Andy Burnham is just a dumbed down version of Starmer

[WarmHiker]

Just caught a snippet of some confident sounding commentator on tv repeating a line that you tend to hear in all news programmes. That Burnham is personable and has charisma. That line is starting make me think that as a country, the tyranny of low expectations has really hit a new low.

First thing’s first, when did saying ‘isn’t it’ after every sentence pass for charisma. Is the bar for charisma really that low.

Second, the guy’s failed upwards into a job that he’s clearly not fit for. His answer to everything is ‘Booses’.

The economy is on fire, buses. Immigration is out of control, buses. Crime is a problem, buses. We have the most expensive energy, buses. Industry and businesses are shutting down, buses.

He’s basically a small town mayor who accidentally became the prime minister because the quality of talent in parliament is non existent. Manchester is not a small town but running buses in Manchester doesn’t make you fit to be a PM. He was a failed health secretary, failed to be Labour leader twice when he actually had to have proper fight, somehow grifted his way to a mayor job for a decade. And yes his predecessors were any better. But why all the fawning over Burnham.

AIBU to think that we are headed towards a point soon when the public turns on him. He’s utterly out of his depth and the false shine will wear off in no time. A General election is looming.

All in all, so sad to see that this is the calibre of person at the top of government. What has happened to this country that no one smart wants to go anywhere politics.

So these are the top 10 points on Head North:

1 Written Constitution & Basic Law: Introduce a formal written constitution and a German-style "Basic Law" to enshrine fair investment and regional rights.

2.Electoral Reform: Move toward proportional representation (PR) to make voting more democratic and representative.

3 Abolish the House of Lords: Replace the House of Lords with an elected Senate of Nations and Regions.

4 Remove the Parliamentary Whip System: Eliminate or weaken party whipping to allow independent-minded representation and reduce blind adherence to party lines.

5 Full Regional Devolution: Extend genuine fiscal and political devolution down to local leaders, combined authorities, and the devolved nations (Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland).

6 Reforms to Funding Formulas: Overhaul the Treasury’s Green Book and fix the inadequacies of the Barnett Formula, which critics argue traditionally disadvantages social need in the North.

7 Parity in Education: Restructure and equalize technical and academic education pathways post-14, moving away from an academic-only London-centric bias.

8 Legal Accountability ("Hillsborough & Grenfell Laws"): Introduce legal measures—such a duty of candour on public servants—to ensure state transparency and accountability after disasters.

9 Green Industrial Revolution: Drive a transition to net-zero energy paired with regional re-industrialization.

10 Place-Based Collaboration: Make local collaboration mandatory across UK public bodies, forcing central government departments to share resources and staffing with local authorities.

To be fair there is some decent stuff in this list;

Both a written constitution and PR are long overdue .
Abolish the House of Lords fine, but if you replace it with an elected chamber then does the Commons still have the greater power and if so what's the point of being elected to the Lords (or whatever it is re named) if it doesn't have any power.
Full regional devolution- fine in theory but in reality meaningless without any real fiscal powers (tax and spend) and then what do you do if they keep massively overspending and go bust?
Parity in education sounds really sensible and again long overdue.
Green Industrial Revolution- net zero and re industrialisation are mutually incompatible. The UK has the highest industrial electricity prices in the world because renewable subsidies and grid reinforcement / connections for renewables are paid for by surcharges on electricity bills. So you can have net zero or re industrialisation but not both.
Collaboration also makes a lot of sense.

What is starkly missing for me is a) how can we increase productivity b) grow the economy c) reduce the budget deficit and d) coming together as a single united culture rather than the Balkanisation we are seeing.