Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lancaster? Or is that now the prison. The King is, as I understand it, also Duke of Lancaster,
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
A fascinating speech. It's against so much of what the Labour movement stands for. And he didn't mention the Labour party once. But he did talk up his other party by referring to the Rochdale pioneers who responded to food poverty by starting the Co-operative movement.
He has certainly put down a marker and with interesting ideas
He needs to choose his COE wisely and his cabinet
I hope he succeeds, though I expect it will have upset those in the south and London
The problem he has is just how quickly he can make it happen and for the electorate to feel it
Hasn't upset me in London! It's not really London that has been controlling everything, it's Whitehall. London itself could benefit from further devolution of power. A good speech, I thought.
A fascinating speech. It's against so much of what the Labour movement stands for. And he didn't mention the Labour party once. But he did talk up his other party by referring to the Rochdale pioneers who responded to food poverty by starting the Co-operative movement.
He has certainly put down a marker and with interesting ideas
He needs to choose his COE wisely and his cabinet
I hope he succeeds, though I expect it will have upset those in the south and London
The problem he has is just how quickly he can make it happen and for the electorate to feel it
Hasn't upset me in London! It's not really London that has been controlling everything, it's Whitehall. London itself could benefit from further devolution of power. A good speech, I thought.
It’s the assumption that the economy has to be zero sum game, which led to the original throttling of places like Birmingham, as deliberate government policy.
A fascinating speech. It's against so much of what the Labour movement stands for. And he didn't mention the Labour party once. But he did talk up his other party by referring to the Rochdale pioneers who responded to food poverty by starting the Co-operative movement.
He has certainly put down a marker and with interesting ideas
He needs to choose his COE wisely and his cabinet
I hope he succeeds, though I expect it will have upset those in the south and London
The problem he has is just how quickly he can make it happen and for the electorate to feel it
Hasn't upset me in London! It's not really London that has been controlling everything, it's Whitehall. London itself could benefit from further devolution of power. A good speech, I thought.
It’s the assumption that the economy has to be zero sum game, which led to the original throttling of places like Birmingham, as deliberate government policy.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Beeston Castle?
That's a good one!
Restore Beeston castle to be a northern England seat for the Monarch and level up England!
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lancaster? Or is that now the prison. The King is, as I understand it, also Duke of Lancaster,
I think the Prison is now closed and the Castle reverted back to Crown control - so could be a goer. I think Beeston Castle is National Heritage (or something like that).
Part of politics is narrative. Part is policy. And part is execution.
Starmer never even seemed to grasp that narrative was an important first step, beyond 'not the Tories". And that is part of the reason he became so unpopular.
Burnham clearly has a more coherent vision. And is a positive one: not reactive to the agenda Reform are setting.
Whether or not the policy detail or execution are up to scratch obviously remains to be seen...
That's the biggest difference with Starmer. After two years in government, I still have no clear idea of what Starmer wanted to achieve. The only thing that comes to mind is his housing pledge, which is already a clear failure, and a failure owing to lack of government action.
Burnham has, if nothing else, at least set out the terms on which we can judge his government. For example:
Burnham says there is an imbalance in resources between national and local governments, and promises "the biggest re-balancing the country has seen" That will not be hard to mark success/fail.
'We will reduce the welfare bill in a way which is fair and lasting' Ditto. (And not a pledge you expect a Labour PM to highlight.)
All this means absolutely nothing without delivery, but he has at least explained what he wants to do.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Part of politics is narrative. Part is policy. And part is execution.
Starmer never even seemed to grasp that narrative was an important first step, beyond 'not the Tories". And that is part of the reason he became so unpopular.
Burnham clearly has a more coherent vision. And is a positive one: not reactive to the agenda Reform are setting.
Whether or not the policy detail or execution are up to scratch obviously remains to be seen...
That's the biggest difference with Starmer. After two years in government, I still have no clear idea of what Starmer wanted to achieve. The only thing that comes to mind is his housing pledge, which is already a clear failure, and a failure owing to lack of government action.
Burnham has, if nothing else, at least set out the terms on which we can judge his government. For example:
Burnham says there is an imbalance in resources between national and local governments, and promises "the biggest re-balancing the country has seen" That will not be hard to mark success/fail.
