Oh Andy, Andy, Andy.. just Why?

Badenoch did a u-turn with her shadow cabinet reshuffle, appointing the Truss mini budget architect as shadow chancellor is shall we say interesting.

Yes, it will soon start to annoy people, it is already TBH. In Manchester they did deals with developers to throw up lots of flats for young trendies, all just overpriced shite, pure bubble-omics.

@Visiblyabove25 I think most people are really clear on who he is and what he stands for
@KeepPumping What does he stand for?

Well I wanted to know the answer to this - I don't think most people do know - so, like others I was perplexed by Burnham's obsession with 40 years ago. This was the Thatcher years - so it didn't add up.

What I have realised is - it is all about Andy, always. He always refers everything back to him. He is speaking about himself - this was his revelation - when Neil Kinnock gave a powerful speech at the 1985 Conference.

https://archive.ph/rPQzK

ETA: when young Andy committed to joining the Labour party.

Yields went higher under Sunak and are higher now, Truss is not the issue, it is years and years of refusal to balance the books to try and keep everyone happy, people didn"t notice when they thought their house was making more than them every year, they will notice now though.

Well, I guess there are two parts to that answer, in terms of what the public at large think he stands for, there’s been a lot of polling on exactly this and the things that come up are that he stands for are regional devolution, public control of utilities, and championing the needs of people on low incomes (whether people agree with those priorities is a different question - but it’s how a majority see his values).

In terms of what I personally think he stands for, I’d say his belief that you can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care is completely genuine, as is his belief in the importance of an education system that values vocational training. I’d also say he believes in electoral reform and a different kind of politics.

Again, though I think the question is how far he can deliver all (or even any) of that within the current political and economic climate.

Well of course, this is a pure vanity project, he failed twice previously to become Labour leader, parachuting him in now is pure desperation after the train wreck that was KS, but of course it suits AB"s personal agenda so he will gladly go along with it. As far as I am concerned Labour started the property bubble proper (yes Thatcher blah blah, I know but don"t think it would have happened as it did without Brown/Blair) so I will be glad to watch them eat it (while I eat popcorn) Currency crisis Incoming.

The domestic personalities and media lines will fall away anyway because the markets don’t respond to that.

It’s more a question of reducing spending.

At the moment, Trump is the issue

Truss' mini budget has had a long lasting impact.

We already have regional devolution? Public control of utilities, too expensive. He under achieved on building social housing for people on low incomes in Manchester, preferring to build skyscrapers too expensive for people on low incomes. So no he didn’t champion people on low incomes.

Yes social care need fixing but where is the money coming from? We also, and have had, for years other vocational training in schools for pupils that prefer a less academic route. So basically he is promising nothing new.

It surprises me that you’d say he is offering nothing new, because I’ve seen plenty of right-wing commentators criticise Andy Burnham for not seeking a personal mandate, by arguing his proposals are big, dramatic changes to the way the country is run.

I totally agree that finding the money to fix social care is a massive challenge - but I think the fact that Andy Burnham has explicitly said he wants to use whatever political goodwill he has to find it a cross party consensus on the issue does speak to his character and the fact that - on this issue in particular - he’s acting out of an enormous amount of compassion and principle. It really isn’t an easy political win - but he isn’t shying away from it.

What big dramatic changes is he proposing, that will massively benefit the way the country is ran?

The only way he could find funding for social care would be to cut the current benefit bill. Labour have already been offered a cross party consensus by the Conservatives and they did not take up the offer.

Why do you feel he is acting out a principle based on an enormous amount of compassion? Easy political win?

To be honest it appears to be just sound bites, not thought out correctly or costed either. Personally think he has planned the coup for over 12 months and this is not somebody I trust to run the country effectively.

When he says he wants to fix social care, he means he wants to reduce the cost of social care. I'm not sure why that makes him more compassionate and principled than anyone else. That is what all parties want to do apart from possibly the greens who don't have to worry about reducing costs because the billionaires will pay for everything.

I’m still waiting for an actual policy.
So far it’s all hope and wishes.

With respect, did you watch his speech on it?

https://share.google/EQLi6GHzmjZHbSNZF

You might not agree with Andy Burnham’s diagnosis of how to solve the social care crisis and his ideology more generally may not be for you, but I find it hard to think of a time I’ve heard a modern politician speak with more empathy or compassion.

Andy Burnham needs to find the money, for sure, because that’s the tool that will make proper social care possible and reducing the costs of social care for ordinary people is part of his plans, but it’s also about restoring dignity to the care experience.

Just had a look on ABs insta to see what the fuss was about. He is waving around a little Freddo😳

Did he use it to explain the bond markets?

Is it to show us he really cares about frogs?

I think it's about the COLC through the medium of frogs cos us thickos can only understand the language of chocolate.

I think most people feel empathy and compassion about social care. I am more interested in the substance of what he has to say. He is very good at saying very little, very compassionately. I will reserve judgement until the budget comes out because that will be far more revealing.

He’s using a Freddo because there’s a long-standing internet joke using Freddo’s to comment on the cost of living. Andy Burnham is leaning into that joke, and using it to anchor a policy conversation. In digital marketing, that technique’s called meme hijacking and - done right - it massively drives engagement.

It’s very obvious alot of people commenting here just really don’t understand how social media works, and that’s fine - it doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion on whether you personally like his content or not, but all the data shows positive engagement with Andy Burnham’s content is way, way beyond what a politician could normally expect.

Its early days, and whether that translates into ongoing public support - and in particular whether he can drag the government’s popularity up to meet his own - very much remains to be seen. But right now, his success on social media is fairly undeniable.

People do understand how social media works, I’m not sure that’s it. It’s just not going to work with every age group or person and it can turn people off too.

I don’t need to follow Mr B on instagram but I do and I’m feeling deeply patronised

Looks as if you're not Mr B's intended audience. Call me a cynic but the cute visuals will be a lovely screen to keep the bonds markets and the pesky strait of Hormuz in the shade (internet-wise) for a lot of people.

I agree it’s definitely not going to work with every age group, but that’s why social media is only one part of a whole communications strategy. And leaning on an existing meme - like the Freddo thing - is an undeniably effective way to appeal to the demographic he needs to appeal to online.

At the moment, there is no evidence that his social media is actually putting anybody off. His individual popularity is still incredibly high - both for a modern Prime Minister and compared to his rivals. But I guess if that changes, the communications strategy will likely pivot too.

As I’ve already said, how long he can keep the positive engagement up and whether he can bring the Government with him, definitely still very much remains to be seen but I personally think watching him master TikTok in a way that doesn’t rely on rage baiting or weaponised outrage is incredibly exciting.

Ik we’ll see how it holds up. A lot is probably due to being utterly relieved he got Starmer out.

I am going to be consistent and say that we knew where we were with Starmer. It was also said that the markets knew where they were with Reeves. Burnham and Healey have promised everyone everything .....