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.

Oh that is a strange choice. I'm surprised he even wanted that! I thought Al Cairns would have been safe there.

Agreed.

I think that the wheels are going to come off pdq.
Not looking good.

The average real world job experience of Burnhams new cabinet is 2.5 years (mostly
in low grade roles).

How the hell can they claim to represent us?

Absolute madness.

She's right though. We are in a mess, and whatever you thinking our spending priorities should be, we are going to need money to fix them.
Cutting welfare won't touch the sides given 67% of people on benefits are pensioners or in work already, and a chunk of the remainder will be genuinely too ill to work or have disabilities. The health of our nation in in a shocking state and we're not getting any younger.
Nothing is getting cheaper. Ordinary people can't handle any more income tax.
We need to give the wealth tax a go. Because not all assets can be taken away from the UK, and we could try the US system of ten year exit tax for those that could. This is a popular idea across all shades of politics with public support for it at 77%.

Haigh is a problem. It’s difficult to batter Farage for impropriety when you have a convicted fraudster in no 10. Reform will throw back the mud and it will stick, Massive own goal.

Wealthy taxes have been tried and failed elsewhere. It costs a lot and doesn't raise enough money to even touch the sides. The highest earlers pay about 60% of all taxes. If they either retire because it's not financially worth it or leave we will lose tax.I think he should replace the CT, Stamp duty etc with a land value tax, and something needs to be done about the Triple lock.

They can't after taking money from an even bigger fraudster!

The sickening thing about Haigh is that her conditional discharge didn't bar her as a serving MP. That privilege is denied many ex offenders in roles, such as education. It's madness that she's exempt in her government role. An example if Burnham's fairness, I suppose.

I'm not entirely sure keeping a work phone that you shouldn't have and pleading guilty to it is comparable to half a million pounds from someone convicted of wire fraud, let alone a £5m bung from someone else, which you keep strenuously arguing is all hunky dory.

£200(?) - let's say £300 and be generous - versus £5,500,000... To put it mildly, anyone who thinks these are the same is stretching beyond reason.

The need to give another tax a go might not work either. There’s indicators that road has ended.

Amounts involved are irrelevant. This was argued the case in Rayner's stamp duty evasion. It's the principle that matters.

Haigh was convicted.

Farage is not currently guilty of any wrongdoing.

I’m not saying it’s comparable. But we all know how social media works. If you’re challenging a party for alleged impropriety you need to be whiter than white. All the public will hear is that there’s a convicted fraudster in Downing Street and that’s all it will take. Most people don’t dig into the detail.

Exactly and somebody else has already made the excuse about the phone fraud costs. Fraud is fraud.

Any they’re off! Infighting over how the electricity VAT cut is to be funded. Burnham claims it’s from axing digital id, but turns out that digital id itself was unfunded. You couldn’t make it up. The VAT cut makes no material difference to the public as it’s such a small amount, but rushing out the policy without nailing down the funding is another own goal. Burnham really is hapless.

Kneejerk and U turns part 2.

Burnham’s new cabinet = lipstick + porcus.

ALERT, ALERT.

Russian warship opens fire off Plymouth

Frigate’s ‘highly unusual’ gunnery drill seen as attempt to challenge Andy Burnham on first day in No 10

MPs represent the people who elected them - the voters chose them.

Oh well, if he 'has that look' it's a foregone conclusion then, isn't it... 🙄

In that case I've missed something, I stand corrected. Still don't give a hoot what he wears, though.

It matters. His wife wearing a £900 dress for his arrival at Downing Street during a cost of living crisis is appalling optics.

Feel free to respond to any of my other posts.

Constructive debate always welcome.

Yeah, my point still stands. If he can improve things for people who are struggling, he'll win their vote.