'We will reduce the welfare bill in a way which is fair and lasting' Ditto. (And not a pledge you expect a Labour PM to highlight.)
All this means absolutely nothing without delivery, but he has at least explained what he wants to do.
Has he banned the importation of Ming vases? That would sure be one way of preventing government paralysis.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lancaster? Or is that now the prison. The King is, as I understand it, also Duke of Lancaster,
The prison closed in 2011, though I imagine that history makes the interior somewhat austere.
Brings back some great memories of home Ashes tours in the last 20 years or so. 2005 obviously but 2009, then 2013 and 2015 (Broad at Nottingham - just wow).
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lancaster? Or is that now the prison. The King is, as I understand it, also Duke of Lancaster,
The prison closed in 2011, though I imagine that history makes the interior somewhat austere.
Still had the trapdoor where they used to hang people, when I last visited about 7 years ago
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lancaster? Or is that now the prison. The King is, as I understand it, also Duke of Lancaster,
The prison closed in 2011, though I imagine that history makes the interior somewhat austere.
Still had the trapdoor where they used to hang people, when I last visited about 7 years ago
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
That battle is lost - unless you tax the likes of Amazon properly, and tax home deliveries in lieu of business rates. And ban out of town retail parks.
High Streets in the 21st century aren’t for buying televisions and fridges. They are about eating out, meeting with friends, specialist niche shops. They need to be nice places to be, and nice places to walk and cycle to.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
He could restore Mamcunium in Castlefield.
Not sure the Royals like people to think about a time before their lineage...
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
I'm struggling to think where the nearest historic royal castle to Manchester would be.
I could imagine the King being delighted to have the opportunity to restore a castle back into use.
Lancaster? Or is that now the prison. The King is, as I understand it, also Duke of Lancaster,
The prison closed in 2011, though I imagine that history makes the interior somewhat austere.
They should do what they did to the old Oxford prison. The lags would be very happy to stay there these days!
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
A fascinating speech. It's against so much of what the Labour movement stands for. And he didn't mention the Labour party once. But he did talk up his other party by referring to the Rochdale pioneers who responded to food poverty by starting the Co-operative movement.
He has certainly put down a marker and with interesting ideas
He needs to choose his COE wisely and his cabinet
I hope he succeeds, though I expect it will have upset those in the south and London
The problem he has is just how quickly he can make it happen and for the electorate to feel it
Hasn't upset me in London! It's not really London that has been controlling everything, it's Whitehall. London itself could benefit from further devolution of power. A good speech, I thought.
A fascinating speech. It's against so much of what the Labour movement stands for. And he didn't mention the Labour party once. But he did talk up his other party by referring to the Rochdale pioneers who responded to food poverty by starting the Co-operative movement.
He has certainly put down a marker and with interesting ideas
He needs to choose his COE wisely and his cabinet
I hope he succeeds, though I expect it will have upset those in the south and London
The problem he has is just how quickly he can make it happen and for the electorate to feel it
Hasn't upset me in London! It's not really London that has been controlling everything, it's Whitehall. London itself could benefit from further devolution of power. A good speech, I thought.
It’s the assumption that the economy has to be zero sum game, which led to the original throttling of places like Birmingham, as deliberate government policy.
Wasn't the point of throttling Birmingham based on the idea that people barred from opening in Birmingham would just open somewhere else in the UK.
Problem is while that was very vaguely true then (but would never actually work for the reasons why industries have a habit of clustering together, see Competitive Advantage of Nations ) it definitely doesn't work when you next choice isn't going to be Luton / Liverpool but somewhere in Eastern Europe.
It does tally back to the actual results as can be calculated from the Men 47%, Women 53% split
Men 55% Trump Women 45% Trump =49.7% Trump
Men 43% Harris Women 53% Harris =48.3% Harris
Which matches the actual result.
My guess is older women are more likely to be married compared to single women, but that doesn't matter if you're trying to guess the actions of married women because it is implicitly baked in.
Group vs single though.
If you are trying to predict the behaviour of young married women for example it matters whether it is age or marital status that is the driver
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
Are you suggesting that planning be delegated to the IRA?
