Oh Andy, Andy, Andy.. just Why?

[WallowingInMud]

[I categorically refuse to put the word ‘lighthearted’ in the title to indicate that Im not actually traumatised. Also because saying this post is lighthearted is just as facile as holding a little bus or building a Lego haus to illustrate my point.
See below.]

I realise that I don’t need to follow Mr B on instagram but I do and I’m feeling deeply patronised:

First a little toy bus (talking about buses innit), then a Lego house (building more Lego houses to amuse the homeless), a bit of cosplay by dressing up as a Sainsbury’s man of the people (to show that you can work at Sainsbury's and a sexy uniform is thrown in) and now… throwing a cowboy hat at the camera/phone to illustrate that cowboy builders are …cowboys.

Make it stop.

AIBU

Not just easy money from the speaking circuit, he'll also be able to appoint many of his friends and [financial] helpers to the House of Lords. Starmer managed to squeeze in 135 over two years. We are now paying for around 800 completely unelected cronies to decide our laws for us.

Maybe it's the cynic in me, but I can't help but calculate that having a new prime minister every few months is likely a very exciting opportunity if you're the sort of person who is happy to pay for a peerage; even if the current one says no, another will be along in no time...

Didn"t Reform want to reform the Lords?

Ah, so as I thought, there was a natural drop off in numbers for some reason we don"t really understand yet and Labour tried to pretend they were responsible, makes sense. So glad KS is gone.

No idea. Someone needs to. I find it very odd that people don't complain more about this weird collection of unelected nobodies who buy themselves a title and the opportunity to veto the laws our elected politicians vote for. And we pay for them to do it! We moan enough about American billionaires paying much more to get less, and they don't even get to veto democratically agreed laws... over here, a few thousand will give you a real ability to overturn any regulation you dislike, and nobody will even report on it. Poor Elon Musk, he really chose the wrong country 🙄

This is exactly what I am talking about.

Your cynical, sneering point-scoring tone is no way to enter a good faith discussion. I wouldn’t dream of engaging with someone who spoke to me like that in real life, so I don’t see why I would online either.

Our country deserves a much, much better level of political discourse, and I sincerely hope the Prime Minister is able to bring it.

Well, every MP plans to tootle into the Lords, a nice little earner, when they are out of Gov so no one in power will do anything about it obviously

Labour sneering has put me off more than anything unfortunately.

I think I know the kind of tone you’re talking about, and FWIW I do think it’s a register that Andy Burnham is less likely to use.

I really don’t think he’s a condescending, “gotcha” politician. Although, I have heard some commentators say it’s baked into our system, so, maybe I’m dreaming.

We can choose how we ourselves engage in political conversations though, can’t we? And I’ve got to say you yourself have seemed nothing but genuine in our exchanges - although I’m sure there’s plenty we’d disagree on.

Yes it’s been a pretty good thread so thanks for that. I much prefer Burnham’s tone to Starmer, by a long shot. Sadly Labour is everything around them, including MPs and supporters and that’s mostly just snark and sneer.

On a positive note though, yes AB does tend to avoid it more.

How on earth can think that the intent is good when they are flooding the country with illegal immigrants with no where for them to live, no magic funding pot for them to dip into, only us poor working people to constantly pay more and more for everything in order to fund them!
No sensible climate change plan, not making use of home resources, preferring to pay extortionate prices and buying power elsewhere, stamping on the farmers and making a lot of the small farms bankrupt, large businesses moving out of the country because they can't make it work here with the ridiculous rules on NI. People on lifetime benefits with no intention of ever working - "because it's a mugs game and not worth getting out of bed" No hope for students, either paying off ridiculously expensive loans or getting a job in their chosen field. Taxed to the hilt for just about everything, hence, droves of non-doms moving abroad. Pensioners not able to afford a decent standard of living. Not doing anything to protect women and children from the grooming gangs.
I could go on..........

I think the article in the Times today (sadly, behind the paywall so I'll have to wait for the URL link) in which a senior civil servant in the Home Office with responsibility for adjudicating asylum claims, says that roughly 1 in 100 is genuine.

There are several "legends" which are almost identical spun out by the fraudulents: one "has been in a relationship with an influential political daughter"; another is escaping repercussions for being gay, and the third commonest is based on religious persecution. But all the accounts are verbatim, bought and coached....

Nail on the head with all those points.

This has been common knowledge for decades

Yes, needs to be discussed a lot more.