AIBU to think Andy Burnham might call a general election soon?

[Mywishistoclimbthe3peaks]

To think Andy Burnham will call a general election before Christmas? Yes it would be a massive roll of the dice but,

Reform - don't have the numbers for a GE and there's all frog faces suspicious money bringing him a lot of heat.

Torys - kemi doesn't have a lot of depth, I feel and she hasn't changed much in the polls. She's good at the dispatch box but let's face it anyone could stand up and insult the other side.

By calling a GE Andy would have his own mandate and break the deadlock of the back benchers.

Not being unreasonable = he needs to call a GE

Your being unreasonable = Robotic Kier and Ratchet Reeves have gone and Andy just needs to get on with it now.

Unconfirmed reports that Brown and Harman have been seen entering Downing St.

Ok that’s not how mn works, if I quote a post it’s referring to that post.

None of the posts you quoted in your first one in this discussion could accurately describe something Labour set the scene for, as opposed to having been participants in a very wide ranging tapestry.

I just wonder if they might think it better to not have her in situ for if Farage gets back in and the parliamentary investigation continues. Otoh maybe Burnham either doesn't think he will, or expects the findings to be so significant that any attempts to compare the two don't work.

Yes it could as I said Labour referred to Labourites.

And I only quoted one specifically, so I’m not sure you’ve looked well enough, perhaps scroll back again to check.

There’s another difference with Blair in that Labour came into government in 1997 with a significantly improving economic backdrop. Consequently Blair had room to manoeuvre. Burnham has seized power under a very different economic picture. I cannot see how Burnham thinks he will pay for everything he’s promising. So he either waters his ambitions down, or we face a Liz Truss moment.

No it couldn't, as you're talking about something that existed well before the period you're talking about and using channels that were in much wider use than one British opposition party. This is why you're wrong.

Oh great points.

Another avenue could be just say Angela does get deputy then Nigel wouldn't be able to use money/tax as a defence against Labour. So many different scenarios.

@BermudaRhombus my two pence thoughts on this is that's why he's re branded levelling up. Push money into every area of the UK into housing, transport, health, infrastructure etc using money from investments that he's maybe hoping to get. Build up each area then each area brings in more money for the economy and lowering the welfare spending. If he pulls this off which to be fair would take at going really fast a good 10 years or more would improve the UK economy by billions per year. Thus pushing the UK forwards in all areas it needs to whilst remaining solvent.

agree - really hope he doesn’t ti give Kemi the time to get the conservatives sorted.
The concern is in the meantime he continues the ‘tax a few people a little more” “ those with the broadest shoulders” rhetoric which as we all know means continue to hammer those of us who have done the unspeakable…..worked our arses off, gained skills and qualifications (& the associated debt), taken risks, worked all hours in high pressure challenging jobs and dared to own a house, get a pension etc. Yes yes I know that’s all “luck” and we should all be all be penalized with ever more tax to pay for the less “lucky”
But in this time, more small and medium sized businesses will close, people their 50 plus will just stop because honestly what’s the point in working / continuing especially when apparently it’s some kind of social injustice to want to leave some of that hard work to your kids or will leave as there really are plenty of countries that like the above mentioned “lucky” people and would love us to come to them rather than fleecing us for even more for the ‘less lucky”

No because hounding on SM has increased in recent years, since partygate.

It has increased in recent years, but that scene was very much set before Partygate. The online-ification of everything during covid accelerated a trend that had been established for some time.

No the power of increased online SM chat is what I’m referring to. It impacts politics in a new way.

It does, but again this is something that was already very well established before the period you're referring to. For obvious reasons the data shows big social media usage accelerations during the lockdown periods, ie preceding the Partygate revelations.

He would be insane to do such a thing.

The days of 10 year plans are over. He’s got maximum until the end of this parliament and then, even if he wins the next GE, he’ll have a vastly reduced majority which will restrict what he can do. It’s yet another example of how completely deluded he is that he’s talking about his plans for a decade. He’ll be fighting for his political career within months.

Partygate was when the media really started profiting from dissatisfaction on SM which is a powerful combination.

But still if it was Covid it’s only a year or two earlier not during Brown, May, Cameron or Blair. Which is what I said below.

Yes, its absurd, as was Starmer’s 10-year assertion.

Even Beijing only talks in terms of 5-year plans in a one-party authoritarian state…

As @BrownBookshelf says, hounding on social media has been happening for a long time from all parts of the political spectrum. Remember this 2018 one about Rayner for example? There are plenty more examples.

You've said quite a lot of things! But you'd need to explain how the increase in social media usage across the population meant a small segment of it were the ones setting a scene for something that obviously not only preceded them but was happening on a much wider scale than them.

Would love to see Gordon Brown back as an advisor or more .

You’ve quoted a lot of times... but yes your Brown remark doesn’t fit within the pandemic, so you can see SM usage was lower in his time.

Setting the scene ie hounding politicians on a much bigger scale and most of it was anti gov and to the benefit of Labour. They were happy to to benefit then, but now feel the same heat and don’t like it.

Only if he wasn't a pensions advisor.

Tricky - it’s like Gordon Brown times all over again

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8391977.stm

It was indeed, but you said Labour set the scene on this and benefitted from the SM outrage, in a discussion about something that existed before 2020s levels of SM usage. As a pp pointed out, hounding has been happening for a long time before that across the spectrum. If you think increased social media usage in 2020-1 backs up your claim, you need to show why you think data showing that something happening across the population can be applied to such a specific claim about a small segment.

The second paragraph is correct, but again doesn't go to the scene setting point we're discussing. We agree that many Labourites were happy to come out with all this when they were in opposition, so that doesn't need to be repeated.