Unexpected odd fact: the next stage of the future of Farage rests in the hands of a Radio 4 Thought for the Day contributor, Daniel Greenberg, Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
Lots of vision but only new policies I could see from Burnham were new council homes, No 10 North and no whipping and some more apprenticeships
Maybe the king will have a have a home in Manchester
To be fair to the King he has homes in Scotland, Wales and Norfolk already not just London and the South. I expect he would be fine with a home in rural Cheshire, maybe not inner Manchester which is a bit too much of an industrial revolution city for our traditionalist countryside loving King
Don’t forget that Manchester is part of the County Palatine so in a sense he owns it all anyway
Historical note: Tammany Hall favored women's suffrage because they believed that the women married to their supporters would ask their husbands how to vote. (They were probably right.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
Yes, I almost made that point too. But I'm thinking of the towns of all sizes, where decline is most obvious, rather than the larger cities. That's arguably a tougher problem, and not made easier by the recent successes of (say) Manchester or Leeds ?
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
Do similar in Newcastle. Plenty of space prime for developing into properties currently neglected.
Any plan to build, such as the empty land by the cycle hub in Ouseburn, is usually opposed by NIMBYs
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
That battle is lost - unless you tax the likes of Amazon properly, and tax home deliveries in lieu of business rates. And ban out of town retail parks.
High Streets in the 21st century aren’t for buying televisions and fridges. They are about eating out, meeting with friends, specialist niche shops. They need to be nice places to be, and nice places to walk and cycle to.
That’s a thought. Why don’t you tax Amazon by simply adding £1 to each separate delivery?
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Yes. When Manchester was blown up by the IRA it had 500 people living in the city centre squalour. A massive public and private investment program has transformed the city. This is the blueprint for most decaying town and city centres.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
That makes it a lot fairer if they do that.
And that's the actual plan - but there isn't a anti-Labour news story in that for the telegraph and co so they carefully published only half the story.
Then people who don't do any research republish the half story and it gains traction...
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
That makes it a lot fairer if they do that.
And that's the actual plan - but there isn't a anti-Labour news story in that for the telegraph and co so they carefully published only half the story.
Then people who don't do any research republish the half story and it gains traction...
I didn’t realise that until I listened to the Merryn Talks Money Podcast.
I’d see it as a to govt rather than just anti Labour. After all the same happened when the last lot were in power
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
Do similar in Newcastle. Plenty of space prime for developing into properties currently neglected.
Any plan to build, such as the empty land by the cycle hub in Ouseburn, is usually opposed by NIMBYs
That Ouseburn plan has been approved now I believe with a better design.
The biggest irony is that the best plan for Newcastle would be:
1) build the Sage on Gateshead Quay 2) knock down the Arena 3) Move St James Park there to revitalise that part of the town. 4) You've then got a great site to refurbish to St James moved.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
Yes, I almost made that point too. But I'm thinking of the towns of all sizes, where decline is most obvious, rather than the larger cities. That's arguably a tougher problem, and not made easier by the recent successes of (say) Manchester or Leeds ?
Let me give you Stockton-on-Tees as an example. Ancient market town beset with post-industrial decline. Struggled to compete with neighbouring Middlesbrough, and is close enough to Newcastle for the Metrocentre to draw business away.
Council started off with a review of assets - what do we have. They bought and refurbished the Globe Theatre, now a 4k seater venue pulling in most major touring acts. They built a hotel which is often full. They repossessed vacant shops and opened up Enterprise arcades - mini shops for peanuts rent to get businesses started until they could grow and move into their own shop space. They bought both shopping malls, consolidated the businesses into the newer outdoor one, and literally bulldozed the 1970s one. The park which has replaced it opened last weekend, connecting the riverside to the high street.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
Fewer than 500 lived in Manchester City Centre in 1990. There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly. It can be done.
Yes, I almost made that point too. But I'm thinking of the towns of all sizes, where decline is most obvious, rather than the larger cities. That's arguably a tougher problem, and not made easier by the recent successes of (say) Manchester or Leeds ?
I think I saw a couple of years ago that the Town Centre population of Huddersfield had near doubled over the previous decade (including our former Co-op), so size isn't the be all and end all here this is a trend that can worked with in lots of places.
There is some student population amongst that, but it has to be said that the main student population is outside the ring road.
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
That makes it a lot fairer if they do that.
And that's the actual plan - but there isn't a anti-Labour news story in that for the telegraph and co so they carefully published only half the story.
