Mailwatch(ed) Forum

Oh, Lord. (D'you count that as a pun?)

Lisa, can. you possibly stop this? What do you think it achieves?

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham should be allowed to stand as a Labour MP, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said.
In January, Burnham was blocked by Sir Keir Starmer and his allies on Labour's ruling national executive committee (NEC) when he attempted to become the party's candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Labour went on to finish third in the by-election, behind the Green Party and Reform UK, in what had previously been a safe Labour seat.
Nandy told The House Magazine, external she disagreed with the decision to block Burnham from standing and said she would "support him in whatever he wants to do".

Burnham very obviously wasn't suddenly smitten by the prospect of handling complaints about kids in Gorton drinking cider on street corners. He was trying to take over from Starmer, sooner rather than later. You think he public wants more of that soap opera stuff?

Interesting. I heard her recently on the Media Show talking about the future of the BBC amongst other things, and she seemed assured, confident, and on top of her brief.
I've no idea why she would need to get involved in this kind of nonsense.

Killer Whale wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 12:52 pm I've no idea why she would need to get involved in this kind of nonsense.

It's odd, she has a stonking majority so she has no reason to be tailgating his popularity.

Killer Whale wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 12:52 pm Interesting. I heard her recently on the Media Show talking about the future of the BBC amongst other things, and she seemed assured, confident, and on top of her brief.
I've no idea why she would need to get involved in this kind of nonsense.

Yes, I heard her on that too and thought she gave a good account of herself?

Especially as Labour seem to be getting some good support from their recent handling of the Orange cretin.

John plays the greatest hits. Iraq!

Man's a dissimulating cunt.

I thought he stepped up as Shadow Chancellor until the daft 2019 manifesto. Immaturing with age since then.

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2026 8:09 pm I thought he stepped up as Shadow Chancellor until the daft 2019 manifesto. Immaturing with age since then.

Yes, always struck me as the most grounded of Corbyn's inner circle, but there's no need for that anymore.

Mr Turner speaks

I’m a Labour MP, I was born Labour. I had very little choice. It was rammed down our throats as kids. My father was a trade unionist. My mother was a trade unionist. The Labour party is the nearest thing I’ve got to a religion.
I want to be back in the Labour fold, but I’m not going to kowtow, and I’m not going to start doing as I’m told on juries, because it’s the worst idea that any government of any political persuasion could have ever come up with. It’s barmy, and it won’t work

You see, Karl, that self-promoting way you're talking there, might just conceivably be the sort of thing the party are fed up with. There are zillions worse ideas that every alternative to the Labour Government would come up with. As well you know.

The Institute of Government project the "productivity" improvements from the measures as 9-13%. I think most areas of public policy would take a 9% productivity improvement. Whether you think this is worth restricting jury trials on principle, is of course a different thing. By all means, make that case.

This may have been the immediate trigger.

Why are so many Labour politicians so bad at politics?

They're often great at the "fire them up" bit, less good at the "negotiate something realistic with the other side" bit.

I blame student politics.

Karl Turner. Not really bitter.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/li ... f9e91c1e5f

Turner, who was elected as Labour but who has currently had the whip withdrawn after making a series of interventions criticising Starmer and No 10, has written to the speaker of the Commons urging him to refer Starmer to the privileges committee, the same body which found that Boris Johnson had lied in the Commons over the lockdown parties scandal.

In a letter to the speaker posted on X (but later removed), Turner wrote that he was raising a “matter of serious concern regarding the conduct” of the prime minister during PMQs yesterday.

He said it was clear that the prime minister’s characterisation of the evidence given by Olly Robbins about the Mandleson vetting controversy was “at best, inaccurate and, at worst, misleading to the house”.

I'm old enough to recall John Major having his resignation demanded by Tony Marlow and some others. Hestletine, quite rightly, did an interview laughing these people off as "the great characters". Major said that Sir Richard Body made him think of the flapping of white coats. This caused a few ripples, but Major was allowed to move on. Nowadays the media will take Jonathan Brash very seriously.

Hopefully going on GB News will turn others against him. Is anybody in the Man In The Pub Causus backing him?

Boiler wrote: ↑Thu Apr 23, 2026 1:43 pm Karl Turner. Not really bitter.

Quite why a small reduction in jury trials to bring some relief to a long overstretched system should have sent Turner mad, I don't know. He must know that lots of the wider opposition to it is Nick Timothy bollocks based on English exceptionalism.

As I put on the other thread, it's not hard to imagine how the PM would see "pressure" as being something people might define differently. We'll have to see, but McSweeney is being hauled in on Monday. Does the PM have to clear the decks as well?

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Thu Apr 23, 2026 2:18 pm I'm old enough to recall John Major having his resignation demanded by Tony Marlow and some others. Hestletine, quite rightly, did an interview laughing these people off as "the great characters". Major said that Sir Richard Body made him think of the flapping of white coats. This caused a few ripples, but Major was allowed to move on. Nowadays the media will take Jonathan Brash very seriously.

Hopefully going on GB News will turn others against him. Is anybody in the Man In The Pub Causus backing him?

He went on there, as it’s said often on here the man’s a cunt.

He seems to be way in front of the other dubious Straight Talking Northerners caucus. I don't even think Jonathan Hinder has backed him.

To be clear, there are bonehead MPs in the South too, and lots of Northern MPs have stayed out of this silly group.