[Tubby Isaacs]

Lawyer gives legal advice.

[Andy McDandy]

They ought to be charging for it, in which case they've got their hands in the till and that's bad, but if they provide something for free, that's umm, well, that's bloody COMMUNISM and in fact costs even more because it's the potential costs we're losing out on and uh, LOOK, IT JUST BLOODY WELL IS, ALRIGHT?

[Abernathy]

So the UK has decided formally to recognise the state of Palestine. So has Canada, and Australia , and quite a large number of other governments, too.

It’s something the Trots have long wanted, of course, and broadly speaking I think it’s the right thing to do.

Badenoch & Farage have, predictably, denounced it as “rewarding Hamas for the October massacre” . Lammy has the best rebuttal : it is nothing of the sort, since Hamas is not Palestine, nor is it the Palestinian people.

Maybe even Zarah Sultana will crack a fucking smile.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I'm old enough to remember when they said this would never happen because the Zionists were in control.

[The Weeping Angel]

Normal response here from Tim.

[Tubby Isaacs]

That's why everyone agrees Hamas have to be excluded from Government, is it, Timmy?

What does he make of Anglosphere allies Canada and Australia doing the same thing as the UK?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ministers are drawing up plans to give mayors significant new powers over hospitals and schools as part of a new wave of devolution that could change how public services are run in England.

Steve Reed, the local government secretary, wants to give mayors control over many more local services, and is weighing up handing over some NHS services and even parts of the criminal justice system.

The plans have received the backing of the Labour Together thinktank, which Reed helped found, in a report published on Monday. Government insiders say any changes could be included as amendments to the devolution bill that is going through parliament.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... n-shake-up

Are "Ministers" really doing this? Sounds like a pretty major change to tack on to an existing bill via amendments.

The devolutionists have become rather like every other interest group lately, in that nothing anyone suggests seems to be enough. They'd likely have power for about 5 minutes before saying that resources were the real issue, and that, no, they wouldn't fancy running for office on a tax raising platform. If that's the case, then one might think the Ministry of Justice, Health, Education etc could have kept control all along.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

'Government Insiders' eh?

Compelling...

The Guardian under Viner has found new depths to plumb.

[Tubby Isaacs]

These are the ones who told us that Bridget Phillipson was being sacked, and Lisa Nandy's department was being abolished, are they?

In this case, the Secretary of State seems to back at least some of this stuff. But you'd think he (and the people to whom things would be devolved) had enough on their plates anyway. He only just replaced Rayner. How likely is it that he says "hey, might as well stick a load more on to it while I'm still learning the job"?

[The Weeping Angel]

I see this quite a lot on Bluesky.



It's not enough to call the policy unworkable; you must say it's bad as well, and nothing less will do.

[Youngian]

If the government were to say 'Farage is a piece of shit whose absence of empathy for the unnecessary suffering his policies will cause immigrants means he has little for you,' that would work for me

[The Weeping Angel]

Well he's going to launch a progressive fightback on Friday.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... -far-right

Sources said Starmer’s speech would build on an argument he made in an opinion piece for the Sun newspaper, where he called it a “struggle for the heart and soul of our nation”.

He said that though people’s frustrations with the economy and migration were real, “a small minority see instead an opportunity to whip up hatred … to follow an old and dangerous playbook that sets people against one another”.

In the piece, Starmer said there had been “loutish behaviour on the streets. And people made to feel like they are not welcome or safe here because of their heritage, religion or colour of their skin.

“We’ve seen a nine-year-old black girl shot at in a racist attack. Chinese takeaways defaced. That sends a shiver down the spine of every right-minded Brit. This is not who we are.”

[davidjay]

He's right, but he'll get dogs abuse just because.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Do your day job, Andy. Stop this obvious self-promoting bollocks, eh?

Burnham says Britain needs 'wholesale change' - as he urges Starmer to show he has plan to achieve this
Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, has said that Britain needs “wholesale change” – implying that Keir Starmer has yet to show how Labour will deliver this.

He was speaking in an interview with the New Statesman in which he dismissed reports that he is actively plotting to replace the PM. At the same time he set out his personal, and more radical, policy platform.

Burnham said that his experience in Greater Manchester had taught him the importance of public ownership of utilities. “Public control is everything,” he told Tom McTague, the New Statesman’s editor, who has written the 7,000-word interview.

The Greater Manchester Mayor doesn't have much of a role with utilities, and I can't particularly recalling him talking about them much. This is very obviously a dig at Starmer on a left talking point. Starmer ought to tell Andy he can put up his own region's taxes and buy some utilities if he's that fussed.

One thing he significant control overs is transport. The Metrolink isn't publicly run. So Andy's working on plans to take that over, is he? From last month.

https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/tfgm-d ... for-grabs/

TfGM declares £1.6bn Metrolink contract up for grabs

No mention of a non-private bidder there. I suspect that the local accountability over their contractor works pretty well- it's what happens in London with the DLR, and in Merseyside with Merseyrail. Steve Rotherham was regarded as some way to the left of Andy before he became Merseyside regional mayor, but he's not showboated about taking over Merseyrail.

Same with buses. There are four private bus operators doing the Bee Network. This is a much better system than the free for all before, and as in London (albeit with higher subsidy needed because fewer passengers) it ought to work very well. When's Andy taking these over?

[Tubby Isaacs]

And what's a "plan" anyway? I don't mean that in the libertarian "best plan is to resist all planning" way, but what are the Government supposed to be doing and saying?

We can pick a few strands out that they're working on. Planning reform, alignment (mostly) with the EU, ties with the US on tech, some modest deregulation, borrowing for investment, increase in public spending (even if that's barely being felt to touch the sides at the moment), lots of new green energy, some industrial policy, redistribution of public funds to poorer council areas, devolution to people like Andy, Does he object to much of that?

The Government could write this all down and call it The Plan, but I wouldn't put it past Andy to respond to that with "we've had enough words, what we need is action" or similar,

[Tubby Isaacs]

Is this true? Sounds good. Perhaps Andy Burnham could step up and supply a load more extra childcare places?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Bloody Labour, handing out pay rises, when the real issue is productivity. Oh hang on.

[The Weeping Angel]

Of course, this depends on whether the government goes along with these recommendations.

[davidjay]

BTL as expected, because looking after our own means not looking after anyone who isn't exactly like us.

[Youngian]

I thought when it came to leaders that Andy Burnham was a loyal team player who honoured the will of the members. This is really shoddy.