Then people who don't do any research republish the half story and it gains traction...
I didn’t realise that until I listened to the Merryn Talks Money Podcast.
I’d see it as a to govt rather than just anti Labour. After all the same happened when the last lot were in power
News doesn’t drive traffic, outrage does.
News doesn’t drive traffic, lies that generates outrage does.
The council housing pledge is also clever politics.
The Left NIMBYS (such as a chunk of the Greens) use “enriching evil property developers building houses for the rich” to oppose building.
Forcing them to either acquiesce or oppose council house building puts them in a quandary.
And is the kind of policy that ex-Labour voters would like.
It's a brilliant policy. Local Housing Association commissions the private sector to build houses on land owned by the council. Homes that people want, not homes that builders want to build. No land banking. And once completed they are let at social rent levels as they are Never For Sale. This crashes the rentier sector who largely sell up. Some bigger companies will gain - and thus tenants get tret decently by actual landlords. And the rest of the housing stock is dumped onto the open market.
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
That battle is lost - unless you tax the likes of Amazon properly, and tax home deliveries in lieu of business rates. And ban out of town retail parks.
High Streets in the 21st century aren’t for buying televisions and fridges. They are about eating out, meeting with friends, specialist niche shops. They need to be nice places to be, and nice places to walk and cycle to.
That’s a thought. Why don’t you tax Amazon by simply adding £1 to each separate delivery?
Honestly I think the convenience of home delivery will always trump a local High Street, even with the tax burden equivalised. The same goes with retail parks - if you’re buying furniture or appliances and own a car, it’s just better in every way.
It’s not a coincidence that the successful High Streets are in areas with excellent public transport, low car ownership and/or high population density, meaning 10s of thousands of people are in walking/cycling distance. You also need young people to drink coffee and beer.
Signed - someone who buys something on his local High Street every single day, and is fed up of people in isolated suburbia lecturing on the subject.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
That makes it a lot fairer if they do that.
And that's the actual plan - but there isn't a anti-Labour news story in that for the telegraph and co so they carefully published only half the story.
Then people who don't do any research republish the half story and it gains traction...
I agree that indexation is a better approach
That said capital gains take more risk than income so should be taxed at a lower rate to reflect that
Additionally foreign investors considering places to invest look at a fairly high level screen to reduce the number of options quickly. A 40-45% headline rate for CGT will be a major hindrance vs eg Ireland
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Because if they rebase their rents then they have to rebase the value. Which likely means an equity cure or they lose the property to the lenders.
So they keep it empty and pretend that it’s a “void”
Interesting header, which begs the question: why is Trump so keen for the SAVE act to be passed when it would appear to be counterproductive for him?
The actual aim of the SAVE Act is voter suppression through onerous documentation requirements that Republican voters are more likely to meet than Democrats.
Exactly the same intention as the previous Conservative government had for its own voter ID requirements. Which it implicitly admitted to when it complained the ID requirement didn't deliver the intended advantage for the Conservatives.
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Because if they rebase their rents then they have to rebase the value. Which likely means an equity cure or they lose the property to the lenders.
So they keep it empty and pretend that it’s a “void”
And the lenders don't want to crystallise the loss, if the property is written down in value.
See the giant hole in the ground at Canary Wharf - they dug the foundations for a vast tower, then 2008 happened. Rather than forcing the developer into bankruptcy, the GHITG was frozen in time.
One of my unfulfilled ambitions is to pay CGT. Never quite managed it, sadly.
Not if he puts up CGT to the same rates as income tax you won’t! 48% in Scotland, isn’t it?
The one thing everyone forgets about the CGT is that he is also bringing back indexation.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
That makes it a lot fairer if they do that.
And that's the actual plan - but there isn't a anti-Labour news story in that for the telegraph and co so they carefully published only half the story.
Then people who don't do any research republish the half story and it gains traction...
I agree that indexation is a better approach
That said capital gains take more risk than income so should be taxed at a lower rate to reflect that
Additionally foreign investors considering places to invest look at a fairly high level screen to reduce the number of options quickly. A 40-45% headline rate for CGT will be a major hindrance vs eg Ireland
While true if you look at my example above you would be paying £24,000 under the current scheme and £16,440 under the new / historic one...
