Has Andy Burnham ended up as PM somewhat under false pretences?

[Imdunfer]

Please note that this is from a left wing Labour supporting paper.

It turns out that the marvellous redevelopment of Manchester that was the central plank of his credibility to become PM was triggered by the fall of Mubarak in Egypt in 2011 and what were effectively, or previously close to, bribes set up by the then Tory government to retain our massive defence contracts with the Middle East.

The owners of Man City, recently found guilty of breaking well over 100 financial football rules, are heavily involved. UK developers were excluded from access to large development contracts. Man City was sold a deal including the naming rights to the stadium, owned by the council, for £750k a year when professional rights brokers estimate the market value to be between £10m and £15m a year for the name alone.

The question is, did a local Mayor with no experience outside politics and only a tiny amount of experience of cabinet roles, (3 jobs in 3 years), get to be Prime Minister without a challenge on the strength of the development of the centre of his city that he actually only had a small part in creating?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/oct/25/thats-the-way-the-city-works-how-the-uae-changed-the-face-of-andy-burnhams-manchester

There's not a chance in hell that Germany, Poland or France will leave the EU, even with far right parties in charge.

Cause: I hate The Left
Effect: I support would be fascists The Far Right and Putin

Yes, blanket labelling just exacerbates the issue. The electorate is tired of it.

Good.

Le Pen aside Mélenchon’s anti-NATO views, which align with those who see Ukraine as the aggressor, would be welcomed by Putin anyway.

He might pull ahead who knows (it looks unlikely but just on the basis he might) his policies are disruptive in various ways.

So much for "not taxing working people" !
How much more will we have to cough up for these stupid PC ideas?
Gee whizz !
It just shows how good Labour is at spending other peoples' money.

The thing that really would change the temperature in Europe is if the Commission and Parliament were not so intransigent. And just gave up on the Freedom of Movement.

At least trial it for a three month period. See what impact it has.

All governments are good at spending other people’s money by definition. Governments don’t have money.

Yes, but some are better at spending it wisely than others......

Yes, but which governments qualify as 'wise' is a matter of opinion.

Wise is open to interpretation.

I'd be amazed if he does pull ahead, as you say. I can't see France voting for more years of misery and hardship. These governments do know how to make their citizens feel like second class. The unrest is reverberating around Europe.

I think the reaction to pulling out of NATO wouldn’t go down well here either, plus he’s Euro-sceptic and wants to lower the pension age. The latter at the same time students and others are protesting /rioting because there’s no money left. Plus border control changes.

It’s up to the French so we’ll see, but it’d be something if he did win, just on his policies being pretty different and likely disruptive.

As in fast track PPE during COVID. Whilst those in care homes died.

Precisely. That was uber wise - not.

Imagine if Burnham did want to pull out of NATO - a thought horrifying in itself. No wonder France is shaky and the country is in a mess. Le Pen is more measured in her approach to NATO. Not bad for somebody who's classed as poison.

Sorry, no. You can’t hold your nose and vote for fascism. We know what happens.

What 'fascism' do you mean ?
There isn't a fascist party in UK.

The Greens?

Covid was an unknown quantity.
The government followed the science at the time.
With a total UK population of roughly 67 million, 43,000 deaths in Care Homes account for approximately 0.064% of the overall population. They died because they were old and had co-morbidities.
A good job Labour weren't in charge, we'd probably still be locked down now and we would be looking at a bailout from the IMF.

True. They're the closest we have.

There are also hints of ultranationalism in Plaid Cymru and the SNP.

Look at the conversation I was in. It was about fascist and fad its adjacent leaders in Europe, plus Putin etc.
But Restore’s rhetoric is fascist adjacent a5 best, and the views of the Reform politicians and members recorded by ITV would be very at home in a fascist party, so I wouldn’t be so sure about your assertion re the UK.

Thank goodness Labour were not in power during that period. The last two years have shown how incompetent they are. Planning is obviously not their forte either.

Nationalism. Not ultranationalism.
Again, Restore and Reform are edging that way (if not already there).

No, the Green Party is not fascist. Mainstream political scientists and the party itself define the Green Party as a left-wing to centre-left political movement centered on environmentalism, social justice, and grassroots democracy