Burnham has won. More turmoil?

Which % of UK adult population is not on work or education?

I work with young people, the NEET ones. Often, they have ridiculous ideas of work - £20 an hour and nothing less, won't work mornings, won't work weekends or evenings, don't want to do anything that's 'beneath' them like cleaning or warehouse work even when they have no qualifications or skills. Don't want to have to get a bus to work and so on. Don't like being told what to do - is a MAJOR thing I hear from them and their parents. 'Oh he can't get a job, he's got ADHD/ASC/mental health and doesn't like being told what to do, he'll kick off and get sacked'.

They're usually in receipt of state benefits or their parents are and that's what's been modelled to them and propped up by successive governments.

They think why would they work? it's inconvenient to them and wouldn't give them much more money than being on benefits so why would they bother to get out of bed, get on a bus, get told what to do?

Of course that's not all young people but there's a lot of them about with that attitude.

Government should definitely be embracing doing more IT and tech in general in-house, rather than contracting it out to (usually American or Indian) firms. We have hugely de-skilled vast swathes of the civil service, to the extent that they aren't equipped to make sensible decisions about IT any more. And we should certainly be taking IT and AI sovereignty seriously rather than being so incredibly overly reliant on AWS, Azure, Palantir etc as we are now.

But nationalisation makes no sense - the IT industry is not a natural monopoly (as water is), and does not provide critical physical infrastructure in the same way as electricity and gas suppliers do. And there is nothing to nationalise - the biggest UK IT company is Sage, why would we want to nationalise a company that produce accounting software for SMEs?

Oh come on!
People do want to work! Give them a job. They will buy items. Because they will want to. Nobody is going to make them... but, incidentally, that is what tariffs are actually for.
There are ways to fix economies, by matching prices to income. It is not rocket science.

This idea that we are all lazy, to be honest, is flipping insulting!

But, do not worry. Keep living in this hopeless world of yours. It seems to be cosy in there. As you clinge to it for dear life!

And how are you going to make people buy the products that are 4 or 5 times the cost of Temu? or Amazon? or all the other cheap, fast fashion/products companies?

Especially when the cost of living is already so high?

And where are you finding all these people who'll want to work in factories? especially when they can claim benefits instead?

We do, so why do we need to pay huge amounts to abroad companies? Let's do it here.
You know, the amount of people who just feels like change cannot happen is plain ridiculous. How do you think progress happened in the past? Just open a history book. Check how the great US fortunes were made, with the railway, manufacturing, clothing, car makers....
They did not make it by going but it is expensive, but it is cheaper there, but we do not have the people, but we always do it this way, but but but , if if if.....
You need a bit of passion for our children's future.
This vision that we cannot control our destiny is quite gloom!

Buying everything abroad means losing money daily. Surely you can see that.
Of course, we will keep a strong commercial tie with others, our current business partners. But we need to keep money and jobs in the country. Same as any other nation of the world.

I’m pretty sure there are already people in the UK “making software”. We had a strong IT industry but then the IR35 rules led to flexible workers being forced into PAYE roles. IT is just the kind of industry that needs flexible workers as the workload is not constant and sometimes you need specialist skills for a short time. AB could stop companies “on-shoring” bringing in cheaper labour from India and also stop any further “off-shoring”.

How can we 'bring manufacturing back' when UK energy costs are so high? How does that work? It's pie in the sky when the govt are pursuing Net Zero. Will Miliband be Burnham's chancellor as speculated? God help us.

So are "we" going to make people buy British? How? Tarrifs?

British goods cost more money than having stuff made and imported from China.

Pay, workers rights, infrastructure and safety being some of the things we don't compromise on.

Today is the day!

Either resignation or plans to hand the post to the next PM expected today.
Huge own goal from Starmer here. It is 100% because of his stupidity that we are all in this shitstorm.

I think Burnham has already stated that he will consider nationalising water supplies.
Transport, steel, IT are big opportunities here too. Particularly IT. Let's make our own flipping software! Keep the hundreds of million in UK, to pay our people, who lives in UK and pays taces in UK. And weapons. That will be another booming sector.
Bring manufacturing back. Jobs for our youth, so we can get them off the list of subscribers to Tate and Co.
Nothing better than busy people, making a living and enjoying life. That is what drives economies and social cohesion.

All our PM has to do is be clear and transparent. Keep in mind that government and police have lost much of the public's trust. So, keep it neat, recorded, clear purpose. No exceptions. No jobs for mates. No contracts without tender. Support UK companies, national or private, I do not care. Protect and create jobs here, in our soil.

Btw I assume Burnham if he has a brain will announce a lovely classic Labour policy like nationalisation to make all his party feel really good, and that they made a really good choice. That be pretty good for setting the terms of success for left wing people. The Telegraph, not so much.

All politicians lie. All of them are criticised. Good politicians let it slide. They survive it. Andy Burnham will have to learn to deal with those things. They aren’t terminal for a politician. Look at Trump.

Starmer was criticised very early in his premiership. What is Burnham going to succeed at within a few months?

That’s politics. The greasy pole. Don’t say that there hasn’t been this for all time and in all parties.

All politicians lie. We forgive them if they succeed

The first thing I shall be looking out for with interest is what happens to Josh Simons, the outgoing MP for Makerfield. If I remember correctly, Burnham publicly praised Simons in his victory speech, thanking Simons for his act of 'incredible selflessness' in stepping aside.

However, if Andy Burnham becomes PM and gives Josh Simons a plum job in Downing Street, or perhaps a position in the House of Lords, I would suggest that this was pre-arranged and therefore not an act of incredible selflessness. In my opinion, that would then be an obvious lie from Burnham, right from the start.

That is true. How long have politicians had to get this right? A long time. Britain would look very different if violence against women and girls was prioritised. It is just a slogan, no money, and nothing ever changes.

Good for hand wringing. Not actual money or protective policy.

^Well said, I agree with you entirely, as well as with @Bunnyofhope.

Everyone on the left is progressive isn't the same as saying everyone progressive is on the left, so i get you can be progressive and not left wing.
My priority is also women and girls and completely agree with you about single sex spaces and that the handling of the grooming gangs. I don't think in a society dominated by men the protection of women and girls is ever prioritised from either side of the political spectrum. That's why feminists should unite across the divide when it comes to the politics of sex.

I'm progressive and not on the left. I believe in protecting the most vulnerable in society. For me this is poor girls, particularly those from the care system. I'm not seeing the left protecting these girls from rape and abuse in their 1000s. See the grooming gang reports. It's pure cowardice.
Women prisoners too, not protected from men in women's prisons. Likewise mentally and physically ill women in the NHS. Men are allowed on their wards

Sure, that reason isn't it? Nothing to do with them being" all the gear, no idea" growth killers.

I don’t think Starmer has been a good PM, but a lot of it seems to have been self inflicted. He must literally be kicking himself for his timidity and indeed his backing of Reeves for Chancellor. And the compromises he made on Mandelson… all of it looked rather like something he had to be persuaded to do, rather than instinctive. But in the end, he’s the one deciding what happens. PM is a one time job. The best thing is to realise that and go for what you believe in. I don’t think we ever really did with Starmer.

Johnson did, yeap.
But Starmer-Mandelson-Palantir is the sad actuallity, Johnson is long gone.....

Rolling news lectern-watch in the morning then. At least the weather's good, no chance of a Sunak-style drenching which would just about put the tin lid on it.

Contracts for mates? Are you thinking of Johnson?