Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Tonitrus]

My experience with the UK and the military gave me that impression that while they don't have the culture of fawning over their military service members that we tend to have, the Brits take the legacy/memory of their veterans very seriously and equal us when it comes to honoring and memorializing their service.

[garbon]

A different possibility....British political leaders made a big fuss about the insult partly to place Farage in a difficult spot. He could either criticise his orange mentor or lose support by pretending it was ok. Since no money or real estate was involved we could count on Trump not being particularly offended so it was a low risk stance.

Maybe, but that doesn't appear to have worked out. Farage said Trump was wrong and Trump backtracked as far as Britain.

Also, if Trump wasn't going to be particularly offended then it wasn't much of a trap for Farage.

[Sheilbh]

Andy Burnham seeks permission to stand in MP by-election and says he wants to back government "not undermine it"

Starmer loyalists and the Labour right on the National Executive Committee blocked Burnham from standing.

I could be wrong but I suspect this will be the end. I do not think this government has the political authority to block the most popular politician in the country from becoming an MP without facing serious consequences.

If I were Wes Streeting I'd be delighted that Andy Burnham has been blocked - but also use these as my pretext for launching a leadership bit: "we need to be a plural, open party" etc. Especially as I think the window for Streeting is shrinking.

[mongers]

My experience with the UK and the military gave me that impression that while they don't have the culture of fawning over their military service members that we tend to have, the Brits take the legacy/memory of their veterans very seriously and equal us when it comes to honoring and memorializing their service.

[garbon]

Andy Burnham seeks permission to stand in MP by-election and says he wants to back government "not undermine it"

Starmer loyalists and the Labour right on the National Executive Committee blocked Burnham from standing.

I could be wrong but I suspect this will be the end. I do not think this government has the political authority to block the most popular politician in the country from becoming an MP without facing serious consequences.

If I were Wes Streeting I'd be delighted that Andy Burnham has been blocked - but also use these as my pretext for launching a leadership bit: "we need to be a plural, open party" etc. Especially as I think the window for Streeting is shrinking.

Seriously what were they thinking? Reform was already pushing the anti-democratic line with the councils that were delaying elections. Now they think it is a good idea to deny Burnham a chance to be an MP?

[garbon]

Also, I hate that I now need to agree with John McDonnell.   Thanks, Starmer.

[Sheilbh]

Seriously what were they thinking? Reform was already pushing the anti-democratic line with the councils that were delaying elections. Now they think it is a good idea to deny Burnham a chance to be an MP?

I know.

I think it is another sign of just how factional the people at the top of Labour are right now. On the anti-democratic line I posted before the election about Michael Crick's work tracking quite how many candidate selections were being basically rigged by the party leadership - I think this is just another sign. To be honest I'm surprised - given that the soft left currently in government, like Ed Miliband (and bright young rising stars like Miatta Fahnbulleh) were making public statements saying they'd like Burnham to run, I thought they'd have the wisdom to avoid a fight.

We'll see what happens but the gossip from Labour MPs last night was that the NEC were going to impose either an all BAME or all women shortlist (as the balance in the parliamentary party allows that right now) as a way of blocking Burnham. I can't think of a way of blocking Burnham that is more likely to backfire with the public.

I sympathise with Reform on the council election. They've already been delayed for one year, they're now being delayed for two years - it's not good and governments shouldn't get into the habit of delaying elections. I also don't really understand why/what in the local government reforms need elections to be delayed?

[Sheilbh]

Also, I hate that I now need to agree with John McDonnell.   Thanks, Starmer.

Also the fate of Your Party has really clarified that McDonnell was very much the brains/operator nous on the Labour hard left.

[Tamas]

Andy Burnham seeks permission to stand in MP by-election and says he wants to back government "not undermine it"

Starmer loyalists and the Labour right on the National Executive Committee blocked Burnham from standing.

I could be wrong but I suspect this will be the end. I do not think this government has the political authority to block the most popular politician in the country from becoming an MP without facing serious consequences.

If I were Wes Streeting I'd be delighted that Andy Burnham has been blocked - but also use these as my pretext for launching a leadership bit: "we need to be a plural, open party" etc. Especially as I think the window for Streeting is shrinking.

Seriously what were they thinking? Reform was already pushing the anti-democratic line with the councils that were delaying elections. Now they think it is a good idea to deny Burnham a chance to be an MP?

Yeah WTF, if nothing else, surely this is a terribly weak move from Starmer. So insecure in his seat he very publicly denies a potential rival from running for MP.

