AIBU to wonder how a government can be based in Manchester?

[dottiedodah]

Andy Burnham is proposing to govern from Manchester when he starts on July 20th.How can this be so ? Surely all previous governments have been based in London?

And so will the next one be? Can you point to any suggestion that it will be relocated? Its just one department. The OP didn’t understand that and started people off on a wild goose chase.

His primary residence is Clarence House.
But none are in Manchester are they?
So Burnham will be travelling all over the place.,
If Miliband becomes chancellor, it’s all going to end in tears. All this talk of net zero, there will be no air travel for them, so the entourage will be spending a lot of time in trains.
If the King is at Highgrove, that will be a right hassle.

Get a grip. He will have the same security wherever he is. He has security now. Helicopters?! That was Rishi and Boris; its not Burnham’s way. And yes, he should have first class travel, you want him to sit on the floor? Daft.

And if he’s at Balmoral, it will be a lot easier. There are far bigger issues facing than country than the PM’s routes to visit the King.

I was on a train to London from Manc a few months ago and half the cabinet were sitting in my 2nd class carriage. I was very impressed! Ed Miliband went round talking to all the passengers.

You do realise the PM doesn’t drop in on Charlie every afternoon for a cuppa, right? 🤔

Sometimes change can be a good thing.

It would be. There is no plan to move Parliament 🙄

King Alfred the Great ruled from Winchester - that was the royal capital. London was just a trading hub. So no, not all previous governments were based in London.

Norwich was once the capital

Burnham is a fool.

Isn’t this the issue with AB

He can’t see his way out of Manchester

Everything is about The North and Manchester. London frightens him

It seems odd that he wants to be Prime Minister but won’t live in the countries capitol

I am going to have a guess that he hasn’t a clue about what problems affect other areas of the country. In his eyes all Manchester problems are the same as everywhere else in the north and everything south of Birmingham is populated by rich southerners,

Personally I think he has been promoted beyond his pay grade

You do know that not everyone lives in London? In fact, Londoners are a minority in the UK.

They are many, many historical precedents for the centre of government being in the North (of England). Manchester's pretty far south in comparison to York and Lancaster, or Carlisle - all of which have been centres of government. And that's before we start on Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

One of the problems for the UK economy is that too much capital is centred in London, and a lot of it is not working hard enough for the rest of the country.

It's all going to head South - pun intended. I'm looking forward to watching it happen. I agree, he's way out of his depth, overrated and smug. A socialist who likes gimmicks at other people's expense. He's lucky the defence budget has just been vastly underfunded by Starmer and Reeves. Burnham doesn't have to worry about that - for now.

I wonder if the reason that he doesn’t want to take up residence in the capitol is because he wants to surround himself with an echo chamber and in the capitol he wouldn’t get that.
Too many people around to point out the flaws and burst his bubble.

Also some might say that if he is away from the main hub, then what is he getting up to away from prying eyes.

I always though that he was a Corbynite

You could be right. If thats the case, he's giving others a taste of what he wants which is political freedom. Also, If devolution was always on the cards, why didn't Starmer start rolling this out? If he is a Corbynite, we are fucked. His fans seem to think he's soft left. We shall see. I'm not optimistic in the slightest.

Britain is governed from London, which has sucked the life out of other cities. It is too powerful. It has sucked the life out of other cities. Property is overpriced.

When I first moved there many years ago from Manchester my reason was just money. If you wanted to make it you had to go there.

One price you paid was summed up by my answer to a question: What were the people like? I replied that if you dropped dead they would walk over you.

I did prosper and make the money, but when eventually I moved to Bristol I was struck by how much friendlier people are. And how property is far less costly.

Silly question - how can a Government based in Westmister govern the whole of the UK?

As opposed to funny Southern accents, you mean then? Wow.....

2 hrs and 7 - 15 mins is the current one way direct train time for a journey Manchester Picadilly to London Euston. It's a hefty journey for a country so small, and from a city which sits only half way on our geographical map. Our train system is anarchic and outdated, this brings it to light yet again.

It will just cost us loads more money because of having 2 offices to staff and have security for. but of course he won't care about that because its all about him

"number 10 north" is the latest attempt at "levelling up" (Boris Johnson ) or "the northern powerhouse" (Cameron/ Osborne).

It's a shame but no government seems to be able to implement a long term plan to stimulate growth in the regions. It's worked for cities like Manchester and Birmingham but doesn't make it to the smaller towns.

I think its a good idea.

IIRC Rishi Sunak wanted to live in his London home rather than Downing Street but didn't.

I think we should have No11 Plymouth so the South West doesn't feel left out.

You should move north. My internet is great!