How long do you give Andy Burnham as PM?

[AndyBurnham2L]

Build ‘em up.
Knock ‘em down.

Short honeymoon and then the grumbling will start. It will all be over for him by Christmas.

So, who’s next?

He has a 170+ majority and he knows for a guaranteed fact that there is NO ONE in the party half capable of challenging him.

There will be no rebellion. Anyone that talks back is getting six of the best.

I agree - plus is he going to work cross party. If he needs Tory votes to counter Labour Rebels, he'll just say it evidence of consensus government.

He’s not going to work cross party with the Tories. He doesn’t need to. Actually he might work with Davey on social care, come to think of it.

It is very fair to ask how a government announcement will be costed.

No. Goodnight and peace and love 😘

He’s appearing more parochial every day and the emerging fiasco about the No 10 of the North 🤦‍♀️

Trump is delighted with him, as well he’s appearing quite dim

Absolutely it is. Except nothing’s been announced about benefit reform yet. And it will have to be approved by parliament when it is.

Trump is dim.

Burnham is intent on, what the BBC calls, a "flurry of early policy announcements". The flip side to that is that some of us are going to be asking searching questions.

Perhaps costings will all be set out in the budget, which is not that far away?

T levels have been a disaster, you can do a T level in plumbing and heating but it's not recognised at all in industry.

So if you do a T level you will still need to do an apprenticeship. You possibly might be able to jump into year 2 but you'll still have 3 years as an apprentice despite doing 2 years at T level.....so you'll spend at least 5 years doing what an apprentice will have done in 4

T levels are not a disaster. You point out one issue with one T levels and write the whole programme off. As with any new qualification issues arise, there were issues with getting placements and technical details around sitting exams but they are not a disaster.
Students may have started on a T level rather than an apprenticeship for any number of reasons, including no apprenticeship was available. Some students want to stay in a college setting initially. Getting industry recognition is important but Gas and Plumbing industry recognition is very difficult to get for very good reasons. I’m assuming the T level is working towards that.
Would you rather these students did A levels?

I'm in the industry and from a trade perspective T levels are a waste of time. Don't bother as industry doesn't recognise them and the only way for a young person is via an apprenticeship

My advice for anyone thinking of going into a trade is make sure you have your English and Maths. It's so important that you get these now and I can't emphasize enough.

If you can't get an apprenticeship then certainly do something your interested in at college and if a T level is that something then it's better than doing nothing, but please don't expect employers to recognise it.

The construction industry is still very much committed to Level 3 apprenticeships and I can't see it changing for many many years because of the bodies that control it.

Then how many more days after that?

Burnham is Prime Minister until July 2029. Calling for failure from the onset is incredibly destructive to the UK as a whole and says a lot about those who do it.

I think Burnham can turn things around and I'm looking forward to ten years of Labour government

Increase in Income Tax being considered:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/39901252/workers-face-new-tax-burnham-grapples-social-care/

Paying more benefits to parents to get NEETs off benefits and into work being considered:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy4v6e9d2go

Labour sees tax payers as a milking machine.

It's OK to call for the downfall of some PMs but not others. I've seen it all now.

😆 🤣 😂

I agree apprenticeships are a better option but that doesn’t mean T levels are a disaster or a waste of time. What about the students who don’t have English and/or maths - should we offer them nothing? What about the parents who want their children to stay in college - not always the best option but it’s what some people want.
Industry recognition usually takes a while, for very good reasons, but that doesn’t mean we should bad mouth and abandon any other options. A levels are very specific quals and do not suite the vast majority of young people we need to work on routes and qualifications that do work. Just criticising really doesn’t help. Also, T levels cover way more than the trades: childcare, business, law etc.

All hat and no rabbit

You can call for Burnham's downfall as often as you like, nobody is stopping you.

Without English and Maths you won't get a level 2 or 3 apprenticeship. You might be able to do functional skills but that is another obstacle and one that most employers don't want to entertain. They want the apprentice onsite 4 days a week and in college one...or on block release. They don't want an apprentice who's doing three days a week at college because they didn't get English and Maths.

So the most important subjects are English and Maths and don't consider an apprenticeship without them. If you fail to achieve them go back to college full time and get them before attempting anything else.

If you are not bright enough to get them which I think has to be a tiny minority of students then an apprenticeship in any trade isn't for you.

There's a lot of people who still think that an apprenticeship is for those who failed school...it's the complete opposite and it's only going to get harder. As many middle class roles get replaced by AI people will look to things like building services as career. Which means more competitive. I've been a heating and ventilation engineer since I was 15, and when I started it didn't matter but generally my maths and English have been pretty good so I've been ok as technically the job is more complicated. Heat pumps, high efficiency gas appliances, air conditioning, electrics......it's a very different journey job.

Apprenticeships should be grasped by Burnham, like Cameron did. It's time they lost their worthless label. Many degrees are now less valuable than solid work experience.

About a third of students don’t get English or maths at their first go, as a country we can not write all these students off? Resists are massive in colleges, what should these students do while they resist. Functional E&M were effectively shut down for young people by Gove. A lot of these students want to work would fit in trades well just school didn’t work for them.

T levels offer options - like I said apprenticeships are the best options for trades - but we need to have second chances and college based options. T levels are not only trades.

We agree on a lot - please don’t dismiss a valuable pathway because it’s not the best option in one area.