It's been all over for Scotland since South Korea lost. At that point, -1 goal difference at 3 points was the minimum bar. And even that may end up not making it.
Yes, the goals given away to Brazil cost Scotland very dear. And the failure to get more against Haiti. Sad, but 1 goal in 3 games doesn't really deserve to go through to be honest.
Even if Scotland had just gone 1-0 down against Brazil, I think it would probably not have been enough. That would have seen three countries on 3 points, with -1 goal difference: Croatia, South Korea and Scotland. And, I can't see all of them making it through.
Scotland needed to either (a) manage a point against Morocco (which I felt they deserved); or (b) score more than once against Haiti (which they seemed disinclined to do).
Assuming that Burnham gets massive devolution passed before the next election, do the Tories and Reform campaign to reverse it, or would it be here to stay and they accept it's too difficult to undo and policitally unpopular to take power from the regions and send it to Whitehall ?
I'd assume keep it on the basis it is often a hassle to undo, although Labour have gotten around, they say, to abolishing PCCs.
* The south is paying the price for economic failure in the north, Andy Burnham is expected to say next week as he unveils radical plans to devolve powers and money from central government to England’s regions
* In his first big policy speech since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister, Burnham will set out an economic strategy under which Whitehall budgets will be slashed and money diverted to be spent by regional mayors
* Burnham will argue that giving mayors new powers and funding to deliver social housing, tackle welfare dependency and run post-16 education will boost economic growth across the country
* This in return will reduce the dependency of the north and Midlands on tax “handouts” from London and the southeast
* Burnham will commit himself to spending a significant amount of his expected premiership in a “No10 of the North” to show his commitment to devolution and rebalancing the economy
* He is also expected to set out plans for a “devolution-first” agenda across Whitehall, under which departments will be expected to assess which areas of their responsibility and funding should be transferred to regional governments
* It is likely to reduce the size of Whitehall as swathes of roles in departments such as transport, education and work and pensions are devolved
* The National Office of Statistics calculates that people in London pay £24,400 in tax on average but get back just £19,500 in spending on public services. In the southeast they pay in £17,600 and get £15,900 back. Yet in the northwest they pay £12,700 in taxes and get back £17,300 in public spending. In the northeast it is £11,200 and £17,400 respectively
All parties talk a big game on devolving power, but it doesn't usually happen, instead being a way of embedding centralised control. It will be interesting if, having been a mayor, Burnham actually believes it and can push through Westminster and Whitehall distaste for local and regional government.
* The south is paying the price for economic failure in the north, Andy Burnham is expected to say next week as he unveils radical plans to devolve powers and money from central government to England’s regions
* In his first big policy speech since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister, Burnham will set out an economic strategy under which Whitehall budgets will be slashed and money diverted to be spent by regional mayors
* Burnham will argue that giving mayors new powers and funding to deliver social housing, tackle welfare dependency and run post-16 education will boost economic growth across the country
* This in return will reduce the dependency of the north and Midlands on tax “handouts” from London and the southeast
* Burnham will commit himself to spending a significant amount of his expected premiership in a “No10 of the North” to show his commitment to devolution and rebalancing the economy
* He is also expected to set out plans for a “devolution-first” agenda across Whitehall, under which departments will be expected to assess which areas of their responsibility and funding should be transferred to regional governments
* It is likely to reduce the size of Whitehall as swathes of roles in departments such as transport, education and work and pensions are devolved
* The National Office of Statistics calculates that people in London pay £24,400 in tax on average but get back just £19,500 in spending on public services. In the southeast they pay in £17,600 and get £15,900 back. Yet in the northwest they pay £12,700 in taxes and get back £17,300 in public spending. In the northeast it is £11,200 and £17,400 respectively
All parties talk a big game on devolving power, but it doesn't usually happen, instead being a way of embedding centralised control. It will be interesting if, having been a mayor, Burnham actually believes it and can push through Westminster and Whitehall distaste for local and regional government.
