[The Weeping Angel]

[Youngian]

Isn't money laundering police business? Perhaps law enforcement are following the money in business accounts of replaceable minnows like Acme Barbers Ltd. I doubt the dope running the vape shop is Mr Big.
Pubs would be a better bet for discreet laundering or maybe those independent petrol stations who are even a bit cheaper than Tesco. The sort of places white English people like to frequent.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Might be relatively small amounts of money, but it's very visible. It's rather like litter and potholes, it makes the state look like it can't be arsed, and people hate that.

Political impetus was thrown behind getting rid of the dodgiest candy shops from Oxford Street, with some success. Regular processes weren't doing that. So nothing wrong with Burnham doing the same.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Quite a bit more detail here. It's essentially more powers for councils. He gives the example of action by (I presume) Manchester City Council to shut down a street of flagrant law breakers in Cheetham Hill.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg90el9236o

[Abernathy]

I have to say that, so far, Burnham’s political instincts in number ten seem to be absolutely on the money. He seems to have considered carefully what went wrong under Starmer’s premiership and immediately set about doing things differently and rectifying quite a few things that are of widespread popular concern. His summer “listening” tour of the country is an imaginative, and hopefully, very electorally effective initiative. Props to whoever came up with the idea.

Even the way he is apparently dealing with the issue of the two hoodlums serving time for the manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper potentially having to be released from gaol early (to widespread public outrage) is looking politically deft. It’s somehow quite hard to imagine Keir Starmer reacting quite so urgently to this problem.

[Tubby Isaacs]

It does seem like Starmer with better comms, which suits me very well.

I suppose the energy package is going to be first very big test. You've got literally everyone else calling for free money for everyone. Hopefully there's a political constituency for someone who the electorate we need to prioritize.

[davidjay]

Might be relatively small amounts of money, but it's very visible. It's rather like litter and potholes, it makes the state look like it can't be arsed, and people hate that.

Political impetus was thrown behind getting rid of the dodgiest candy shops from Oxford Street, with some success. Regular processes weren't doing that. So nothing wrong with Burnham doing the same.

Take care of the little things. Litter, potholes and dodgy shops all make people feel uneasy; there goes the neighbourhood.

[satnav]

Last Summer Nigel Farage was allowed to set the political agenda by holding weekly press conferences throughout August. News channels were happy to air the press conferences because it was cheap TV when there wasn't a great deal of news to report. Farage was rarely asked any tough questions so he came away looking very accomplished.

The people around Burnham clearly took note of Farage's tactics and now they are ensuring that Burnham is able to set the agenda by going on his tour and meeting members of the pubic and business leaders and listening to their concerns.

[Tubby Isaacs]

In an interview with Times Radio, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, claimed that Andy Burnham has had more small boat arrivals in his first three weeks in office than any other prime minister. Philp said:

Three thousand have entered our country in the first 22 days of Andy Burnham’s premiership, that is more … than any other prime minister has seen in their first 22 days.

You'd think boat crossings were seasonal or something.

And even then, Philp is still lying. Truss and Sunak's first 3 weeks both saw more arrivals.

[Boiler]

If ever a bloke had a punchable, weasel fizzog... it is Philp.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Burnham suggests a ban on disposable barbecues in public places, which seems sensible enough. The Guardian phones a few campaigners and turns it into a story about him not taking climate change seriously enough.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/202 ... ldfires-uk

Last word goes to Greenpeace.

The Greenpeace political campaigner Angharad Hopkinson said: “To truly protect the public, the government must also address the fossil-fuelled elephant in the room that is driving extreme temperatures. The climate crisis is staring us in the face, threatening our national security and straining our resilience to breaking point.

“Burnham has acknowledged the dangers of these conditions by convening Cobra; now he must match that urgency with a real long-term plan to end our reliance on fossil fuels – the ultimate driver of climate change – once and for all.”

You know, Angharad, I think I've heard the government mention something a bit like this.