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Because if they rebase their rents then they have to rebase the value. Which likely means an equity cure or they lose the property to the lenders.
So they keep it empty and pretend that it’s a “void”
And the lenders don't want to crystallise the loss, if the property is written down in value.
See the giant hole in the ground at Canary Wharf - they dug the foundations for a vast tower, then 2008 happened. Rather than forcing the developer into bankruptcy, the GHITG was frozen in time.
So clever policy would double business rates each year of vacancy, then.....
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Because if they rebase their rents then they have to rebase the value. Which likely means an equity cure or they lose the property to the lenders.
So they keep it empty and pretend that it’s a “void”
Worse if you rebase your property in town 1 that impacts all the properties in town 1.
And an investor in town 1 who lost out may decide to do the same in town 2 to repay the favour.
Remember how Intu used to own a whole pile of out of town shopping centres and now owns none of them...
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Property investment funds and upward only rent agreements. The property funds won’t reduce the rents because that reduces the book value of their fund, and reduces the fund manager’s bonus.
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Property investment funds and upward only rent agreements. The property funds won’t reduce the rents because that reduces the book value of their fund, and reduces the fund manager’s bonus.
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Because if they rebase their rents then they have to rebase the value. Which likely means an equity cure or they lose the property to the lenders.
So they keep it empty and pretend that it’s a “void”
And the lenders don't want to crystallise the loss, if the property is written down in value.
See the giant hole in the ground at Canary Wharf - they dug the foundations for a vast tower, then 2008 happened. Rather than forcing the developer into bankruptcy, the GHITG was frozen in time.
So clever policy would double business rates each year of vacancy, then.....
Why do you think we have so many dodgy shops / barbers and why Oxford Street is full of sweet shops where the leasee is continually changing...
I'm sure someone with more info than I have will be able to explain why some prime town centre commercial property real estate remains empty rather than rents falling....
Property investment funds and upward only rent agreements. The property funds won’t reduce the rents because that reduces the book value of their fund, and reduces the fund manager’s bonus.
And may breach the covenant on the loan they used to buy the property...
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
Wick is the North. What is Andy Burnham going to do about Wick?
Ukraine has restarted counterattack operations in Zaporizhzhia and Lyman, but there's no news yet on the scale of the operation or its success/failure.
In part this will be a test of the extent to which the recent increase in Ukrainian strikes on Russian logistics have affected Russian frontline units.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
The big issue there is quality. As key places they need to be treated as conservation areas are treated.
Otherwise it will done for max profit, which will turn current high streets into bodged up shanty towns.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
You can tell a true northerner: he believes that the north ends 15 miles south of where he was born.
Ukraine has restarted counterattack operations in Zaporizhzhia and Lyman, but there's no news yet on the scale of the operation or its success/failure.
In part this will be a test of the extent to which the recent increase in Ukrainian strikes on Russian logistics have affected Russian frontline units.
These are the two areas of the front where Russia had made most gains in 2026 (besides Pokrovsk), so my guess is that these are relatively small operations aiming to push back the Russians from areas where they will be less well dug in.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
Wick is the North. What is Andy Burnham going to do about Wick?
Deploy some strategic TNT and hope for a strong southerly?
(I am joking, Wick is home to one of my favourite whiskies)
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
As a Midlander it’s certainly not the Midlands. Stoke, yes, Derby yes, Nottingham yes.
Risky. Putting a lot of emphasis on renewing the High Streets in towns and cities.
But a good part of the decline is online shopping and deliveries. How can that be reversed?
Yes, that worries me. All the people who moan about the demise of High Street shopping are the same people who use Tesco online for food, Amazon for everything else, and Lakeside or similar for shopping days out. I'd be very happy to see the revival of the Hight Street, but it will take some pretty radical changes in incentives to achieve. Hope he does it.
Town centres as places to live is surely the way to go ? There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
The big issue there is quality. As key places they need to be treated as conservation areas are treated.
Otherwise it will done for max profit, which will turn current high streets into bodged up shanty towns.
Stockport has been the focus of a Mayoral Development Corporation for a few years and done wonders for the town centre.
I guess that is what he is looking at replicating.
It's also the plan for the Old Trafford regeneration, to go alongside the new stadium.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
You can tell a true northerner: he believes that the north ends 15 miles south of where he was born.
