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

Firstly your fascism labelling is wearing thin.

Secondly tell the electorate they cannot vote out the far left. See how that plays. Not well I would imagine.

As people keep saying on here fascist doesn’t mean ‘believes things I dont’. It’s quite specific. These are the early signs. Restore and Reform are much, much closer than the Greens who arguably don't have any of them (I say arguably because I know one or two of you will argue obliquely that they do have a couple - I’m not going to bother disagreeing, this is about who is closest).

I didn’t say you couldn’t. I said you couldn’t hold your nose and do it. If you can vote fascist (or extreme left) you are accepting fascism (extremism). You can do it, of course. You just have to own it.
Edit: what far left would anyone be voting out? We haven’t got any far left governments in Europe that I’m aware of. Have I missed one?

I wonder why the far left in Europe aren’t campaigning on that?

I thought the IMF was already banging on the door. There wouldn’t have been millions of our money sequestered in greedy bank accounts.

I've just watched a video of a girl on a campus violently attacking another for saying the girl wouldn't be able to walk around Iran dressed as she was. The response was for the girl to push the Jewish girl to the ground and try to kick and punch her. Luckily she was arrested but shouted something I won't repeat here. So a protestor against oppression in Iran is attacked and the person doing the attacking isn't the fascist? Makes no sense does it?

Please respect those who died and those who cared for them. It was horrific and still the wasted legacy lasts.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/14/boris-johnson-government-wasted-vast-sums-on-ppe-covid-inquiry-finds

£10 Billion pounds wasted, whilst they partied in Downing Street.

eta @Nuthatch26 as well.

Centre left? 😂😂😂

To anyone with normal parameters on the political spectrum it is. But then some people think the Johnson government was socialist so normality appears to be a thing of the past.

Is your response a Christian faith value?

Id question your definition of normal. Andy Burnham has even declared them an anti semitic party he would not do business with. They have strayed far from the centre ground.

We don’t know how things are going to play out in France, but I find it hard to see how anyone who cares about our own stability and prosperity could be hoping for anything other than Centrists in France coalescing around a candidate who is capable of defeating both Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Neither Le Pen nor Melenchon would be good for Britain as far as I can see.

The only person who benefits from more extemism and division within Europe is Putin.

On the Green Party

"During PMQs, Burnham stated that the motion was "wrong and antisemitic," adding that the Labour government would have "nothing to do with it" and could not support a partnership while the policy stands."

Facts matter

The UK has its own issues separate from those of France, so I would not conflate the two.

Kind of makes a case for not rejoining the EU though.

As ever, very insightful post, thank you! I agree that neither Melenchon nor Le Pen would be good for Britain, or France. The problem is that Le Pen comes across as more mainstream than her father, so it isn’t just far right voters who vote for her. But her support for Putin is very worrying.

Melenchon is definitely far left and shouldn’t be anywhere near power.

Thank you for your clarification.

There are also many elements within the party which are problematic and not representative of the centre left.

Apologies for quoting you. Detente ensemble

Why the hell would anyone want to watch a video of two students having a fight and attacking each other? Violence for clicks now and encouraging it by watching.

What well respected news outlet did you watch this on?

and the reason it makes no sense is because

it sounds very.... "fictional" 😁

You're saying a Jewish student being attacked is fictional? Well that attitude is hardly new.

There’s not much that can be done in any case, Le Pen and Mélenchon lead the polls and it’s up to voters in France.

I agree on it impacting the EU and the case for rejoin though.

I fully agree that our issues are separate from France’s. And I don’t know if I would, right now, personally argue in favour of rejoining. Although, I also don’t think being outside of the EU makes us immune to the consequences of rising extremism and division in Europe.

I suppose I do just find it odd to come on to a thread about the British Prime Minister and read posters seemingly cheerleading for Le Pen, or worse still, the AfD. They are extremist parties, and I find it hard to imagine being happy to see the rise of extremism in Europe, purely in the hopes it might be destabilising for a British Prime Minister. I didn’t personally like Boris Johnson - but I wouldn’t have been cheering on a far-left extremist in Europe simply because it might have made things awkward for him.

How telling that the responses are this never happened. Nobody likes watching those things so don't bother going there with trying to insinuate I have the problem. There's one person with the problem and that's the attacker.

You have a strange idea of what cheerleading is.