[Richard Hakluyt]

A Labour majority of 150 or so and this he what he does with it. Johnson also had a huge majority and did nothing constructive with it.

We are in the midst of trying times which require competent government and are governed by hacks and charlatans.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah WTF, if nothing else, surely this is a terribly weak move from Starmer. So insecure in his seat he very publicly denies a potential rival from running for MP.

Factional inter-party fighting - but also I think this operates at two levels.

The ostensible thing is that it's about preserving Starmer's leadership. But I think running under that the bigger point for all of the people around Starmer is to make sure that when Starmer goes, their preferred candidate of the Labour right (like Streeting) wins. Apparently Starmer's rationale in blocking it was that this would help end "leadership psychodrama"...

I was surprised at how nuclear Number 10 went against Burnham in the run-up to the party conference. They had loyalist MPs posting facemerges of Burnham and Liz Truss, saying the bond markets would blow up and also sub-voce briefing that about grooming gangs in Manchester on his watch. All of that to me seems extreme when you're talking about the most popular politician in the country and a really big Labour party politician - it's very in the bunker briefing that is likely to damage Labour's brand or come back to haunt it.

A Labour majority of 150 or so and this he what he does with it. Johnson also had a huge majority and did nothing constructive with it.

We are in the midst of trying times which require competent government and are governed by hacks and charlatans.

Yes - or in the case of Starmer we are governed by a void. Which I think is possibly even worse. I'd add that I find it insane the gap between arguments senior Labour people make (which I often agree with) and then their proposed solution (which range from fiddling about the edges to displacement activities).

So Rachel Reeves rightly made a big point about the problems of the Council Tax system - but the solution is then a fiddly, complex additional mansion tax layer (which they've now had to clarify excludes council homes) rather than reform. They talk a good game on intergenerational fairness but then all they come up with is eliminating winter fuel payments. Similarly there's a big issue with welfare but their answer is not a wider reform but just making the lives of disabled people more difficult. It keeps happening with this government, ad it happened a lot under Johnson too, where the government takes all the political pain of doing something unpopular, for changes that aren't actually that signficant in the scheme of things that are incapable of delivering the policy results to make it worth it and, in any event, they normally u-turn on it anyway.

Incidentally though - I think there is something of Boris Johnson in Andy Burnham (complimentary). Johnson was basically from the left of the Tory party - socially liberal, pro-amnesty for illegal migrants, indifferent to public spending, a fan of the state - or as he described his views "Brexity Hezza" - which is why he was able to become Mayor of London. But his affect and style appealed to the right of the party and certain voters someone like Cameron didn't really reach. I think there's something similar with Burnham. Burnham comes from the right of Labour. He was Tessa Jowell's SPAD when she was an ultra-Blairite, he is Alasdair Darling's deputy in the Treasury pushing back against Brown and Balls, in 2010 and 2015 his leadership pitch is basically the most New Labour (in both cases he basically argues Labour didn't go far enough on public services reform and let spending get out of hand). I think he has evolved over that time, but is still, fundamentally, more of the centre-left than soft left. But he has an affect and style that I think appeals to the left of Labour and to voters in a way that a cookie-cutter politician doesn't. You often see the gag about a Blairite, Brownite, Milibandite and Corbynite walking into the bar and the barman asking "what'll you have Andy" - I think there is something to that (like with Johnson) and I think that is part of his appeal.

Edit: Also worth pointing out (again possibly a sign of Starmer's political incompetence) that this is just on him - no other senior Labour figure got blood on their hands. Shabana Mahmood was chair of the NEC so, by convention, didn't vote (and in the media praised him as an "exceptional politician"). Lucy Powell is Deputy Leader and a Burnham ally, she voted to let him run. Wes Streeting condemned the briefings against Burnham as "disgraceful" and said Labour needed "the best possible candidate". Ed Miliband and Sadiq Khan both said Burnham should be allowed to run.

The person who led the charge at the NEC was, reportedly, Starmer and the people trashing Burnham in public are Starmer loyalist backbenchers. This is all on him and that'll be especially the case if Labour lose this seat.

[Jacob]

That's a lot of America and ICE talk for a thread on Britain.

No doubt.

That was meant for the Trump thread 

[garbon]

Reform has picked up Suella. Good luck with that?

[Tamas]

Reform has picked up Suella. Good luck with that?

Like, what's the point?

[garbon]

Reform has picked up Suella. Good luck with that?

Like, what's the point?

Collect all the incompetents?