My wife is from near Portsmouth and thinks the north starts at the M4, if not a bit further south.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
You can tell a true northerner: he believes that the north ends 15 miles south of where he was born.
The Firth of Forth then in my case... sounds about right.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
You can tell a true northerner: he believes that the north ends 15 miles south of where he was born.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
You can tell a true northerner: he believes that the north ends 15 miles south of where he was born.
My wife is from near Portsmouth and thinks the north starts at the M4, if not a bit further south.
Everything's relative.
There's a map someone made with the 2021 census dates that put Cambridgeshire and Worcestershire in the north, on the basis of an equal split between North and South in population terms.
I can't remember if there was a version split into thirds, with a Midlands too.
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
Wick is the North. What is Andy Burnham going to do about Wick?
Deploy some strategic TNT and hope for a strong southerly?
(I am joking, Wick is home to one of my favourite whiskies)
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
Wick is the North. What is Andy Burnham going to do about Wick?
Deploy some strategic TNT and hope for a strong southerly?
(I am joking, Wick is home to one of my favourite whiskies)
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
Wick is the North. What is Andy Burnham going to do about Wick?
Deploy some strategic TNT and hope for a strong southerly?
(I am joking, Wick is home to one of my favourite whiskies)
(((Dan Hodges))) @DPJHodges · 14m Going to be a lot of policy and textual analysis of Andy Burnham's speech. But all that really matters at the moment is that he looks a bit different and sounds a bit different. And that should be enough to get him a hearing from the British public. Which is what he needs.
I’m certainly happy with what I heard. Snippets only I’ve been out for a bike ride earlier.
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Is Manchester really the North? Same with Yorkshire. Growing up in Scotland and Tyneside I've always struggled to think of places you can drive to from London in time for breakfast as the "North"...
You can tell a true northerner: he believes that the north ends 15 miles south of where he was born.
My wife is from near Portsmouth and thinks the north starts at the M4, if not a bit further south.
Anyone here share my view that Japan are stonking good value at 9/2 in their upcoming match against Brazil?
They're a serious team and despite Brazil's performance against Scotland, the boys from Brazil look eminently beatable to me.
Maybe laying Brazil at 4/5 is the bet, as the longer it goes the more it is likely to favour Japan, and they certainly won't mind going into extra team.
Comments
It's my Mam's local.
Already got flags out ready.
But the way we do things.
Restore Beeston castle to be a northern England seat for the Monarch and level up England!
After two years in government, I still have no clear idea of what Starmer wanted to achieve.
The only thing that comes to mind is his housing pledge, which is already a clear failure, and a failure owing to lack of government action.
Burnham has, if nothing else, at least set out the terms on which we can judge his government.
For example:
Burnham says there is an imbalance in resources between national and local governments, and promises "the biggest re-balancing the country has seen"
That will not be hard to mark success/fail.
'We will reduce the welfare bill in a way which is fair and lasting'
Ditto. (And not a pledge you expect a Labour PM to highlight.)
All this means absolutely nothing without delivery, but he has at least explained what he wants to do.
Which means a property sold for £200,000 bought for £100,000 in 2010 would not be subject to £100,000 at 24% as it currently is but £200,000 - £158,900 = £41,100 at 40-45%..
Indexation was removed in about 2008 for convenience and it really does need to be brought back for fairness if nothing else.
There's a housing shortage, and a crazy excess of empty (or occupied by criminals) retail space. The conclusion is obvious; it lacks only will, and investment.
https://x.com/sophieheloiset/status/2071540254796902477
RIP Penelope Keith.
High Streets in the 21st century aren’t for buying televisions and fridges. They are about eating out, meeting with friends, specialist niche shops. They need to be nice places to be, and nice places to walk and cycle to.
https://www.malmaison.com/locations/oxford/
There are now 85k residents within a mile of Piccadilly.
It can be done.
The Left NIMBYS (such as a chunk of the Greens) use “enriching evil property developers building houses for the rich” to oppose building.
Forcing them to either acquiesce or oppose council house building puts them in a quandary.
And is the kind of policy that ex-Labour voters would like.
Problem is while that was very vaguely true then (but would never actually work for the reasons why industries have a habit of clustering together, see Competitive Advantage of Nations ) it definitely doesn't work when you next choice isn't going to be Luton / Liverpool but somewhere in Eastern Europe.
