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Politics

How long do you give Andy Burnham as PM?

900 replies

AndyBurnham2L · 16/07/2026 06:25

Build ‘em up.
Knock ‘em down.

Short honeymoon and then the grumbling will start. It will all be over for him by Christmas.

So, who’s next?

OP posts:
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22
hedgeknight · 22/07/2026 18:42

It's Wednesday, he was appointed as PM on Monday.

So how do you know he won't make tough decisions?

BermudaRhombus · 22/07/2026 21:30

So far he’s governing like a provincial mayor. It’s so parochial. Bus fares and VAT on energy bills. Any idea how we’re paying for this? Because he certainly doesn’t know! Three years of this shite - God help us.

dwordle · 22/07/2026 21:41

Yellowshirt · 22/07/2026 18:13

Arriva buses in Shropshire are all old 64 plates. Yet Burnham is basically going to make bus fares cheaper and slash the bus companies budget further.
You can already see he has zero common sense and won't make tough decisions.

All public transport should be electric, hydrogen or bio gas....it's criminal that we preach about pollution but we still use diesel as engines in public transport.

I honestly can't believe how backwards this country ism

BrandiedAromatics · 22/07/2026 21:43

BermudaRhombus · 22/07/2026 21:30

So far he’s governing like a provincial mayor. It’s so parochial. Bus fares and VAT on energy bills. Any idea how we’re paying for this? Because he certainly doesn’t know! Three years of this shite - God help us.

I wanted to know why ministers didn't know themselves - when doing the media round. The buzz word in the Burnham government is "reprioritisation".

So he isn't going to commit to climate change principles like the Starmer government. We were going to help other countries with a grant. Now we are going to give them a loan instead. So we will have money for these ideas of Andy's.

dwordle · 22/07/2026 21:52

I agree, it is about priorities. NET zero isn't a priority while we are struggling with a cost of living crisis.

We should be electrifying our railways and public transport and encouraging electric cars.

Heat pumps for all new homes etc but crow barring a green policy in at this point in time is suicide. But we must prepare ourselves for the huge impact climate change will bring and that means resilience. Being unprepared will bring disaster to all our doors. I honestly mean that because people need to realise that there's going to be increasing pressure on water, food and the likelihood is there will also be catastrophic economic consequences as well.

When you consider that the combined effect of the heat wave in Europe and the Iran war is going to add 50 percent onto this autumns food prices I think there's going to be awake up call by Christmas.

BermudaRhombus · 22/07/2026 21:53

BrandiedAromatics · 22/07/2026 21:43

I wanted to know why ministers didn't know themselves - when doing the media round. The buzz word in the Burnham government is "reprioritisation".

So he isn't going to commit to climate change principles like the Starmer government. We were going to help other countries with a grant. Now we are going to give them a loan instead. So we will have money for these ideas of Andy's.

This just hasn’t been thought through properly. If we loan the money then we still have to fund it and then accept the credit risk on repayment (whenever that takes place). There is a perception (rightly or wrongly) that Labour are weak on financial discipline. They must recognise that no policies should be announced without cast iron clarity in funding.

BermudaRhombus · 22/07/2026 21:55

dwordle · 22/07/2026 21:52

I agree, it is about priorities. NET zero isn't a priority while we are struggling with a cost of living crisis.

We should be electrifying our railways and public transport and encouraging electric cars.

Heat pumps for all new homes etc but crow barring a green policy in at this point in time is suicide. But we must prepare ourselves for the huge impact climate change will bring and that means resilience. Being unprepared will bring disaster to all our doors. I honestly mean that because people need to realise that there's going to be increasing pressure on water, food and the likelihood is there will also be catastrophic economic consequences as well.

When you consider that the combined effect of the heat wave in Europe and the Iran war is going to add 50 percent onto this autumns food prices I think there's going to be awake up call by Christmas.

Edited

There will never be a good or convenient time to prepare for climate change. I’m not sure our grandchildren will forgive us.

BrandiedAromatics · 22/07/2026 22:01

hedgeknight · 22/07/2026 18:42

It's Wednesday, he was appointed as PM on Monday.

So how do you know he won't make tough decisions?

So this reminds me about the support that Burnham gave the Waspi women, until he didn't. This time it is about the £12,570 threshold that has been frozen since 2021, resulting in more people being dragged into paying income tax as earnings increase.

Burnham told the Times over the weekend that the "frustration about the personal allowance" he had heard while campaigning in the Makerfield by-election was "lodged in my mind".

The prime minister then told reporters on Monday that "all of this will be looked at" in the next Budget but conceded any change would be expensive and "difficult given the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves".

On Tuesday, people close to Burnham told BBC News that any changes to the personal allowance are not part of his initial plan to tackle the cost of living.

Asked whether he would make changes to the income tax allowance on Wednesday, Burnham said: "It's funny these days you can't answer a question honestly without people then reading everything else into it.

dwordle · 22/07/2026 22:13

BermudaRhombus · 22/07/2026 21:55

There will never be a good or convenient time to prepare for climate change. I’m not sure our grandchildren will forgive us.

I think we should be preparing now, making sure homes are better ventilated, insulated, glazing that reflects heat, planting trees in urban areas to create micro climates.

There's no guarantee winters are going to be warmer it could be the complete opposite and that's what I'm saying we need to prepare because if we don't we could be in a real pickle. Being reliant on fossil fuels is something we should avoid and the Ukraine and Iran is a good example of that.

