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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Andy Burnham

163 replies

Thedogscollar · 17/02/2022 23:51

AIBU after watching and listening to Andy Burnham on Question Time to plead with him to be the next Labour Party Leader?

He was engaging, passionate, fair and stood up for the ordinary working families of this nation.

Keir Starmer is a nice enough man but when Andy Burnham speaks he is so passionate about his politics which seems lacking in Keir Starmer.

OP posts:
Nightlystroll · 18/02/2022 10:19

@Thedogscollar

AIBU after watching and listening to Andy Burnham on Question Time to plead with him to be the next Labour Party Leader?

He was engaging, passionate, fair and stood up for the ordinary working families of this nation.

Keir Starmer is a nice enough man but when Andy Burnham speaks he is so passionate about his politics which seems lacking in Keir Starmer.

As a Mancunian it's great to see people admire our elected officials. Can I ask you to name some of the great things he's done for Manchester?
inheritancetrack · 18/02/2022 10:23

Keir Starmer is at least very intelligent and I can't say the same for AB or angela Raynor. All the labour party needs now is more left/right wing infighting to see them confined to the dustbin of history. Divided party is putting it mildly

trippinglyonthetongue · 18/02/2022 10:24

I mean Labour may well not win the next election - I remember reading at the time of the 2019 result that overturning an 80 seat majority had never/rarely been done within 5 years and that the most optimistic outcome for Labour in 2024 is a hung parliament? I think Starmer has a huge amount of repairing to do and it's a long-term task and would be whoever was leader. Obsessing about the polls now is pointless, though Labour are ahead anyway. A lot will change in the next year as the cost of living crisis hits and we need to see how the Tories deal with that and hope that Labour's response is a strong one. It was tough dealing with Covid as they had to be seen not to be scoring points off it and opposing for the sake of it where public health was concerned. They won't have that problem with this issue and that's got to be a good thing. Getting rid of Starmer would be madness and would take the spotlight off the Tories' leadership issues. And as far as this thread goes, it couldn't go to Burnham now anyway.

girlmom21 · 18/02/2022 10:25

@inheritancetrack

Keir Starmer is at least very intelligent and I can't say the same for AB or angela Raynor. All the labour party needs now is more left/right wing infighting to see them confined to the dustbin of history. Divided party is putting it mildly
He's a very intelligent man but he's not willing to use that intelligence to win voters because he's scared of saying the wrong things IMO. He does seem to believe in anything. He's got no passion.
MrsSkylerWhite · 18/02/2022 10:29

sst1234

He’s the epitome of ‘all fur coat and no knickers’. A career politician who would take any job to keep his ambitions to be PM on track. He was gbemm by labor health secretary at the time of PFIs, then ran for leadership, then mysteriously became so interested in local issues in the northwest that became the mayor there. Basically he wanted to distance himself from the rabid marxist takeover of Labour and saw a different route to party leadership one day.“

This. Bends with the wind, always has.

FirstAconite · 18/02/2022 10:45

This kind of stunt sums him upv

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/andy-burnham-manchester-tier-3-funding-robert-jenrick-a4572385.html

It's always about Andy Burnham and furthering his ambitions.

Georgeskitchen · 18/02/2022 10:51

Given the fact Burnham is trying to bankrupt Manchester with his clean air charge, I doubt he would be a good bet

REP22 · 18/02/2022 10:55

I liked Andy Burnham for speaking out about Hillsborough.

Iamthewombat · 18/02/2022 11:16

@REP22

I liked Andy Burnham for speaking out about Hillsborough.
And I despised him for his blatant grief thievery and cynical populism.
Tealightsandd · 18/02/2022 13:33

think what he's actually saying is that those who live outside the SE, don't have a voice in parliament/government. Which is fair.

Which country? Not the UK, that's for sure.

London (in the SE of the UK) is the epicentre of the public health housing and homelessness emergency. And, yes, there is a housing crisis elsewhere too but nowhere so bad as London. And that's been the case for decades.

Two thirds of all of England's homeless families are in London. That's a majority. There are more homeless in London than the entire population of many UK towns.

Oh and tell the people of deprived SE towns including Jaywick Essex and Gillingham Kent about their 'voice' in Parliament.

Meanwhile we have a chancellor in Parliament who represents the affluent Northern constituency of Richmond, York's.

The talk of 'levelling up'. Where is the 'leveling up' for the many deprived people living struggling in the SE?

Still. Stoking regional division is the lazy and easy option isn't it. Saves on having to come up with actual policies that will help all those left behind. Regardless of where they live.

Tealightsandd · 18/02/2022 13:35

That said. If we must have a regionally focused PM, it's well past time that Londoners were levelled up. They've been fucked over for decades.

Tealightsandd · 18/02/2022 13:39

@OhWhyNot

Neither was Boris Johnson liked by many when he was mayor of London

But voted for mayor in a labour voting city

I’m not sure mayors are particularly popular but it’s a platform often for those with higher ambitions

Kier Starmer should be way ahead in the polls but he isn’t. Labour need to be looking at the next election he just is t winning over voters

Keir is ahead in the polls.

And London was not (and still isn't) a completely Labour city. Even now there are Conservative seats.

Also, of course, just as with the 2019 general election, people voted against as much as for.

