, if that?
Weird, eh?
Then we will have the crap we can believe in.
Do you have a date that the story occurred (it would help as context)? It sounds like the sort of thing that a Mayor who listened and took the initiative would do.
There's been a similar story about simplified side-road Zebra crossings (similar to central Paris), which has relied on personal commitment from people at the centre in Manchester - and has been a decade long process through quicksand to be made possible in the face of DFT set-in-the-1970s culture and small-c conservatism.
One example was that a number of Councils were lined up to do "live trials" for a period of time to demonstrate that side-road simplified Zebras without Belisha Beacons (that makes much cheaper as no power supply is required) were safe and beneficial, but they all dropped out but one because no one could irrefutably prove in advance that the trials would be "safe".
In the event the trials showed that the tendency for drivers to stop for pedestrians vs a bare junction is much greater.
Some Scots don't even accept Tony Blair was Scottish, I mean born in Edinburgh, educated in Scotland...
But please don't mention 'Grayling' again; I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Excl: Senior community leaders, lawyers and academics in Britain have helped to advance the political priorities of President Xi through a series of Chinese state-linked organisations across the UK.
The organisations, often presenting themselves as cultural or business groups, have also in some cases functioned as “liaison stations” and “talent recruitment bases” for Chinese provincial governments and state organs.
An investigation by @thetimes draws on research from @ipacglobal, @ukctransparency, and extensive Chinese-language material.
The files, which include official Chinese government notices, archived websites, internal speeches, and freedom of information disclosures, indicate that prominent figures in Britain’s Chinese community held roles within organisations linked to the Beijing's United Front Work Department.
There is no evidence those involved believed they were acting for the Chinese Communist Party or have acted illegally, but the material illustrates the breadth of Beijing’s overseas influence networks.
https://x.com/Geri_E_L_Scott/status/2069721613126291476
https://www.thetimes.com/article/eb1b1037-70b1-42f2-a731-1930fa9ad630?shareToken=764b15d418cea187b203d0069b951716
Remember the Is Andy Murray British website and ramp the logic up to insane levels and that is how Scots work.
But we also need someone who can face reality, explain what it means to the country in a comprehensible way and take concrete steps to at least ameliorate some of it. I think Burnham is much, much better at relating to others and telling a story but whether he has any solutions is still to be determined.
Give him a chance, at least.
It will be the same for Starmer and Burnhams cabinets however, it will be 1-3 from 20 who are still active in 2036 politics. Why would they prioritise how effective the country is in 2036 rather than how popular Labour are in 2028?
Thatcher folllowed Reagan and Blair followed Thatcher.
We can only Invest if we can afford the cost of teh borrowing and right now we struggle to do that.
Good idea 20 years ago but I think we have largely misssed that boat.
Peter.
Has anyone used the new (2025) cycle hub (roughly - posh bike storage) at Richmond (London) Station? What did you think?
I'm just catching up with the story of the interesting processes around its building.
Now and Here are overwhelmingly present. At least to me.
Though I do accept there are some who have that view
https://uksa.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/correspondence/letter-from-penny-young-to-kemi-badenoch-mp-welfare-spending/
Farage -RACIST
Badenoch - curious
Starmer - Who?
The history of segregated categorisation of disabled people in Germany as "them, not us", and the elements of historical legacy that still persist.
There exists a range of separated institutions called "Workshops", where disabled people get subsidised jobs and work from major companies - who are often unwilling publicly to admit they are in the scheme, and do not themselves meet their legal obligations to employ 5% of their workforce being with a disability.
I'm fascinated by the mental baggage / assumptions which still exist in the culture from earlier (read 1920s/30s) times, especially around embarrassment and stigma, and permeates career advice, employment practice, employer attitudes, imposed unnecessary exclusion and denial of autonomy.
It is a different set of issues to the UK, but in some ways socially parallel.
Part of the BBC WS "Assigment" series. 30 minutes. It is better than the slightly clickbait title suggests ("How Germany fails disabled people.")
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct8h19
Only MP's are likely to have 80K private pension, will be very few others for sure having more than a small amount which precludes them from all the freebies the spongers get on top of pension tax free.
More of an enthusiastic amateur.
This is why people are dubious about promises to “invest”.
The inflated cost of land is supply and demand, and the rise in the cost of materials, particularly post covid has contributed more than anything new regs have done. House sizes have increased over the last 40 years but not since covid when material prices went up by nearly a quarter.
The biggest gap isn't between the cost then and now caused by higher standards, which anyway are good for consumers because they lower bills for decades, your buying a better product. It's larger and cheaper to heat.
The size of a 1bed flat in the 80's was about 40m2, by 2000 it was close to 50m2 and now it's about 55m2. for a two bed semi it's gone from under 75m2 to nearly 95m2.
The could say the solution is to go back to boxes but I am not keen on that.
The other side of the equation is that the cost of new build has outsripped wage growth for those on low incomes and the rise in interest rates from historic lows has squeezed waht people can afford, so the gap between what people can buy and the price of teh product has widened so the demand shrinks and over time supply reduces to match demand.
Peter.
Start tapering away the state pension at £55,000 say and I and most others will make sure to never extract more than £55,000.
We need a consistent definition of this. If you're born in a place, you're from that place. Obviously Tony Blair is Scottish. I wouldn't quibble at calling Boris Johnson American, nor Terry Butcher Singaporean. But clearly there is more to it than that.
This is because, in politics, “investing” means “pay for what I want to do”, not “putting money into things that will yield a return”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0ml2kle2ko
"Being so young when we did leave, I've personally not seen any change," says 19-year-old Tegan Smith.
For her, the EU is a distant concept.
"My life is normal – this is how it would always have been.
"You don't really think about what's going on worldwide... so I've not really had any thought into it," Tegan says.
....figures from the OBR show that welfare spending has exceeded income tax receipts since at least 2011. Furthermore, the gap between welfare spending and income tax receipts has narrowed in recent years, with the positions forecast to reverse in 2026/27 and beyond.
Almost half the public – 48 per cent – has said that whoever replaces Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister should call an election, according to a YouGov poll of 4,960 people conducted on Tuesday.
Some 35 per cent believed there was no need for a general election, while a further 17 per cent said they did not know."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/06/24/darren-jones-i-will-not-run-against-andy-burnham/
Politicians still don’t understand the difference between CapEx and OpEx, none of them would last five minutes working as a department head in the private sector.
It seems to me that it's a good thing that misuse of statistics by politicians, of any stripe, can be commented on by the UK Statistics Authority.
Emma Reynolds apparently had childhood in France and is fluent - maybe a late challenge?
10 years ago, today, the British people triggered an earthquake when they voted to get their country back.
But the political class have betrayed Britain and not delivered a proper Brexit...
https://x.com/Nigel_Farage/status/2069389861669236777
And yes, proper
communismBrexit hasn't been tried yet. Despite Brexiteers being in charge for most of the last ten years.