secretsqirrel
spiteful class warrior
Westminster renovation is a huge money pit. They best leave and never go back.
Burnham
- Thread starter briantrumpet
- Start date
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Westminster renovation is a huge money pit. They best leave and never go back.
OP
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
It's not promising that the new Portcullis House is falling apart, with a leaky roof that is getting worse, amongst other things.
swee'pea99
Member
You bring to mind Rory Stewart on herself:
"Many many people even now hate Margaret Thatcher. But people knew what she stood for. And that meant that she could run a government. Everybody, civil servant minister, journalist, could look at any situation and think what would Maggie think and they would know what the answer was. She had strong opinions. And she thought, hard, about things that mattered. And she would argue about them with anyone; she loved arguing! Boris Johnson, he doesn't argue, because he doesn't actually have any opinions."
BoldonLad
Old man on a bike. Not a member of a clique.
- Location
- South Tyneside
They will move "Westminster" to Manchester, that will help fill up all of the expensive high-rise apartments built during his tenure as Mayor 😊
Pblakeney
Squire
100%!
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
Exactly that. People hated her for what she believed in and made happen. Ditto Blair, I suppose. But at least you knew what they wanted to do.
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
Ian Dunt quite liked it, I think...
midlandsgrimpeur
Prostrate Member
I think it took quite a lot from pre Prez Obama (not a bad thing). I suspect he is right that the whole way we govern and where the power base lies needs a huge shake up. The issue will be the cost of it and what will be a huge level of Westminster resistance and also the obvious time constraints.
I also worry about the kick back. Obama fuelled the rise of Trump and his merry band of racists and Christian fundamentalists. Slightly different here, but our class based system and those at the top who like to keep the Status Quo to preserve their position will do everything they can to undermine any kind of proper socialist leaning agenda.
Interesting times ahead!
UglyWithaSidePart
Active Member
I just watched it, he's a skilled communicator no doubt about it. I'm wondering if his old mate Chris Boardman will be appointed in some capacity.
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
I think he could turn around the fortunes of the government (for starters) just by 1) not sounding like an accountant reading a very boring balance sheet while suffering from a bowel complaint requiring restraint, 2) dropping both the harshest aspects of the immigration stuff and replacing Mahmood with someone who doesn't sound like they enjoy being cruel. It sounds like he can at least communicate that he has some sort of vision with some conviction, rather than everything being filtered through polling, focus groups and an 'election guru'. Oh, and he has to stop trying to stop Farage by mimicking Reform policies. He has to tell us they are racist when they are racist.
There's loads else I'd like him to do (drop EU red lines being the biggest), but the above would be a good start.
UglyWithaSidePart
Active Member
I don't want to be too harsh on Starmer, he was the PM we needed after 14 years of chaos and inaction, yes I know he lacks charisma, but I was quite happy for politics to become boring for a while.
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
That's why he got the big majority, but 1) he had no vision or political skill whatsoever 2) he thought that being boringly 'centrist' could be achieved by balancing out the progressive lefty stuff with a big chunk of Reform policies, and despite the dire polling, he wouldn't shift. The way it was going on I could see him being the reason Farage ended up being PM. I'm still not disappointed he won the election convincingly, but I am disappointed he didn't know how to capitalise on having such a massive majority.
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
Oooohh!
Pross
Guru
That feels quite astute but surely the reality of how much time he’ll be having to spend in Westminster surely means he’ll spend the majority of his time in Number 10?
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briantrumpet
Timewaster
Probably. Though if he's read Ian Dunt's book on Westminster and how truly unsuited No.10 is for conducting any sort of efficient and open government business is, Burnham might be thinking of having the working office elsewhere.