I'm not sure a country the size of the UK can make a big impact on carbon emissions but we certainly can make our railways, public transport greener.

We can do our best but not make people so poor that aren't resilient in the process.

BermudaRhombus · 22/07/2026 22:13

BrandiedAromatics · 22/07/2026 22:01

So this reminds me about the support that Burnham gave the Waspi women, until he didn't. This time it is about the £12,570 threshold that has been frozen since 2021, resulting in more people being dragged into paying income tax as earnings increase.

Burnham told the Times over the weekend that the "frustration about the personal allowance" he had heard while campaigning in the Makerfield by-election was "lodged in my mind".

The prime minister then told reporters on Monday that "all of this will be looked at" in the next Budget but conceded any change would be expensive and "difficult given the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves".

On Tuesday, people close to Burnham told BBC News that any changes to the personal allowance are not part of his initial plan to tackle the cost of living.

Asked whether he would make changes to the income tax allowance on Wednesday, Burnham said: "It's funny these days you can't answer a question honestly without people then reading everything else into it.

Reminds me of when he said that if he got into power he’d free MPs from the whips and allow them to vote freely. Be interesting if he sticks to that now he’s PM…

menopausequeen · 22/07/2026 22:23

Hopefully he will only last a couple of weeks. He’s inexperienced and already making poor dr decisions.

Portakalkedi · 22/07/2026 22:24

I don't think he'll last long, but I do think there needs to be a change in the law, and that after a general election the new PM must stay for the whole term, or call another election. This time it's worse than the previous Tory PM changes, as the elected MP for Makerfield was, for want of a better word, bribed to give up his seat for AB. It's bonkers to keep changing when one turns out to be useless. Apart from the fact that the replacements are unelected, each failed PM costs the country a fortune with an annual income of £115k after leaving, end of job payoff, annual expenses plus lifelong round the clock security.

BIossomtoes · 22/07/2026 22:35

menopausequeen · 22/07/2026 22:23

Hopefully he will only last a couple of weeks. He’s inexperienced and already making poor dr decisions.

God, the shit people post on here. 🙄

GodDamnitDonut · 23/07/2026 08:15

BIossomtoes · 22/07/2026 22:35

God, the shit people post on here. 🙄

What an insightful and useful comment.

puyr · 23/07/2026 08:17

less than a year.

BIossomtoes · 23/07/2026 08:49

GodDamnitDonut · 23/07/2026 08:15

What an insightful and useful comment.

At the same level as the one it responded to. 🤷‍♀️

Squirrelsarecleverbastards · 23/07/2026 08:56

BIossomtoes · 23/07/2026 08:49

At the same level as the one it responded to. 🤷‍♀️

No, it wasn’t.

Your comment was entirely uncalled for and very rude.

You might want to apologise to the PP.

BIossomtoes · 23/07/2026 09:05

Squirrelsarecleverbastards · 23/07/2026 08:56

No, it wasn’t.

Your comment was entirely uncalled for and very rude.

You might want to apologise to the PP.

For telling the truth? I don’t think so 😂

BrandiedAromatics · 23/07/2026 09:08

BIossomtoes · 23/07/2026 09:05

For telling the truth? I don’t think so 😂

We are expressing our opinions on here of the policies of Burnham. Your comment was rude to someone giving their take on that.

Squirrelsarecleverbastards · 23/07/2026 09:14

BIossomtoes · 23/07/2026 09:05

For telling the truth? I don’t think so 😂

It was your opinion just as the previous post was someone else’s opinion.

hedgeknight · 23/07/2026 09:17

Squirrelsarecleverbastards · 23/07/2026 08:56

No, it wasn’t.

Your comment was entirely uncalled for and very rude.

You might want to apologise to the PP.

Instead of telling other posters what to do or say, you could just report to MN and see if they agree with you.

Just a polite suggestion ofcourse.

SirChenjins · 23/07/2026 09:21

Dragonscaledaisy · 22/07/2026 10:37

Actually, that's not true in every area. I'm a property developer working with excellent local trades. They have great difficulty finding local young people who are interested in apprenticeships and quite a few that are taken on drop out when they see what's involved and look at what their friends are earning in other jobs, particularly things like content creation.

Fantastic - but I can tell you that in many other areas that simply isn't the case. Look at the stats online and that will give you an idea of how many 1000s of apprenticeship places across all the trades have been lost over the years. We have been right through this with DS in the last year, so I'm very well aware of the situation - and the fact that there are many young people who would love to get a trade but just can't.

Squirrelsarecleverbastards · 23/07/2026 09:21

hedgeknight · 23/07/2026 09:17

Instead of telling other posters what to do or say, you could just report to MN and see if they agree with you.

Just a polite suggestion ofcourse.

Actually, I prefer it when posts like this are left, so everyone can see them for what they are?

Hope that’s ok with you? 🙂

Oh, and I’m not telling anyone what to do. It was a gentle suggestion.

hedgeknight · 23/07/2026 09:23

Squirrelsarecleverbastards · 23/07/2026 09:21

Actually, I prefer it when posts like this are left, so everyone can see them for what they are?

Hope that’s ok with you? 🙂

Oh, and I’m not telling anyone what to do. It was a gentle suggestion.

Edited

No problem, we can see you for what you are too.

EasternStandard · 23/07/2026 09:24

hedgeknight · 23/07/2026 09:23

No problem, we can see you for what you are too.

That’s a bit harsh.