LightsoftheNorth · 18/02/2022 16:41

@REP22

I liked Andy Burnham for speaking out about Hillsborough.
He only 'spoke out' after being publicly shamed into it. He's since tried to muddy the timeline, but he did absolutely nothing until he was rightly heckled by grieving families. There's a newspaper article online somewhere setting out the timeline of action, but I can't find it annoyingly.

He cynically used the tragedy of Hillsborough to increase his own popularity, whilst the families campaigned, and people like Phil Scraton and David Conn worked so hard to support them and get the truth out.

A few well timed photo opportunities can leave people with a favourable opinion which may not be deserved.

AnneElliott · 18/02/2022 17:13

He's personally very nice but he's a Spad through and through. His opinions are based on what is on the front pages the next day.

Armadeus · 18/02/2022 17:25

Saying the tories will win the next GE is surely insulting the electorate. Vast majority of folk were disgusted with Johnson's hypocrisy and dishonesty. Certainly there's a minority of die hard leavers for whom the tories can do no wrong but give it a few months and the toxic mix of brexit and the huge rise in living costs will strip them of any semblance of being fiscally astute. Starmer is making inroads definitely, he may be boring and lack charisma but the country needs sensible politicians now.

Lincslady53 · 18/02/2022 17:41

How did his ending homelessness in Manchester go? He made a big announcement how he was going to solve the problem, yet the city centre streets in Manchester still seems have loads of beggers, spice zombies and other junkies hanging about.

Original poster
Thedogscollar · 18/02/2022 17:54

@Emanchego

This is why you shouldn't be able vote OP, without researching who or what you're voting for. He's literally just been found out over his deceitful 'Clean Air Tax' plot to tax people everything they drive anywhere. The air is actually clean if you look at any air quality forecast in the UK.
Ok fair point I did not realise his involvement with the CAZ tax in Manchester. As some people have pointed out I am not from Manchester.

Apart from that don't ever say to someone they should not be able to vote. Who are you to say that? I was basing my opinion on how he came across not on his performance as Mayor of Manchester.

If everyone thought like this then fewer people would be interested in and become involved in politics resulting in an even more divisive nation.

OP posts:
balalake · 18/02/2022 18:01

The Labour Party will not choose him even when there is a vacancy. I think he should stick with his current role.

Original poster
Thedogscollar · 18/02/2022 18:26

I think looking at the backlash re the CAZ tax that he will no longer be Mayor after the 2024 elections.

OP posts:
ExtraOnion · 18/02/2022 18:28

I live in Greater Manchester … I love our King of the North .. as do the huge percentage of people who voted for him.

For those interested in the facts about the CAZ, rather that the Tory propaganda about it .. please read this recently released statement. The CAZ was anyways, and remains, a government initiative, with govt decided deadlines.

andyformayor.co.uk/2022/02/18/personal-statement-by-rt-hon-andy-burnham-mayor-of-greater-manchester-on-the-gm-clean-air-zone/

AngelicaElizaAndPeggy · 18/02/2022 18:31

Love Andy Burnham. Could imagine him in peaky blinders, but in a good way.

AngelicaElizaAndPeggy · 18/02/2022 18:32

He's all kind of noble and fierce and stands up for the north. I think he's great.

OhWhyNot · 18/02/2022 18:34

Labour should be further ahead in the polls. If we had a leader that connected more with the public I believe we absolutely would be. I also don’t think the Tories are particularly threatened by Starmers leadership if they were Johnson would be gone

And yes there has always been areas of London that vote Tory but for some time now London has been a Labour voting city (being considered London centric has been an issues since Blair times) when Johnson first ran for mayor it was a gamble for his career at the time London wasn’t likely to vote a Tory mayor but he doesn’t just appeal to Tories as we now know

I don’t think thinking Tories could win the next election is insulting voters (I’m not a one to think of Tory voters or leave voters as stupid) but all voters can be very forgiving when it comes to elections. Not everyone is that interested in politics if the economy is doing ok by May 2024 it’s less likely there will be a change of government

birdy747 · 18/02/2022 18:36

finds out he has been caught pushing a bullshit tax charging people for clean air

"Ooh yeah I'd love to lick his ring piece"

🥴🥴

www.facebook.com/groups/greatermanchestercaz/?ref=share

MarshaBradyo · 18/02/2022 18:37

@OhWhyNot

Labour should be further ahead in the polls. If we had a leader that connected more with the public I believe we absolutely would be. I also don’t think the Tories are particularly threatened by Starmers leadership if they were Johnson would be gone

And yes there has always been areas of London that vote Tory but for some time now London has been a Labour voting city (being considered London centric has been an issues since Blair times) when Johnson first ran for mayor it was a gamble for his career at the time London wasn’t likely to vote a Tory mayor but he doesn’t just appeal to Tories as we now know

I don’t think thinking Tories could win the next election is insulting voters (I’m not a one to think of Tory voters or leave voters as stupid) but all voters can be very forgiving when it comes to elections. Not everyone is that interested in politics if the economy is doing ok by May 2024 it’s less likely there will be a change of government

The biggest threat has been recent DC campaign which tends to hit numbers when in place but doesn’t impact as much when out of headlines