It was kind of Robert Jenrick to set me up for an obvious joke at his expense.

So Burnham is going to stick with Brexit, stick with fiscal rules , shower resources on the north and reverse austerity. what’s the shelf life of a radish?

'Why are you making this difficult for me!' He sounds ridiculous and petulant.

FT Exclusive: Nigel Farage’s claim that he paid for a £1.4mn house with his fee from a reality TV show has been challenged by corporate accounts that appear to show that the income remained on his company’s balance sheet after the property purchase. ft.trib.al/dtJOxC3

Very apt image posted by alexgallagher.bsky.social

Philip has a good line in reductio ad absurdum!

Burnham “I am trying to become a Labour MP in order to depose a Labour PM - so no-one is allowed to talk about Brexit or immigration in case it helps Reform which also wants to get rid of the PM “

Farage: vote Reform and get Starmer out. Burnham: vote Burnham and get Starmer out Inside Out column. open.substack.com/pub/philipst...

Thanks. A decent corrective to the Starmer hysteria.

Labour MPs are aligning themselves with Farage -doing exactly what he wanted Utterly incomprehensible

Yup, Farage's slogan was vote Reform get Starmer out, who knew some Labour MP's would take it as a rallying call.

Starmer's challengers are playing Farage's game. Latest Inside-Out column. open.substack.com/pub/philipst...

i blame Herr Andy Burnham

Going to be interesting by election campaign with Burnham alongside reform candidate calling for removal of Starmer …

Very smart piece from @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social on Andy Burnham. This line particularly stands out: "Andy wants to be loved and avoids making difficult decisions.” www.ft.com/content/9dd4...

And is anyone else going to get a look in for a leadership election? It seems and smells like a stitch up.

So Labour Party members campaigning for Burnham will be campaigning against their own prime minister …

Andy Burnham plans to run for seat as Labour Mp in order to bring down Labour PM …been following politics for a while but cynicism and entitlement ia breathtaking

It will the Labour candidate Burnham promising to turn out a Labour prime minister

Heard in the Labour whips office ….Andy Burnham strategy for by-election is to campaign as the only candidate capable of bringing down Starmers government …

Since Burnham is handed over Manchester mayoralty to Reform who could be surprised if the voters of Makerfield respond to his attempted carpet-bagging and do the same in the by-election....

He seems to have forgotten the bit about looking forward to making a future contribution from the House of Lords

All for what? Is Starmer a visionary, compelling pm? No Has government made mistakes? Yes Does it need more energy? Yes Are there other things it should be doing? Yes Has Britain been badly government since 2024? No Has it done some pretty good things? Yes Would the pretenders do better? I doubt it.

Please enjoy this picture of Nigel Farage putting something into his pocket while looking shifty, also there is a story attached www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Reform UK leader Nigel Farage bought a £1.4 million property in cash shortly after receiving a £5m personal gift from billionaire donor Christopher Harborne, according to property records seen by Sky News.

The house purchase, completed in May 2024, came weeks before Mr Farage reversed his decision not to stand in the general election. A spokesperson for Reform: "The offer and process for purchase of this property commenced before the gift".

Streeting: "I have no trust or faith in the prime minister but if I cannot get rid of him please don't ask me to give up my ministerial salary and car".... sometimes i wonder if the populists are right....

Has integrity and self-respect been drained entirely from politics...Streeting may have delayed a challenge to Starmer but has left no-one in any doubt about his intentions. A politician with an ounce of integrity would resign in those circumstances...

BAN THE PERVERT GLASSES

"What is it about what their government has done or intends to do that can only be gotten rid of by getting rid of Keir Starmer? Unless they can answer that question, they should take a beat."

This leadership shit, even now, is still not as important as the fact that FIVE MILLION QUID HAS BEEN PAID TO THE LEADER OF ONE OF OUR BIGGEST POLITICAL PARTIES

Richly deserved

Impression is that MPs from 2024 intake and from traditional left together account for v high proportion of those calling publicly for Starmer to go....has anyone done a detailed breakdown?

The grand bargain that gave us the west has been forever undone. The best that can now be hoped for of Atlanticism are transactional pacts. Inside-Out column philipstephens.substack.com/p/america-ha...

So we are about to see Andy Burnham begin a campaign for the Labour leadership by gifting the Manchester mayor’s job to Nigel Farage…such is the path of Labour’s present madness ….

Strategic autonomy in the works

What's going on? I'm going on!

we are in hock to the bond market whether we like it or not

Lord Palmerston declared that great powersquite naturally elevated permanent national interests above any quest for eternal allies. This was a fair description of the policy that saw Britain drawn into 2 world wars. Trump, though he would not recognise the historical parallel, is playing Palmerston.

Question: Wouldn't Andy Burnham's much-trumpeted politics of grievance against over-privileged London and South East put off Labour voters south of Watford? Burnham supporter: "Well that's not something he would emphasise as PM"

"In short, it is time to put up or shut up." Sitting PM John Major announcing Tory leadership contest in 1995. Cue for Keir Starmer? (Major beat cabinet colleague John Redwood by comfortable margin)

"The bargain that gave us 'the west' has been forever undone"...InsideOut column philipstephens.substack.com/p/america-ha...

open.substack.com/pub/philipst... America has left the west and Europeans have decided they prefer Canadians …Inside Out column…

open.substack.com/pub/philipst... America has left the west and Europeans have decided they prefer Canadians …Inside Out column…

Time to imagine the west without America. Thoughts on the future of Atlanticism in latest Inside-Out philipstephens.substack.com/p/america-ha...

This story needs way more attention. Farage and his acolytes have repeatedly claimed his home was "firebombed", to justify the £5m secret donation given to the Reform leader by crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne But the police report of the incident is a burglary. There's no record of arson

Definition of “orderly timetable” demanded by Starmer opponents …”we want to kill you but are not sure we can find a bullet …and anyway we don’t have a alternative yet …so could you please save us all the trouble by agreeing now to commit suicide when we have decided who should replace you”

Everyone knows Burnham is a politician of high principle and political constancy..never one to bend in pursuit of the main chance... Hence the well-worn joke among Labour MPs... "Tony blair, gordon brown, jeremy corbyn and keir starmer walk into a pub. The barman looks up and says"Hi Andy"

I mean, I'm by no means a well-informed Westminster-watcher/politics obsessive, and I can see the obvious problems with "get Andy back to Parliament" from several miles off, so I'm not quite sure why Rayner/other plotters can't see them too.

Why does anyone in Labour think that Andy Burnham is the answer to their problems ? Do they think Putin or reform voters or bond markets are easily impressed by performative northernness and a complete lack of policies ?