Good news for the people of Teeside that their redevelopment money will be under the stewardship of Ben T Houchem
* The south is paying the price for economic failure in the north, Andy Burnham is expected to say next week as he unveils radical plans to devolve powers and money from central government to England’s regions
* In his first big policy speech since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister, Burnham will set out an economic strategy under which Whitehall budgets will be slashed and money diverted to be spent by regional mayors
* Burnham will argue that giving mayors new powers and funding to deliver social housing, tackle welfare dependency and run post-16 education will boost economic growth across the country
* This in return will reduce the dependency of the north and Midlands on tax “handouts” from London and the southeast
* Burnham will commit himself to spending a significant amount of his expected premiership in a “No10 of the North” to show his commitment to devolution and rebalancing the economy
* He is also expected to set out plans for a “devolution-first” agenda across Whitehall, under which departments will be expected to assess which areas of their responsibility and funding should be transferred to regional governments
* It is likely to reduce the size of Whitehall as swathes of roles in departments such as transport, education and work and pensions are devolved
* The National Office of Statistics calculates that people in London pay £24,400 in tax on average but get back just £19,500 in spending on public services. In the southeast they pay in £17,600 and get £15,900 back. Yet in the northwest they pay £12,700 in taxes and get back £17,300 in public spending. In the northeast it is £11,200 and £17,400 respectively
All parties talk a big game on devolving power, but it doesn't usually happen, instead being a way of embedding centralised control. It will be interesting if, having been a mayor, Burnham actually believes it and can push through Westminster and Whitehall distaste for local and regional government.
Good news for the people of Teeside that their redevelopment money will be under the stewardship of Ben T Houchem
There are a lot of legal reasons why you could avoid giving Ben any more powers - just insist on audited accounts signed by the auditor
* The south is paying the price for economic failure in the north, Andy Burnham is expected to say next week as he unveils radical plans to devolve powers and money from central government to England’s regions
* In his first big policy speech since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister, Burnham will set out an economic strategy under which Whitehall budgets will be slashed and money diverted to be spent by regional mayors
* Burnham will argue that giving mayors new powers and funding to deliver social housing, tackle welfare dependency and run post-16 education will boost economic growth across the country
* This in return will reduce the dependency of the north and Midlands on tax “handouts” from London and the southeast
* Burnham will commit himself to spending a significant amount of his expected premiership in a “No10 of the North” to show his commitment to devolution and rebalancing the economy
* He is also expected to set out plans for a “devolution-first” agenda across Whitehall, under which departments will be expected to assess which areas of their responsibility and funding should be transferred to regional governments
* It is likely to reduce the size of Whitehall as swathes of roles in departments such as transport, education and work and pensions are devolved
* The National Office of Statistics calculates that people in London pay £24,400 in tax on average but get back just £19,500 in spending on public services. In the southeast they pay in £17,600 and get £15,900 back. Yet in the northwest they pay £12,700 in taxes and get back £17,300 in public spending. In the northeast it is £11,200 and £17,400 respectively
All parties talk a big game on devolving power, but it doesn't usually happen, instead being a way of embedding centralised control. It will be interesting if, having been a mayor, Burnham actually believes it and can push through Westminster and Whitehall distaste for local and regional government.
Good news for the people of Teeside that their redevelopment money will be under the stewardship of Ben T Houchem
30 degrees in my living room right now, with the fan on!
We need an 'unlike' button.
The heatwave finished here about 6 hours ago. A lovely summer's evening but one which probably requires an extra layer if you're outside. Still hot inside, but that's architecture.
* The south is paying the price for economic failure in the north, Andy Burnham is expected to say next week as he unveils radical plans to devolve powers and money from central government to England’s regions
* In his first big policy speech since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister, Burnham will set out an economic strategy under which Whitehall budgets will be slashed and money diverted to be spent by regional mayors
* Burnham will argue that giving mayors new powers and funding to deliver social housing, tackle welfare dependency and run post-16 education will boost economic growth across the country
* This in return will reduce the dependency of the north and Midlands on tax “handouts” from London and the southeast
* Burnham will commit himself to spending a significant amount of his expected premiership in a “No10 of the North” to show his commitment to devolution and rebalancing the economy
* He is also expected to set out plans for a “devolution-first” agenda across Whitehall, under which departments will be expected to assess which areas of their responsibility and funding should be transferred to regional governments
* It is likely to reduce the size of Whitehall as swathes of roles in departments such as transport, education and work and pensions are devolved
* The National Office of Statistics calculates that people in London pay £24,400 in tax on average but get back just £19,500 in spending on public services. In the southeast they pay in £17,600 and get £15,900 back. Yet in the northwest they pay £12,700 in taxes and get back £17,300 in public spending. In the northeast it is £11,200 and £17,400 respectively
All parties talk a big game on devolving power, but it doesn't usually happen, instead being a way of embedding centralised control. It will be interesting if, having been a mayor, Burnham actually believes it and can push through Westminster and Whitehall distaste for local and regional government.
