Oh Andy, Andy, Andy.. just Why?

What is a “bumping weight prick”?

A Bumping Weight is a term used when a weight is inflated in order to charge you more.

It inflates things to be more than they are and is a dishonest , fraudulent, hoodwinking practice.

In this case, I called AB a, "Bumping Weight Prick" because I believe he is dishonest; both about how he became PM, his refusal to answer questions and the disconnect about what he promised and what he intends to do.

Prick is self explanatory.

You can use it to describe anyone who you think is telling lies to benefit themselves and bump up their own estimation by hoodwinking.

Thanks for the explanation @MissMappsGardenProduce I think everyone will have to be sure to verify that these weights are being met. I am open to that being met.

So let's start with Burnham and Healey with the defence spending. Is JH going to put his money, now he is Chancellor, where is mouth is, on resigning as Defence Minister? And, if so, how?

I don't know the answer to that @BrandiedAromatics but if I were to guess, I would say no he won't!

In the meantime, we can all beware of pricks who bump weights to defraud and deceive us: whether that be two fingers on the scale as they weigh out some naice ham or inflating their own importance and merits to get into a job that they used underhand means to gain.

Anyway, looking forward to the BWP trying to be a grown up at PMQ on Wednesday. I imagine it will be smart arse answers signifying nothing, lots of shouting that the Tories were worse and maybe a tune on his guitar, David Brent style.

Very few will want KS back, maybe the most hard core most deluded Labour voters but he was useless, AB is useless as well, he is out of his depth by a big margin, this is obviously just a vanity project for him.

Posts like this from@Politygal make me laugh.

irrespective of your political beliefs… who actually believes that in the short amount of time he’s PM he can have cleaned up the shit show that has been years in the making?

Hes got a vibe

The voters who come out and vote and change governments are not sitting all day viewing "content" like lab monkeys, this time round they are probably watching GB news, but we have been here before with Brexit, the media will pump a narrative until the last minute when the narrative fails at the ballot box.

Andy talks enthusiastically for Ukraine defending itself but he won't find the money to defend our own country. Andy & John Healy will collapse on the 3% spending.
Today it is reported that Railway workers will get large increase to stop them striking.
He doesn't care about most of us only his labour supporters.

It’s a guitar song isn’t it? Over the lack of spending which prompted Healey to resign.

See also Dianne Abbott

I’m not completely sure what point you are making. I haven’t said that Andy Burnham’s exceptionally high engagement on social media or even his incredibly high personal popularity in the polls means he’ll definitely win an election in 2yrs time. As previous posters have said, what he actually does in office will ultimately matter much, much more.

But it’s surprising that you don’t think speaking to the electorate directly through their social media feeds is an effective way to win public support, because Andy Burnham’s political rivals definitely believe it’s important: Nigel Farage for example has been growing his brand on TikTok since 2022 and - pre Andy Burnham - had the biggest political following on the platform.

All I’m saying is it is a fact that right now, Andy Burnham’s content is unusually well liked for a politician on social media. And I personally am happy to see a politician engaging young people - I think it’s good for our democracy. I also think it’s admirable that in a medium famous for rewarding rage-bait, Andy Burnham is getting this level of reach and engagement without pushing out a single piece of content attacking or mudslinging against his rivals from his personal accounts.

The point I am making is that he has not been elected by the public and most of the voting public are not voting based on Tik Tok views (some younger people are, that is how total clowns like the Greens get their votes) Farage was an interesting engaging politician long before Tik Tok was invented so the comparison you made doesn"t really work, was Farage all over Tik Tok for the Brexit campaign for example?

Oh, I see. In that case, I do understand there are legitimate questions about the way our electoral system works - maybe it isn’t ideal that we have had a string of Prime Ministers who have been in office without facing a general election. But at the end of the day, that’s our electoral system - you are never voting for an individual Prime Minister, only ever for a political party to form a government.

On your second point, I guess firstly, I’d argue that Andy Burnham was very definitely an interesting, engaging politician long before Tik Tok (which he himself only joined 3 months ago) - that might be why Andy Burnham was elected Mayor of Greater Manchester 3x with a majority of over 60 percent each time, while it took Nigel Farage seven failed attempts before he even became an M.P.

Secondly, while Farage wasn’t using Tiktok around the time of the Brexit campaign, his use of social media more generally (and Facebook and Twitter specifically) was widely credited with fuelling Leave’s success. You don’t have to agree with Reform on this one - but as a party, they definitely believe in the importance of social media campaigning. In fact, before Andy Burnham came along the general consensus was they were the party who were leading the pack in terms of valuing social media as a campaign tool.

But I don’t see much point us continuing to discuss because I really don’t like to engage with the kind of political discussion that dismisses large swathes of my fellow citizens as clowns, just because they don’t have the same opinions as me.

Pardon? I called the Green party clowns, in particular their top leadership, no doubt some of the campaigners and members are decent enough sorts and mean well, but there is a reason they have been around for 50 years and never been near power, and the present crew leading it are not going to change that, the people that vote for them are just not very intelligent regarding political reality.

Apologies - I misread. Thanks for clarifying.

No problem.

Not sure what that means.

Which current party leader do you think would be doing better?

@swimsong

I have explained what a Bumping Weight is and I presume you know what a prick is.

Still, not everyone can understand everything even when it is explained simply...as an example, I can't understand thermodynamics.

Kemi would do a lot better than the David Brent impersonator, complete with guitar, that is AB.

That's not rocket science either.

I’m genuinely excited to see him & Kemi at PMQs. I’m really intrigued to see what tone she might adopt….

Hopefully between the two of them, we might actually get some proper political debate instead of sneering and name calling!

We shall see @Visiblyabove25

I think she has the power and ability to wipe the floor with him but I think it will be eclipsed by his shouting over her; saying the Tories made the mess; buses; The North is Bleeding to Death; easing the cost of living for ordinary or hard working or both- families; more money than ever before on defence; share out illegals and maybe, although I sincerely hope not, getting out his guitar or his cowboy hat!

Bingo cards at the ready!

I hope he has the manners to leave his black tee shirt and mascara at home.

It's likely he will splutter out all his slogans and then have nothing to do but make like a goldfish, look back at the cheering seals behind him and point his finger at Kemi who will no doubt give her delicious smile and say something cutting.

Yes, like you, I'm looking forward to it.

I actually would love a PMQ watch along with politically engaged Mumsnetters from
across the ideological divide - seeing which of us have our hopes/ dreams/ expectations crushed/ met/ confounded! But would we all be able to play nice?! Or would it quickly descend?!

I definitely don’t think he’ll shout over her and I don’t think he’ll bring his guitar, but I do think there’ll be at least one pun riffing off the lyrics of a Manchester band (and I’ll be disappointed if there isn’t)

@Visiblyabove25 I do think there’ll be at least one pun riffing off the lyrics of a Manchester band (and I’ll be disappointed if there isn’t)

After the weekend press coverage of Cruz Beckham and the Breakers - this is making me think of a title for this next show -
how about Andy Burnham and the Turncoats

Brilliant, @BrandiedAromatics!

Enjoy watching @Visiblyabove25 . I'm sure there will be a thread about it somewhere on Wednesday evening.

I’m looking forward to it.

Kemi has a good delivery, but she can be a bit vicious, which I like.
Andy is more slippery than Keir, not as easily goaded, but he seems to think he’s God’s gift to humour and there is nothing sadder that someone who thinks they’re are funnier than they are.

I think Kemi has to let him win a few battles to win the war.