Andy's first U turn

[Imdunfer]

He's going to have to learn to hold his tongue until things have been properly investigated.

I promise they will not be released.

There is no way we can find that will stop them being released. They will have to be realised, there's nothing I can do. There is no space for more prisoners.

We've found a way to stop them being released.

We've found spaces not to release others as well.

Plus ça change.........

It IS a weakness as a Prime Minister to think aloud. People hear it as policy. Journalists report it as policy. He's working it out pretty quickly, but it's slowed his speech right down which is reducing his charisma.

People talk about him as if "Manchester" as a whole loves him. He is quite disliked by many people in the poorer areas who see his achievement as the huge shiny blocks of very expensive "vertical village" flats that they can't afford to live in.

I think AB is a decent bloke trying to do good. Good MP, ok Mayor but Prime Minister? I'm not so sure. Saying that, he's exposed, where are his Cabinet big hitters? His Jack Straw, Barbara Castle, Dennis Healey or Robin Cook. He's not supported by any great talent, which I'm sure he's finding out quickly.

TBF, establishing political talent takes a while. There may be some reputations to be made over the next three years.

Even so, I do agree that both Starmer’s and Burnham’s cabinets look pretty amateurish.

Cooper is a big-hitter IMO, but she’s been demoted a long way down. God knows why she agreed to take health and social care. It’s a pretty ignominious appointment after Home and Foreign Sec.

It’s been a while since Burnham was in Westminster one thing that has changed is the extent of SM and its ability to shape policy via backlash.

He will probably learn just speaking as he makes up his mind along the way isn’t as possible with that scrutiny.

Wow, it hasn't taken long! A few weeks ago he was a cross between Superman and James Bond, and it was hard to find someone who didn't like him. Well you'd better give him a chance, unless you'd like to see another leadership fight?

I like him. He is trying to make changes that help people. That seems more than any of the last bazillion prime ministers have done.

I don’t entirely understand your point, but if you mean that some people are turning on him reflexively and for no other reason, I agree.

The difficulty Burnham starts with, though, is that he ran around begging to secure a by-election, walked away from his mayoral term and engineered a coup against Starmer. That’s all perfectly within the ‘rules’ but it leaves an unpleasant taste in many mouths, including Labour supporters’.

It’s not hard to see why his manoeuvring leaves him open to being thought a gobby snake oil salesman who’s ridden into town. But he has his chance to disprove that.

He's made lot of U-turns from his original witterings. Thats what politicians do.

A man listens to concerns and acts. When having to clear up a mess left in the main by three of the worst government ministers ever (Chris Grayling, Dominic Raab and Liz Truss were all Justice Secretary).

I may disagree with some of the way it is done, or want alternatives to be considered, but don't call this a U turn.

Absolutely this.

Yet when Keir Starmer listened to concerns and acted, whilst trying to clear up 14 years of Tory mess, … all we heard was Oo u turn, u turn, u turn!

Burnham’s wanted this gig for 10 years; plotted a coup against Starmer for at least a year (possibly longer); and got what he wanted. Perhaps he’s now realising it’s not that easy!

I think he knew that.

A briefing from no.10 is not a statement from the PM.

I agree there's been confusion here, but this is not a policy U turn really - no fixed policy was announced.

Journalists didn't report it as government policy, they reported something no.10 had said.

Politics is a lot of noise, only some of it is official noise.

This is the point I'm trying to make.

PM speaks without having full information.

Papers report "the PM said...".

People hear "the PM has promised to..."

He's beginning to understand that's how it goes as PM and it's noticeably changing his delivery.

There is a difference between 'a source in no10' 'a spokesperson from no10' and 'Andy Burnham'.

I think it was always obvious the PM would seek a route to prevent the release, if possible.

In the meantime, there's discussion of the issues.

Politics is complicated. Voters get disappointed if they expect simplicity.

I've already made it clear this this was Burnham and the BBC news showed a series of three clips with him u turning twice.

But why do you feel a PM shouldn't talk about complicated issues as things evolve - why do you feel the need to have one fixed answer and done?

The world IS complicated.

I haven't seen video of the statements, I just read that thinking was evolving - I expected that to happen because it's obvious this is a pretty uncommon situation.

The policy u-turns from Starmer were different political situations - winter fuel discount for example was a fully-costed proactive budget proposal, not an occurrence requiring a response in real time.

Starmer was a dog being wagged by the back benchers.

It remains to be seen whether Andy will have better control over his own tail.

Because talking about things before you know the true situation leads to confusion and annoyance which is exactly what has happened.

PMs cannot talk their thought processes through in public.

He wasn’t. It was widely acknowledged that party management was shocking and he failed to roll the pitch for his policies. As a result they were presented to backbenchers as a fait accompli and - strangely - they rebelled. It seems Burnham’s style is more collaborative and he’s interested in exploring problems and not just demanding solutions. Yvette Cooper’s interview on Political Currency is very illuminating on the inner workings of the Starmer government.

What we need is a dictator. Someone like Putin who says what he means and means what he says. We don’t need policy discussions and we absolutely don’t need PMs who considers public opinion. We need a strong leader who doesn’t bother allowing the public to understand the complexities of government.

Listen to yourself!

Alternatively, the public is just too stupid to be aware of complex legalities and political compromises. Once the public hear something you have to do it because fundamentally anything complicated just confuses them and makes them angry. Changing your mind is the worst thing a PM can do because the public can’t cope.

Rather naively I think most of the public can follow discussions and ideas, if we argue in good faith and try to avoid gotcha policies. Although, reading MN at the moment I think I may well be wrong.

Did you enjoy that rant? 🤣

I don’t know about her, I did.