Good news for the people of Teeside that their redevelopment money will be under the stewardship of Ben T Houchem
There are a lot of legal reasons why you could avoid giving Ben any more powers - just insist on audited accounts signed by the auditor
Given the (lack of) standard of auditing in this country I doubt that would be a problem.
Assuming that Burnham gets massive devolution passed before the next election, do the Tories and Reform campaign to reverse it, or would it be here to stay and they accept it's too difficult to undo and policitally unpopular to take power from the regions and send it to Whitehall ?
I hope not. As long as it works. Proper devolution of power from the centre is the first thing I have heard from Burnham that I can agree with.
Likely to be beneficial to some places and detrimental to others.
Especially so if they have increased scope for taxing and borrowing.
What happens to any places which bankrupt themselves and then ask for a bailout ?
BBC Newsnight @BBCNewsnight · 20m "You're spending something like £65 billion on defence and £360 billion on welfare. Lucky you, you must not feel any danger..."
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski on Britain's defence spending.
.@ZiaYusufUK is a fantastic orator amongst a typical BBC audience and out of touch MPs.
The audience member blamed Brexit for all of the country’s problems.
Zia correctly pointed out that neither Labour nor the Tories have delivered what the British public voted for.
Well, given that my desires for Brexit were fundamentally diffferent to those of -say- a steel worker from Redcar, that's kind of inevitable, isn't it?
BBC Newsnight @BBCNewsnight · 20m "You're spending something like £65 billion on defence and £360 billion on welfare. Lucky you, you must not feel any danger..."
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski on Britain's defence spending.
He has a point but there's no shortage of other countries which are even worse.
For example:
While many allies have raised defence spending significantly in light of Russia's war against Ukraine, the Czech Republic spent less than 2% of gross domestic product under a previous government last year, despite aiming to hit the target.
Babis's government cut this year's original defence spending plan to around 1.7-1.8% of GDP but Babis had been saying he was looking for ways to meet the target. This is no longer the case, he said.
"Our government will not meet 2% of GDP for defence either," Babis said in a post on Facebook. "We have to put public finances in order first."
While cutting defence, Babis's cabinet raised spending to subsidise energy prices and to fund road building, increasing the overall budget deficit for this year from levels proposed by the previous outgoing government.
In the face of new security threats and U.S. demands for Europe to bear a larger share of responsibility for its defence, NATO has agreed to raise its minimum spending target to 5% of GDP by 2035, including 3.5% on core military spending.
* The south is paying the price for economic failure in the north, Andy Burnham is expected to say next week as he unveils radical plans to devolve powers and money from central government to England’s regions
* In his first big policy speech since Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation as prime minister, Burnham will set out an economic strategy under which Whitehall budgets will be slashed and money diverted to be spent by regional mayors
* Burnham will argue that giving mayors new powers and funding to deliver social housing, tackle welfare dependency and run post-16 education will boost economic growth across the country
* This in return will reduce the dependency of the north and Midlands on tax “handouts” from London and the southeast
* Burnham will commit himself to spending a significant amount of his expected premiership in a “No10 of the North” to show his commitment to devolution and rebalancing the economy
* He is also expected to set out plans for a “devolution-first” agenda across Whitehall, under which departments will be expected to assess which areas of their responsibility and funding should be transferred to regional governments
* It is likely to reduce the size of Whitehall as swathes of roles in departments such as transport, education and work and pensions are devolved
* The National Office of Statistics calculates that people in London pay £24,400 in tax on average but get back just £19,500 in spending on public services. In the southeast they pay in £17,600 and get £15,900 back. Yet in the northwest they pay £12,700 in taxes and get back £17,300 in public spending. In the northeast it is £11,200 and £17,400 respectively
All parties talk a big game on devolving power, but it doesn't usually happen, instead being a way of embedding centralised control. It will be interesting if, having been a mayor, Burnham actually believes it and can push through Westminster and Whitehall distaste for local and regional government.
Good news for the people of Teeside that their redevelopment money will be under the stewardship of Ben T Houchem
There are a lot of legal reasons why you could avoid giving Ben any more powers - just insist on audited accounts signed by the auditor
Given the (lack of) standard of auditing in this country I doubt that would be a problem.
Oh I’m sure there are some local authorities where dodgy accounts have been signed off.
