The First Burnham Victim Goes Under The Bus....

Step forward, victim:

Ms Haigh serves as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and First Secretary of State, effectively making her Andy Burnham's deputy. The Prime Minister appointed the convicted fraudster to her powerful role, as well as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, after she masterminded his victory in the Makerfield by-election in June. Her position in the higher echelon of Mr Burnham's administration comes less than two years after she was forced to resign from former PM Keir Starmer's Cabinet.

And now we know why he took such a step, so he'd have someone to blame when things went tits up. 

Louise Haigh signed off on a nationwide emergency wildfire alert that startled millions of people across the country. Ms Haigh, who is head of the Cabinet Office, is understood to have approved the alert, which led to panicked Britons jamming 999 lines and startled drivers swerving across motorways.

Bullshit! Don't tell me a decision like this never crossed the PM's desk. 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss', as the song goes...

The Conservatives, who devised the system more than a decade ago, said the alert was only intended to be used in cases where there was an imminent, direct and mainly localised threat to life.A Cabinet Office report explicitly warned against its use for 'lower level' incidents for fear of creating a 'cry wolf' effect, in which phone users either disabled or ignored the alert in cases of genuine emergency.

Indeed, I first heard this fot real as I headed out to a restaurant in Edinburgh for a birthday meal, because extremely high winds were predicted - and materialised! - the next day. 

The Government had initially considered sending a targeted alert to the areas which were most affected or at risk of wildfires. However, by the afternoon, Ms Haigh's department decided to release the alert across the country following calls from the Fire and Rescue Service, The Telegraph reported.

A request they soon had cause to regret. 

But the plea from fire chiefs soon came back to haunt them as emergency switchboards became overloaded by members of the public accusing their neighbours of having a barbecue.

But every cloud has a silver lining for someone: 

One unlikely benefit of the disruptive alerts was that dozens of prisoners had their hidden mobile phones seized after the loud noises blared out from inside their cells on Friday evening.

Oh. well. 

Vital Affairs Being Handled By The New PM

No 10 has vowed to confiscate powers from local councils which try to restrict customers from standing up while drinking in pubs or ordering at the bar.

Wow. Really getting his teeth into the crucial affairs of state there, isn’t he? 

It comes after the Guardian revealed on Thursday that Westminster council in central London recommended not allowing “vertical drinking” or ordering at the bar in its new draft licensing policy. The draft document, now out for consultation, recommends that pubs applying for new licences allow only table service rather than bar ordering. It also suggests new pubs in popular nightlife areas including Soho call last orders at 10pm, to reduce noise and disturbance.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “Busy pubs full of people talking to each other is not a public nuisance, it is British life, and it is thousands of jobs. 

It's a relief to have a PM who recognises there is such a thing as British life, and not as something to immediately discard in the face of woke desires, but isn't there far more important things he should be getting to grips with? 

And why is he considering handing more powers to the Poison Dwarf of London? 

“The government is devolving new licensing powers to the mayor [of London] to help support pubs and nightlife. Soho did not become world famous by taking last orders early, switching the lights off at 10 o’clock. 

“The prime minister encourages local leaders to work with the industry so that pubs can continue to thrive.”

Good luck with that!  

The government is due to grant new powers to the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, allowing him to “call in” local council decisions he opposes.

A spokesperson for the mayor previously said he was against “restrictive and anti-growth policies” and said he hoped to use new powers to be granted to him by the government to stop councils from overreaching. The draft policy says pubs should “discourage excessive drunkenness and encourage the provision of more seating in premises that serve alcohol for people to sit and enjoy a drink and order food by table service in place of open bar space that caters for high-volume vertical drinking”. It goes on to recommend that sales of alcohol and food should be “by waiter or waitress service only”.

Who wouldn't believe that wasn't a threat to traditional pub habits? You'd have to be a moron. wouldn't you? 

Oh.

Paul Swaddle, the Conservative leader of Westminster council, denied the plans amounted to a ban on “vertical drinking”. He told the Press Association that newspapers had carried “confusing stories” about the document and added: “I want to be straight with people. There is no plan, and never has been, to ban drinking while standing up in a Westminster pub.”

We can read, you know. And we know you aren't being 'straight with people'. 

We Can Draw Conclusions From This About The New PM, Can't We?

The MPs Diane Abbott and Joani Reid have been readmitted into Labour and had the parliamentary whip restored, just under two weeks into Andy Burnham’s premiership.

The party confirmed that this followed separate independent disciplinary processes, and Labour said the leadership played no role in either decision.

Sure, sure.... 

Abbott, 72, the mother of the House of Commons, was suspended for a second time last summer after saying she did not regret comments about racism that had led to her initial loss of the whip in 2023. Reid, who was elected as MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven in 2024, voluntarily relinquished the whip in March this year. Her husband had been arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service in a case linked to China. Reid has never been accused of wrongdoing.

If I was her, I'd be really cheesed off being lumped together with the Abbottopotomus... 

Burnham has told Labour MPs he will change disciplinary culture and allow MPs to speak about their disagreements without fearing retribution from party whips.

Then why have whips at all? 

A government source told the Guardian that Abbott’s readmission had nothing to do with the leadership change and that if she repeated these comments or made antisemitic remarks, “she’ll have to go again”.

The countdown begins again, gentlemen, place your bets! 

Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, called Abbott’s reinstatement “an early test of resolve” for Burnham.

And he failed it. 

Only The Frauds And Crooks?

 

...I mean, it's already housed plenty, eh, Matt?

Clearly. Andy Burnham Reads Tim Worstall's Blog...

 ...he's said 'No to digital ID' after all! 

Andy Burnham will scrap plans for a government-issued digital ID for all British adults when he becomes prime minister on Monday. The move, which follows plans for new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea, will shift focus to "the daily priorities facing people across the country", Burnham's office said.

Most suspect it'll be back later in a new guise, and they are probably right. 

"This reprioritisation of public resource shows a change in direction towards improving everyday life and strengthening local economies over expensive national government schemes."

He's made a good start on that already by purging the Starmerites; we won't have Reeves, Lammy or Hermer to kick around any more,

Reacting for the Conservatives, shadow technology secretary Julia Lopez accused Burnham of "trying to pretend he's riding to the rescue" after Labour "wasted millions of pounds on this project". "After pressure from the Conservatives, mandatory ID was already apparently off the table. Andy Burnham now needs to explain whether that was untrue, or whether he is simply claiming credit for a decision that had already been taken", she said.

Probably the latter, and we'll see whan the honeymoon phase is over, won't we. 

Cruel, Maybe...

 

...but apposite! Matt always has his finger on the pulse

The North/South Divide Will Continue....

 

...if Matt has anything to say about it!