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The man with the plan

As Andy Burnham addressed the Labour Party faithful today it was hard not to be swept up in the enthusiasm. Burnham's leadership acceptance speech at Congress House was, as expected, extremely upbeat and positive. It was impossible not to compare it with Keir Starmer's lacklustre efforts, which serially failed to motivate his party,  boost its flagging morale or secure his position. On the contrary, the more the membership heard from him, the more deflated their mood became and the less they trusted his leadership. No-one could begrudge Burnham his moment of elation today - although he deftly avoided triumphalism - but he would do well to bear in mind the old adage, fine words butter no parsnips. Talk is cheap but the difficult bit will be delivery - and time is not on his side.  In thirty months or so preparations should be getting underway for the next General Election - unless, that is, Burnham decides to go to the country early in the hope of being returned for another fiv...
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Don't cry for me Inglaterra

There's no place for politics in sport, right? Well, good luck with that one, especially where obscene amounts of money meets global TV coverage, as with (a random example off the top of my head) the FIFA World Cup™. Things got off to a good start when FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, presented Donald Trump with the specially-invented FIFA Peace Prize to mollify the US President for being snubbed over the Nobel version. It was all downhill from there, with Trump's successful intervention to secure the withdrawal of the red card - and thus one-match suspension - awarded against US player, Falorin Balogun, allowing him to play in the subsequent match against Belgium.  There was widespread schadenfreude when the US lost that match 4-1 but now the controversy has moved on to the actions of some Argentinian players after their victory over England in last night's match, when Lisandro Martinez and Giovanni Lo Celso were among those holding up a sheet bearing the words Las Malvin...
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The gods are not mocked - World Cup sketch

I wonder if Donald Trump will take time out of his busy (golfing) schedule to see Christopher Nolan's newly-released epic, The Odyssey? It seems unlikely (not enough car chases) but if he does he might learn something useful about hubris and nemesis following his disastrously brazen intervention in the Folarin Balogun red card debacle. Trump, a self-proclaimed leading expert on football fouls (despite admitting not knowing what a red card was), phoned his pal, FIFA president and Trump ass-licker-in-chief, Gianni Infantino (a White House insider was quoted as saying if he spent any more time in the Oval Office "they would have to start charging him rent"), to get the one-match ban on Balogun overturned after he fouled Bosnia and Herzegovina defender, Tarik Muharemovic, and got a straight red card from the Brazilian ref, Raphael Claus , for doing so. Trump, not widely known for caring about the welfare of young Black men, preferring to see them jailed, shot or deported by I...
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Let's hear it for The Boys

Like all foundational myths, 'the 4th of July' requires some qualification. The semi-quincentenary of the founding of the United States of America is marked today - a bittersweet occasion, especially under its current President - but the date is somewhat arbitrary. I hate to be pedantic (me?) but, while true that delegates of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies signed off the Declaration of Independence on 4th July 1776, the New York delegation abstained until receiving authorisation from their state capital, Albany, which came on 2nd August 1776. The Declaration proclaimed the Thirteen Colonies "free and independent States", no longer colonies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and, thus, no longer part of the British Empire.  But this was only the beginning of a painfully protracted struggle to break free, not the end. Years of bloody battles and skirmishes followed, with the definitive peace treaty only signed, in Paris, on 3rd September 1783. Even then, this was n...
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Our friends in the North

Will Andy Burnham, as Prime Minister, be able to rebalance the country as he says he intends to? Speaking today at Manchester People's History Museum (a pointed choice of venue), Burnham set out his visionary programme not just of change but of hope and received a rapturous response from his audience of regional mayors and politicians in doing so. At last, after two wasted years, a clear path has been laid out for the Labour government to follow. The sense of relief and excitement in the room was palpable, even on TV. It's pointless asking now why this couldn't have been done in July 2024; the man elected then and responsible for the drift since has stood down and his successor-in-waiting has set out his stall in both philosophical and practical terms. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. All he needs is the opportunity to get cracking on delivery. The man dubbed 'the King of the North' certainly has impeccable northern roots and ten years' experience successfully r...
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Dear Andy - political sketch

We hear a lot about dashboards these days but, in the political context, it's perhaps worth remembering the word's original meaning It derives from the physical board attached to the front of a horse-drawn carriage to block mud and debris ('the dash' kicked up by the horses' hooves) from hitting passengers. Maybe you should ponder this fact as your civil servants analyse the data for you in real time. In other words, you'll need to develop a canny strategy for avoiding the shit when it inevitably flies and make sure it doesn't stick to you. But I'm sure you knew that anyway. So, as you prepare for your coronation I append my advice to consider in the short time available to you before assuming the mantle of the highest office of state. I know Oscar Wilde observed that the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on but, unfortunately for you, there's no-one you can pass it in to - the buck stops with you from hereon in. (Luckily for you, you w...
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Next!

So what the heck was the last two years all about and what follows now? Seven Prime Ministers in ten years is not a good look for any country and, to my mind, speaks not just to the governability but the viability of the United Kingdom as a political entity going forward. It's a question I've raised many times before but today I'd just like to focus on where we are now that Keir Starmer is going and Andy Burnham is about to be sworn in as an MP in the House of Commons. Like millions of other Brits, I suspect, I voted Labour at the General Election twenty-three months ago simply to get rid of the Tories. I wasn't expecting much and, in that, I wasn't to be disappointed. However, I certainly wasn't expecting to have my winter fuel payment withdrawn or to experience the problems I have had with Universal Credit since Labour came to power which I never had under the Tories. The bar of expectation was set very low and yet, even so, Labour under Starmer managed to lim...
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