My point is the Ben’s accounts have never been signed off due to problems so if the plan is to not delegate things to him there are ways of doing so
.@ZiaYusufUK is a fantastic orator amongst a typical BBC audience and out of touch MPs.
The audience member blamed Brexit for all of the country’s problems.
Zia correctly pointed out that neither Labour nor the Tories have delivered what the British public voted for.
Well, given that my desires for Brexit were fundamentally diffferent to those of -say- a steel worker from Redcar, that's kind of inevitable, isn't it?
Nonsense. There was one true brexit vision. We keep it in a black-satin lined box that no light can escape or enter. Though we can condemn and cast out unbelievers.
Assuming that Burnham gets massive devolution passed before the next election, do the Tories and Reform campaign to reverse it, or would it be here to stay and they accept it's too difficult to undo and policitally unpopular to take power from the regions and send it to Whitehall ?
I hope not. As long as it works. Proper devolution of power from the centre is the first thing I have heard from Burnham that I can agree with.
Likely to be beneficial to some places and detrimental to others.
Especially so if they have increased scope for taxing and borrowing.
What happens to any places which bankrupt themselves and then ask for a bailout ?
I'm sure you can think of almost any other developed nation cos they'll be more devolved than us. Then look at what they do.
Assuming that Burnham gets massive devolution passed before the next election, do the Tories and Reform campaign to reverse it, or would it be here to stay and they accept it's too difficult to undo and policitally unpopular to take power from the regions and send it to Whitehall ?
I hope not. As long as it works. Proper devolution of power from the centre is the first thing I have heard from Burnham that I can agree with.
Likely to be beneficial to some places and detrimental to others.
Especially so if they have increased scope for taxing and borrowing.
What happens to any places which bankrupt themselves and then ask for a bailout ?
I'm sure you can think of almost any other developed nation cos they'll be more devolved than us. Then look at what they do.
Its not what others do - and there will be variety there.
Its what would be done in this country.
Is Burnham willing to have the 'Burnham to City: Drop Dead' headlines ?
'Sir John Major throws shade on the new prime minister in waiting. "Mr Burnham has had great success, I'm told, with buses," he says. "A little different from dealing with Xi, Putin, Trump, Macron, Merz."
Comments
Scotland needed to either (a) manage a point against Morocco (which I felt they deserved); or (b) score more than once against Haiti (which they seemed disinclined to do).
dragonsReform, LibDems and a Tory.Still hot inside, but that's architecture.
@theipaper
Tomorrow's front page: The Burnham bounce: Labour leapfrogs Reform with new leader
https://x.com/theipaper/status/2070626942408126861
(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges
·
32m
Just one poll. But there's a trend.
https://x.com/DPJHodges
Especially so if they have increased scope for taxing and borrowing.
What happens to any places which bankrupt themselves and then ask for a bailout ?
BBC Newsnight
@BBCNewsnight
·
20m
"You're spending something like £65 billion on defence and £360 billion on welfare. Lucky you, you must not feel any danger..."
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski on Britain's defence spending.
https://x.com/BBCNewsnight/status/2070632151779783161
For example:
While many allies have raised defence spending significantly in light of Russia's war against Ukraine, the Czech Republic spent less than 2% of gross domestic product under a previous government last year, despite aiming to hit the target.
Babis's government cut this year's original defence spending plan to around 1.7-1.8% of GDP but Babis had been saying he was looking for ways to meet the target. This is no longer the case, he said.
"Our government will not meet 2% of GDP for defence either," Babis said in a post on Facebook. "We have to put public finances in order first."
While cutting defence, Babis's cabinet raised spending to subsidise energy prices and to fund road building, increasing the overall budget deficit for this year from levels proposed by the previous outgoing government.
In the face of new security threats and U.S. demands for Europe to bear a larger share of responsibility for its defence, NATO has agreed to raise its minimum spending target to 5% of GDP by 2035, including 3.5% on core military spending.
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/czech-republic-will-miss-nato-defence-spending-target-again-this-year-pm-babis-2026-06-19/
https://x.com/independent/status/2070582940237447193
My point is the Ben’s accounts have never been signed off due to problems so if the plan is to not delegate things to him there are ways of doing so
Then look at what they do.
Farage heatwave 2026.
The guys on a bit of the opposite of a roll, isn't he?
Its what would be done in this country.
Is Burnham willing to have the 'Burnham to City: Drop Dead' headlines ?
There is only London.
You need at least two numbers to fit a trend, and at least three to pick the trend with the best fit.