If you are trying to predict the behaviour of young married women for example it matters whether it is age or marital status that is the driver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall
For an entertaining description of how Tammany worked, read Plunkitt of Tammany Hall.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2810/2810-h/2810-h.htm
Fun fact: Tammany put up a memorial at the site of the battle of Gettysburg: https://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/union-monuments/new-york/new-york-infantry/42nd-new-york/
But I'm thinking of the towns of all sizes, where decline is most obvious, rather than the larger cities. That's arguably a tougher problem, and not made easier by the recent successes of (say) Manchester or Leeds ?
Any plan to build, such as the empty land by the cycle hub in Ouseburn, is usually opposed by NIMBYs
Like all,here, I wish him well and hope he succeeds. I’ve said I won’t vote Labour again after the Starmer disaster. I’ve even said I’d consider Reform. However if he does succeed in, at least turning it around, and does start doing stuff that genuinely helps the regions I’d consider labour again
However Burnham needs to realise the North is not JUST Manchester.
Then people who don't do any research republish the half story and it gains traction...
I’d see it as a to govt rather than just anti Labour. After all the same happened when the last lot were in power
News doesn’t drive traffic, outrage does.
The biggest irony is that the best plan for Newcastle would be:
1) build the Sage on Gateshead Quay
2) knock down the Arena
3) Move St James Park there to revitalise that part of the town.
4) You've then got a great site to refurbish to St James moved.
Council started off with a review of assets - what do we have. They bought and refurbished the Globe Theatre, now a 4k seater venue pulling in most major touring acts. They built a hotel which is often full. They repossessed vacant shops and opened up Enterprise arcades - mini shops for peanuts rent to get businesses started until they could grow and move into their own shop space. They bought both shopping malls, consolidated the businesses into the newer outdoor one, and literally bulldozed the 1970s one. The park which has replaced it opened last weekend, connecting the riverside to the high street.
There is some student population amongst that, but it has to be said that the main student population is outside the ring road.
FTFY
U.S. BECOMES FIRST NATION TO HOST A FIFA WORLD CUP TEAM AND STRIKE THAT TEAM’S COUNTRY ON THE SAME DAY
https://x.com/FirstSquawk/status/2071069602722058567
What's not to like?
It’s not a coincidence that the successful High Streets are in areas with excellent public transport, low car ownership and/or high population density, meaning 10s of thousands of people are in walking/cycling distance. You also need young people to drink coffee and beer.
Signed - someone who buys something on his local High Street every single day, and is fed up of people in isolated suburbia lecturing on the subject.
That said capital gains take more risk than income so should be taxed at a lower rate to reflect that
Additionally foreign investors considering places to invest look at a fairly high level screen to reduce the number of options quickly. A 40-45% headline rate for CGT will be a major hindrance vs eg Ireland
So they keep it empty and pretend that it’s a “void”
Exactly the same intention as the previous Conservative government had for its own voter ID requirements. Which it implicitly admitted to when it complained the ID requirement didn't deliver the intended advantage for the Conservatives.
See the giant hole in the ground at Canary Wharf - they dug the foundations for a vast tower, then 2008 happened. Rather than forcing the developer into bankruptcy, the GHITG was frozen in time.
And an investor in town 1 who lost out may decide to do the same in town 2 to repay the favour.
Remember how Intu used to own a whole pile of out of town shopping centres and now owns none of them...
In part this will be a test of the extent to which the recent increase in Ukrainian strikes on Russian logistics have affected Russian frontline units.
Otherwise it will done for max profit, which will turn current high streets into bodged up shanty towns.
(I am joking, Wick is home to one of my favourite whiskies)
Mad for it land. No way.
I guess that is what he is looking at replicating.
It's also the plan for the Old Trafford regeneration, to go alongside the new stadium.
Everything's relative.
I can't remember if there was a version split into thirds, with a Midlands too.
Here's the north-south map.
Whimper time. England team not banging.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Paxton#Legal_issues
They're a serious team and despite Brazil's performance against Scotland, the boys from Brazil look eminently beatable to me.
Maybe laying Brazil at 4/5 is the bet, as the longer it goes the more it is likely to favour Japan, and they certainly won't mind going into extra team.
Dyor, as ever, but I'm on.