“I’m just an ordinary Northern bloke” doesn’t exactly qualify him to lead a country of 70m people and the 6th richest country in the world (and falling). Paul is dead right that slick comms won’t cut it anymore and it’s about the vision and message on how to kickstart growth. We need something very radical with either huge benefits cuts to finance tax cuts or massive spending financed through even higher borrowing. Increasing taxes won’t lead to growth.
I would love to believe that Burnham will deliver on the promises he made to the people of Makerfield. Your analysis is right, all the soundbites and slick PR we’re getting now may produce a temporary poll bounce, but realistically count for jack. What he needs to do will never fly with the Labour Party. As Pat McFadden let on, all they want to do is tax those working more so they can give more to those who don’t so they can feel good about themselves. The fundamentals in this country are broken and only a radical and to be honest, painful, rewiring from the ground up is going to work. There are no easy answers left. If there were, what passes for our political elite would have grabbed at them. Right now, I increasingly try not to think about the future as it looks darker than ever before.
Agreed. Inadequate and actually not really necessary. How you run the country is not dependent on where you run it from. This reminds me of the EU once in a while going to Strasbourg to run things instead of Brussels. Expensive and pointless.
Always an accurate evaluation Paul. I don’t believe he has the courage but remain optimistic. All I see at the moment is Russel Kane (which is worth checking out) and a man who acts like a Councillor not the leader of our country.
Paul is right, of course. But the steps our new PM needs to take require courage - to face down his backbenchers and that part of the country in thrall to the Daily Mail and GB News. Sadly, if Kemi Badenoch is right in calling Burnham a people-pleaser, he won’t do it. A pity, since he has the power now and , briefly, the opportunity.
My point, perhaps poorly made, was simply that some media outlets, and their viewers and readers, will be disinclined to give the PM any time, or to cut him any slack if (for example) he has the courage to remove the triple lock.
Sir John Glubb wrote a natty little essay ( 26 pages in 1977) called the "The Fate of Empires" - a few of us ( thanks to @Niall Warry) think we've hit this stage in our nations decline:
The Age of Decadence. Decadence is marked by:
Defensiveness
Pessimism
Materialism
Frivolity
An influx of foreigners
The Welfare State
A weakening of religion.
further "Decadence" is due to:
Too long a period of wealth and power
Selfishness
Love of money
The loss of a sense of duty.
I would commend folks to read this - not so much for an answer - as Paul writes, we're all dead in the long run - but it at least provides us a framework for understanding the terminal predicament we're all in.
Yep. And I will give you Burnham’s answer to the immigration problem …
Oh, there’s a blank space. Because he’s said nothing. Man up And-eh.
He already on borrowed time from me because I thoroughly question his dodgy mandate.
“I’m just an ordinary Northern bloke” doesn’t exactly qualify him to lead a country of 70m people and the 6th richest country in the world (and falling). Paul is dead right that slick comms won’t cut it anymore and it’s about the vision and message on how to kickstart growth. We need something very radical with either huge benefits cuts to finance tax cuts or massive spending financed through even higher borrowing. Increasing taxes won’t lead to growth.
I would love to believe that Burnham will deliver on the promises he made to the people of Makerfield. Your analysis is right, all the soundbites and slick PR we’re getting now may produce a temporary poll bounce, but realistically count for jack. What he needs to do will never fly with the Labour Party. As Pat McFadden let on, all they want to do is tax those working more so they can give more to those who don’t so they can feel good about themselves. The fundamentals in this country are broken and only a radical and to be honest, painful, rewiring from the ground up is going to work. There are no easy answers left. If there were, what passes for our political elite would have grabbed at them. Right now, I increasingly try not to think about the future as it looks darker than ever before.
Agreed. Inadequate and actually not really necessary. How you run the country is not dependent on where you run it from. This reminds me of the EU once in a while going to Strasbourg to run things instead of Brussels. Expensive and pointless.
Always an accurate evaluation Paul. I don’t believe he has the courage but remain optimistic. All I see at the moment is Russel Kane (which is worth checking out) and a man who acts like a Councillor not the leader of our country.
Paul is right, of course. But the steps our new PM needs to take require courage - to face down his backbenchers and that part of the country in thrall to the Daily Mail and GB News. Sadly, if Kemi Badenoch is right in calling Burnham a people-pleaser, he won’t do it. A pity, since he has the power now and , briefly, the opportunity.
How patronising. We aren’t in thrall to GB News or the Daily Mail thank you. You only have to walk through any town centre to be radicalised.
My point, perhaps poorly made, was simply that some media outlets, and their viewers and readers, will be disinclined to give the PM any time, or to cut him any slack if (for example) he has the courage to remove the triple lock.
Sir John Glubb wrote a natty little essay ( 26 pages in 1977) called the "The Fate of Empires" - a few of us ( thanks to @Niall Warry) think we've hit this stage in our nations decline:
The Age of Decadence. Decadence is marked by:
Defensiveness
Pessimism
Materialism
Frivolity
An influx of foreigners
The Welfare State
A weakening of religion.
further "Decadence" is due to:
Too long a period of wealth and power
Selfishness
Love of money
The loss of a sense of duty.
I would commend folks to read this - not so much for an answer - as Paul writes, we're all dead in the long run - but it at least provides us a framework for understanding the terminal predicament we're all in.
What precisely do you mean by "economic justice"?