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“I don’t like being mean to Andy Burnham. With his soft, doe-eyed features, it feels rather like punching a lamb. But it’s quite an achievement when “We’ve got to get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets” isn’t actually the stupidest thing a politician has said in any given week.
The other day Burnham kicked off his not-quite-a-leadership bid by urging Labour to embrace “Manchesterism”. This he defined as “business-friendly socialism”, in which the state “rolled back the 1980s” by seizing control of “the basics of life”: housing, energy, water, rail. This included borrowing £40 billion for new council housing.
Obviously, someone urging the country to do the things he’d done as mayor of Greater Manchester would have actually done those things, right? Turns out, not so much.
Burnham did announce, in May 2024, that he was going to build 10,000 council houses by 2028. But over the following year the region started construction on just ten. No, that’s not a typo.
More broadly, during his mayoralty Greater Manchester has gone from building 5 per cent of England’s new houses to 3 per cent. Private housebuilding starts are a third of what they were when he took office in 2017”.
From The Times…
“Reform UK’s former leader in Wales has admitted taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia while being a Member of the European Parliament.
Nathan Gill, 52, from Llangefni, Anglesey, pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery between 6 December 2018 and 18 July 2019.”
The politician took money from Oleg Voloshyn – a man once described by the US government as a “pawn” of Russian secret services – and made speeches in the parliament, statements to a TV channel and arranged an event with a pro-Russian politician.
Gill will be sentenced in November and his defence barrister said he expected to be jailed.
The Old Bailey was told he was tasked by Ukrainian Oleg Voloshyn on at least eight occasions to make specific statements in return for money and there was evidence of WhatsApp messages between the two men.
Mr Voloshyn is a former member of the Ukrainian parliament for the pro-Russian Opposition Platform for Life party“https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly622k0jm4o
How long before Nige is on X, blaming this terrible incident on immigrants without any evidence?
Nah, far easier to just turn politics into a neverending social media style ‘debate’ where everyone just shouts at each other all the time and nobody ever offers any practical solution to anything.
It’s getting incredibly boring waking up to the same headlines day after day about what rubbish various politicians have been spouting. Little is ever done to move the debate on, just endless doom and gloom.
If the Labour Party conference and the Lawyer is going to keep mentioning Reform then the news outlets are bound to report.
Own goal comes to mind
.Well yes, that’s precisely the point.
We seem to essentially now be living in one perennial election campaign with little actually being done about anything.
Listening to the Government, Tories and Reform you’d think there were literally zero other issues than immigration so let’s say it was resolved overnight then what would the country then look like, everything would be rosy, right?
It’s reported Reeves has confirmed plans to ”water down’ the OBR’s scrutiny of her tax and spend plans.
Last year she announced to great fanfare how the OBR would be enhanced and given greater power to scrutinize Labour’s tax, spending and borrowing.
Her economic prowess has been exposed as the same old Labour tax & spend and now she’s looking to hide the mess by raising taxes again in the November budget something one year ago she swore she wouldn’t do!
The lowering of the NI threshold from £9,100 TO £5,000 dragged many part time workers into the net exposing business’ to significantly higher payments than that reported by lifting the top rate.Meaning a business with people earning under £100 per week would now have to pay NI on their employees wages.I wonder how many part timers have been ‘let go’ because of it?
And now the talk is of another round of taxation to fill a £20+ billion cavern in the governments finances.
Most people probably don’t remember Labour saying they would set up a department to make sure money was spent wisely and they got value for money.
Quietly dropped without a mention!
To HDLG instead of attacking everything I say give me good solid economic reasoning.Defend Labour’s policies without resulting to your usual rhetoric.
good luck to allDear, oh dear. I’m sure there are plenty of Labour party members and party conference attendees who are well-versed in British modern culture
Sadly, Mahmood isnt one of them; she needs a cultural history lesson.
Brits concerned about levels of immigration and some of the issues attached to it are “Heir to skinheads”, in her eyes.
The original skinheads from the late 60s were followers of ska and soul, reggae and were early adopters of multi-culturalism in the UK, at that time and engaged with their counterparts in the Jamaican communities across the big cities, with their common love of ska and reggae.
They represented a time of racial and class inclusivity, community, and a shared passion for music and style.The Trojan clothes label was at the forefront in terms of clobber and still is today.
Cultural history lesson over. If anyone is in Liverpool at the mo please educate Mahmood.
Back of the net….except it’s another own goal.
So which party do you think could do better at this moment in time?
One of these days we might get an answer to this very simple question.
Will anyone actually admit that they think Reform would do better. And then explain exactly how they were going to do it.Especially when it comes to the economy.
I’m not attacking everyone I’m questioning your right wing view kid , you seem to think the garden was rosy when Labour walked in , it wasn’t , this is why Labour are having to squeeze , another direct question kid , who can do better and how can they do it …. Lol Truss tax cuts of Farage fantasy …I’m waiting with baited breath
Pick 3 on Saturday champion 2025/2026
Is the country really in such a parlous state that it needs saving by anybody? I don’t see any barefooted ragged arse kids round my way, plenty of £25 000 plus cars though.
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysNot sure if you’re being serious, Purwell, as I have never thought of you as an “I’m all right, Jack” type of person, but just in case you were:
https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/child-poverty-statistics-causes-and-the-uks-policy-response/
An estimated 4.3 million children live in poverty in the UK.
Another thing to bear in mind is that hardly anyone buys a car these days: they’re usually leased.
Once again no reasoning just a left wing self righteous virtue signalling act who believes no one else is allowed an opinion.
What right wing views have I posted?
Yes I think Labour are totally economically incapable as they are proving now and have done in the past.
Is Starmer going to call a general election?
So what’s the point speculating what others may or may not do?
Found Andy Burnham’s comment abut the bond market really laughable …… just where does he think all the borrowed money comes from?
Think I’m going to continue posting here just to rub up the self righteous virtue signallers.
good luck to all
I think Purwell is just pointing out that things are not actually as bad as the media and Reform keep telling us. When I was a young mother we ran old cars that my husband kept on the road because he had a welding kit in the garage. Nobody drives cars like that any more. I lived in charity shop clothes and we passed children’s clothes around the village. We had one meal out a year that an unmarried childless friend paid for because he wanted the kids to know what it was like to eat in a restaurant ( and this was with my husband being a graduate engineer who in later life became a leading expert in his field). It was many years before I started paying to have a coffee when out and about and it took ages for me to get used to the fact that I could afford to do so. I’ve got to be honest though and say that I only had two children because I knew I couldn’t afford a third, not if I wanted them to go to uni etc. And I don’t understand why people bring children into the world if they can’t afford them. Which isn’t saying that there shouldn’t be safety nets for anyone who falls on hard times or someone unmarried finds themselves pregnant ( there but for the grace of God etc; I was a child is the swinging sixties). My kids were in their teens before we had a package holiday abroad. I think any money should go straight to the children: education, free school meals etc not put into the pockets of parents who might not spend it on the kids. Every child should be able to fulfil their true potential and I like to think I’m supporting a Labour Party that believes that, too. And I’ll certainly tell them so if I feel they are failing in that.
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