The Prime Minister’s remaining advisers did a good job for him on Monday. They nipped the Scottish rebellion in the bud and got statements of support from the Cabinet and others. This has bought the PM time. The Cabinet felt cornered, decided it was too early for their individual moves against the PM and so they had to come out with supportive statements. The Prime Minister had to face a worried party of MPs, and moved leftwards in his rhetoric to win them over.
Today the PM is the prisoner of the leading members of the Cabinet and Parliamentary party. Ed Miliband has been out and about, defining a leftwards lurch in government which he says is now needed to show the electors Labour is the party of change. Most Labour MPs are glad to see the back of Mandelson and will wish to explain their distaste of his policies as they distance themselves from the unfortunate events of the last year.
The markets had a little wobble on Monday as they briefly contemplated a lurch to the left under a possible new leader. For most of the time including all of the last year since Starmer and Reeves took over it has cost the UK government more to borrow longer term loans than on the one day spike up on the worst day of the Truss/LDI crisis in the bond markets. That is an understandable reaction to two Reeves budgets which put spending and borrowing up by too much. The Reeves re jig of the Treasury rules allowed the state to borrow more in the first half of this government’s term. She hoped for faster growth from extra public spending, but instead growth has slowed.
So now the country and the Labour government are in a bind. The Cabinet will try to enforce higher spending bigger public sector policies on Starmer who is their hostage. The bond markets will start to warn the government more that there are limits to how much they can spend and borrow before the lenders decide they have had enough or impose too high a price for the money needed.
It is particularly bad news if Mr Miliband gains greater influence at the head of the group of Cabinet members who become the left wing enforcers. He will want more and more extreme versions of his net zero policies as people refuse to buy heat pumps and electric cars and as renewable power waits for years to get access to enough new grid. There will be no magic green growth for the UK, with ever increasing dependence on Chinese impots of batteries, cheaper electric cars, turbines, solar panels and all the rest of the items Mr Miliband wants to impose on us.
Meanwhile Starmer will be seeking to woo the Labour audience with bigger and bigger give aways to the EU in another mistaken belief that will generate growth when it will lock us into a low and no growth zone and impose on taxpayers yet bigger bills.
February 11, 2026
So we’ll get the further leftward lurch we’d have got if Starmer had gone, because undoubtedly it would be someone from that camp who took over, but we’ll still have Starmer. He’ll be there clinging on and even more determined to ‘change Britain’ to teach us all a lesson for baying for his head on a stick.
Well, as the saying goes, it never rains.
February 11, 2026
So it’s all going to plan. We continue to march down this blind alley, spending more, taxing more and borrowing more.
The Bond Vigilantes must be getting towards the end of their tether watching as productivity collapses, tax receipts fall and bankruptcy looms.
No doubt the ignorant leftwaffe will want the BoE to print large amounts of money which will be the trigger for a financial meltdown.
The great Reset marches on.
February 11, 2026
Leftwards with Two-Tier or leftwards with Rayner, Burnham, Miliband …. or anyone else. (Streeting is almost certainly out of the running.)
All they have done is delayed the coup de grace until after the Local/Devolved elections so that Rayner can sort out her tax avoidance problem and Burnham can desperately seek a safe seat. In the meantime, Two-Tier will absorb the blame for the electoral disaster and the incomer can “promise” to revive Labour’s fortunes.
And the country will continue to go to hell in a handcart.
February 11, 2026
Many Congratulations, Baron Redwood of Wokingham.
We now know for sure the temporary occupant of No. 10 will do anything to remain there; it is also clear he has no political sense at all. The next few weeks are going to be painful to watch, but, I think, more unpleasant for him.
Andrew Neil gave a masterclass interview on Times Radio podcast on what is wrong with our present political condition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6UPR0AgsQg
February 11, 2026
Good morning.
A good time to bury bad news, methinks.
I am hearing that the Justice Secretary wishes to have deleted all historical justice records deleted. This is being dressed up by the media as just child criminal records, but I believe it goes much, much further.
Who cares who becomes the latest puppet to inhabit Number 10. Our nation is being taken from us and justice for victims is being denied left, right and centre.
February 11, 2026
Does Ed Miliband really believe in his mad agenda? I know he only read PPE Oxon. but surely even he can see his agenda is total lunacy (it does not even save CO2 worldwide not that that is needed) it just wrecks the economy, our defences, jobs, living standards. Or does he have some other evil agenda?
See the Jeremy Clarkson video “you are destroying British Farming” and not just farming! Also the Sceptic with the sensible Kathryn Porter “the Electrification Delusion” or “It is not science it is ideology”.
February 11, 2026
Congratulations Baron Redwood of Wokingham. I wish you every success with your work in the House of Lords.
Before the last general election the General Secretary of a very large Trade Union was on television advocating how there is plenty of money to borrow and spend as our debt to GDP ratio is only 100% and Japan’s is 200%. It never occurred to her to consider why Japan’s ratio is so high and to see that it was not through choice but due to 15 years of economic disaster from 1990.
It did not occur to her how the interest rate on every single loan in the country will increase if our state borrowing increases (via upward moves across the yield curve). What price every British person will pay if Labour intensify a borrow and spend policy.
February 11, 2026
Just to point out the Cabinet itself is now owned by backbenchers who have power without responsibility and will not find it in their interest to permit another GE.
February 11, 2026
Just waiting for the day this useless PM is eventually removed from office and his cabinet of spineless jellyfish come out saying they really didn’t back Starmer but we wanted to stay in power at any cost , come the end of the month when the Labour Party get there arses kicked in the by-election and then the total wipe out at the local elections, bring it on have already got the celebrations drinks in ready to watch this bunch of muppets squirm with there weasel words