As the Conservative candidate for Leigh in 1992 I totally agree with Andy Burnham’s words in his maiden speech you have quoted and share your hope he will change the way we are governed for the better.
I do not agree with you on Count Binface. His Dear Makerfield letter shows he is firmly committed to democratic values. A background in comedy is not necessarily a disqualification. He could be to Farage what Zelenskyy has been to Putin.
With a proper campaign - and it seems he has an offer of funding - he might
Farage has a mandate in Clacton for three more years. He wouldn't resign and stand again if he didn't think he'd win again and easily. So its not a real election, its a sham. I can't think of anything more appropriate than him up against a comedian in a daft costume calling his manipulation of his constituents out.
Council housing not social housing….. sigh. As you rightly say, councils have been gutted of their historical knowledge and skills. You can’t magic that back in a heartbeat - not even years. Meanwhile, there are many (but admittedly not all) housing associations who are extreme,y capable, have build out pipelines and are basically keeping the likes of Vistry on business right now. If the first act is to direct Homes England grants to effectively non-existent council housing departments and away from established housing associations, then nothing but more bureaucracy and failure gets done.
I speak from experience: Worked for a very large council housing operation (as an ALMO) - recruited to help fix the mess after the police were called in to arrest the leaders and councillors who had been systematically defrauding the system for years (including - and I’m not making this up - importing an entire cricket team from Jamaica to win the local league, giving them all council houses, bumping them to the top of the list for upgrades and repairs, and then allowing them to buy the houses at a massive discount).
After I left (after we had fixed everything and were very high performing), the new leadership that came in proceeded to systematically defraud the council housing account of £40m over a decade, dumping the money into the council’s regular coffers to keep all the councillors’ pet projects going - until the auditors eventually caught up with them and they were forced to pay it back.
(Or ‘Nottingham’ as it’s better known… look it up).
I now sit on the board of an exceptionally high performing housing association, with the highest ratings possible for governance, finance and customer care.
Notice that the worst performing housing organisations for customer care are almost all council housing departments.
Starmer arrived in office armed with a pile of missions and technocratic concerns but no meta narrative of what his government was actually for.
Burnham clearly does have a clear idea of what he wants to change and a decent narrative and has identified his chosen devo fix.
But there already appears to be a vast gulf between the vision and the necessary detailed and costed policies, the calibre of people needed to deliver it and most of all the cash. Put another way, the vibes can only take you so far for so long…
It’s also very easy to imagine some crisis quickly engulfing his new team which takes up time, energy and resources.
In both scenarios yesterday’s scenes - vaguely reminiscent of North Korea - of gurning Labour MPs queuing up to nominate him will soon appear to be a fleeting high point from which a dizzying fall occurred.
There problem with taking the bye election seriously is you then validate the idea that if you're in a difficult position politically you just resign and stand again to take the heat off. Especially if you have a huge majority and so the risk is low.
I see what you’re saying, and it might make sense (for the Conservatives in particular) to stand, but overall I think the winning move here is not to play his game.
It is a real election but it’s an unecessary one. He’s only doing it to avoid scrutiny, isn’t he? He was already voted in there two years ago and has a mandate. We will be footing the bill (and again in the autumn if there’s another one).
As the Conservative candidate for Leigh in 1992 I totally agree with Andy Burnham’s words in his maiden speech you have quoted and share your hope he will change the way we are governed for the better.
I do not agree with you on Count Binface. His Dear Makerfield letter shows he is firmly committed to democratic values. A background in comedy is not necessarily a disqualification. He could be to Farage what Zelenskyy has been to Putin.
With a proper campaign - and it seems he has an offer of funding - he might
Do what Rosie DUFFIELD did to the appalling BraZier - a creature that was vigorously endorsed by Farage’s UKIP in 2017.
Farage has a mandate in Clacton for three more years. He wouldn't resign and stand again if he didn't think he'd win again and easily. So its not a real election, its a sham. I can't think of anything more appropriate than him up against a comedian in a daft costume calling his manipulation of his constituents out.
Council housing not social housing….. sigh. As you rightly say, councils have been gutted of their historical knowledge and skills. You can’t magic that back in a heartbeat - not even years. Meanwhile, there are many (but admittedly not all) housing associations who are extreme,y capable, have build out pipelines and are basically keeping the likes of Vistry on business right now. If the first act is to direct Homes England grants to effectively non-existent council housing departments and away from established housing associations, then nothing but more bureaucracy and failure gets done.
I speak from experience: Worked for a very large council housing operation (as an ALMO) - recruited to help fix the mess after the police were called in to arrest the leaders and councillors who had been systematically defrauding the system for years (including - and I’m not making this up - importing an entire cricket team from Jamaica to win the local league, giving them all council houses, bumping them to the top of the list for upgrades and repairs, and then allowing them to buy the houses at a massive discount).
After I left (after we had fixed everything and were very high performing), the new leadership that came in proceeded to systematically defraud the council housing account of £40m over a decade, dumping the money into the council’s regular coffers to keep all the councillors’ pet projects going - until the auditors eventually caught up with them and they were forced to pay it back.
(Or ‘Nottingham’ as it’s better known… look it up).
I now sit on the board of an exceptionally high performing housing association, with the highest ratings possible for governance, finance and customer care.
Notice that the worst performing housing organisations for customer care are almost all council housing departments.
Starmer arrived in office armed with a pile of missions and technocratic concerns but no meta narrative of what his government was actually for.
Burnham clearly does have a clear idea of what he wants to change and a decent narrative and has identified his chosen devo fix.
But there already appears to be a vast gulf between the vision and the necessary detailed and costed policies, the calibre of people needed to deliver it and most of all the cash. Put another way, the vibes can only take you so far for so long…
It’s also very easy to imagine some crisis quickly engulfing his new team which takes up time, energy and resources.
In both scenarios yesterday’s scenes - vaguely reminiscent of North Korea - of gurning Labour MPs queuing up to nominate him will soon appear to be a fleeting high point from which a dizzying fall occurred.
There problem with taking the bye election seriously is you then validate the idea that if you're in a difficult position politically you just resign and stand again to take the heat off. Especially if you have a huge majority and so the risk is low.
Okay but if he’s doing it dodge scrutiny and the allegations are so damaging why not apply scrutiny to him now?
I see what you’re saying, and it might make sense (for the Conservatives in particular) to stand, but overall I think the winning move here is not to play his game.
The Tories don’t have a huge majority though. As Greening says, it’s a real election!
It is a real election but it’s an unecessary one. He’s only doing it to avoid scrutiny, isn’t he? He was already voted in there two years ago and has a mandate. We will be footing the bill (and again in the autumn if there’s another one).
If finding Ken Dodd funny and Count Binface not funny isn’t evidence of a sound outlook on life, I don’t know what is.
Ken Dodd if diddy men fame would almost certainly have found Count Binface funny. He liked nothing more than cocking a snook at authority