To think Andy Burnham needs to start to show us he can talk about more than "the north" and "buses"

[joeymaynardssandwiches]

I want to get behind Andy Burnham, I feel he's got the potential to be a great counterpoint to the rise of reform. And I do know it's "silly season" in politics and with parliament closed I guess there's a limit on what initiatives can be announced

But so far it feels like he hasn't broken away from being a northern caricature who just bangs on about buses.

I'm a "northerner" (who always thought of Manchester as the part of Midlands ) but I can only do my job in the south and I can assure Andy there are big pockets of deprivation in the south too.

And I am all for public transport, and investment in it. But it just feels like a real "low hanging fruit" approach for his first few weeks and I want to hear him talk about thornier and less uncontroversial issues.

And admittedly I haven't been reading every news story in depth as I have been busy with the kids so he may have discussed other things. But that is my overriding impression at the moment and it feels a bit frustrating

I don’t need you to agree with me and I don’t need you to comment on the last paragraph of my post.

Looks that you don’t follow the news either. Burnham was not the one who raised NI so not sure why you feel sorry for him.

And yet my point still stands. Mr Net Zero with his economy destroying policies is currently jet setting around the world to have meetings. Fucking embarrassing.

You’re still engaging with me 😎

As a Scottish person I'm never sure where the north is but it kind of feels like he's forgotten about us. Not everything is devolved to SG (thankfully).

I didn't see Ed make impact on the News at all. Any new policy announcements? I shouldn't really have to search for it should I?
He issued a statement on the ME conflict - wow! I could do that.
I'll ask again - where/who was the Prisons minister or Justice Minister - did they make statements over Early release?
What has changed since Starmer? I don't see any togetherness in the PLP, the cabinet don't seem united, gone are the days when we saw the likes of Straw, Brown and Blair together. It's all very underwhelming.

What’s going on politically in Scotland at the moment? I understand men are still women and Nichola Sturgeon has moved to England leaving her ex husband with the contents of the Argos catalogue in his front room. Anything else going on?

Did you miss his video today on ME issues?

@EasternStandard
Yes, I do and I am worried but I am also 100% certain that their overall quality of life would be much worse under Conservatives or , God forbid, Reform.

Who Burnham or Milliband?
I see Burnham's visit covered on the BBC/Telegraph/Independent. Nothing about Miliband?

@Fluffyholeysocks
The Foreign Secretary met with his counterparts in other countries to promote British Foreign policies.
What a shocker. That’s what his job is.

What else would you expect him to do? A live stream of him doing Morris dancing to promote our culture?

He condemned Israeli. What would you like him to do instead? Bomb the hell out of Middle East like our “special friend” from Washington?

and why would that be? I know people are terrified of welfare reforms and the inability to suck at the teat of tax payers fiorever, but if everyone mucked in we might just get ourselves out of this mess.

Well I don’t agree there as not getting work is the biggest stress going and Labour are damaging their chances.

What are you thinking of specifically for young adults that’s better but isn’t getting a job?

Why on earth would I want him to bomb the hell out the ME? How does Morris Dancing promote the UK?
Again, where was the Ministerial statements about something as IMPORTANT as Early release?

@Fluffyholeysocks
EM does not control what the newspapers/news outlets cover. He has made several international visits and have planned many visits of foreign politicians in the UK in the coming months. So he has been doing his job. Should he instead sit and make 50 Truth Social/X posts every night to promote his accomplishments?

I just saw him on instagram jamming a smiths song with some Ukrainian soldiers on a guitar.

Like to see Trump do that.

Why do you keep referring to 'our special friend' or his Truth Social/X posts ? What has Trump got to do with the underwhelming Cabinet of Burnham's Government ?

Is that what works?

I agree with you. I think he's out of his depth. There is something going on behind the scenes.

Agreed, Im sick of this North South bollocks too, we're all part of the UK just stop mentioning it all the time and get on with the job....

What did the Conservatives do to help with that in the years they were in power?
Leaving EU did not reduce the unemployment.
What will Reform do? Stop the boats? But according to them immigrants come for free houses and benefits so they are no competition on the job market.

The economy has already seen a growth under Labour so I do have faith that the job market will improve.
At the moment the biggest factor in the rise of unemployment is the economic situation around the world. The businesses are hit hard by the skyrocketing prices of energy and fuel.

So no answer on what Labour have done for young people bar decrease job vacancies.

On growth let’s see how the rest of the year goes.

Pat McFadden summed up Labour well

‘Every meeting I have is “who can we tax in order to pay benefits to others”. They’re asking the wrong questions.’

There is nothing underwhelming about someone doing his job quietly without constantly posting about on social media. You however seem to think that if it hasn’t been in the media, it hasn’t happened. That’s why I asked if you would like him to constantly post on SM.

Oh the usual SNP good, Tory bad, 'the boat people' bad, INDEPENDENCE GET IT UP YER (🙄), William Wallace FREEDOM, Sturgeon didn't do it, it's all Thatchers fault, usual shit really.

Men are women and women are women but X-X women are meant to have their own loos now, I think, thank god I WFH and tend not to get out too much as a quick wazz is very confusing.

Would you like to adopt me 'down south' btw, I'm fairly house trained 😁.

What have the other parties done to resolve this issue? 14 years of Conservatives. What did they do? Was the country in a better place when they left?
Don’t need to ask about Farage. He doesn’t even attend Parliament or his constituency.