[The Weeping Angel]

Stephen Bush, Starmer needs to get serious about governing.



When did Starmer get rid of the whips' office?

[Abernathy]

I was not aware that he had “dismantled the whips’ office”. And presumably he attends the PLP meeting every Monday, or at any rate whenever his Prime Ministerial commitments allow.

Is Bush just making this stuff up?

[Tubby Isaacs]

There's a Government Whips Office. Is that the same thing as the Labour Whips Office?

[Abernathy]

There's a Government Whips Office. Is that the same thing as the Labour Whips Office?

Well, yes. Labour forms the government. So it’s the same thing.

[The Weeping Angel]

More from Stephen.

[Tubby Isaacs]

That's fair. The clean power target still seems too ambitious to me, but just keep it and get reasonably close to it. The Tories and Reform are full on anti-net zero. and there are elements in the support for the other parties that want to make net zero even more expensive. It's Labour's best area, and they do talk about it, but they get very little credit. I wonder how interested lots of "the left" actually are in it.

[Tubby Isaacs]

As ever, Warren overdoes it a bit, but seems like a good news story. 500,000 more NHS appointments delivered by private providers. I'm sure someone (might have been Sam Freedman) was telling me they definitely didn't have any extra capacity. There's investment into NHS capacity too.

I only say "seems like a good news story" because we don't know if this is good value for money. But I think I'd do something like what they're doing. Waiting lists have got so bad it's unreasonable to say "Sorry wait a lot longer for the NHS capacity". I'm not particularly bothered by "Wes Streeting's donors", which lots of people think is more important than what's actually being delivered. I'd put Streeting in another job, mind.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The Epping absconder has been caught by Starmer's useless politically correct cops. Dan Hodges and co won't get the Harry Roberts-style extended hide out during which to call for the Prime Minister's resignation.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Liberal MSM latest.

[Boiler]

Indeed - "a low-facts diet" as one wag replied
If "politics is showbiz for ugly people", what's the equivalent for political journalists?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Rachel From Accounts latest. Quite the miss from the predictors. Perhaps next month will be lower than expected, bur perhaps they're being affected by the general media shit the government get.

Retail sales are at the highest level in more than three years, in the latest measure of the UK economy to confound economists.

The amounts bought in shops rose 0.5% in September, far above the 0.2% contraction anticipated by economists polled by Reuters.

It was the fourth monthly rise in a row and brought volumes to their highest level since July 2022.