Andy Burnham’s ramblings before and after election are designed to create warm feelings. They are not thought through policy or a working plan to change government.
He says former industrial areas have been neglected, their voices un heard. The truth is far worse than that. His political chum Ed Miliband has intensified the attack on UK industry and production by going for extreme net zero policies that shut our factories, wells and furnaces and make us depend on imports. Kemi Badenoch has set out how to alter this, and helped the Conservative candidate to win the Aberdeen South by election on policies that could start to reverse the precipitate industrial and energy decline.
A government that is serious about backing UK industry needs to
- Lift the ban on new oil and gas wells imposed by this government
- Lift the ban on making petrol and diesel cars, brought forward to 2030 by this government
- Abandon this government’s plan to link us into the EU carbon tax and emissions scheme, which means dearer energy
- Abolish the UK carbon tax imposed by the last government, and the windfall tax on oil and gas introduced by the last government and increased by this.
- Abandon plans to introduce a carbon border levy or tariff
- Reach agreement with the Chinese over the future of Scunthorpe steel
- Arrange for new gas fired power stations to restore self sufficiency in electricity
- Accelerate development of smaller nuclear plants to replace the losses from closures of old nuclear
- Install new reservoirs to meet demands from the expanded population, and the needs of data centres, overcoming big planning delays
- Repeal most of this government’s employee rights legislation
- Cut National Insurance and Business rates, taxes on jobs, paid for by benefit reductions
I cannot see Burnham doing these things if he does manage to become Prime Minister.
June 20, 2026
Of course he won’t do any of these things. If a decision was made today to build some CCGT plants, the waiting list fir large industrial Gas Turbines is over 7 years.
Burnham is Starmer Mk2. He is another Fabian who believes in open borders and Net Stupid.
Bond interest has risen after his win and we are heading for stratasphoric interest payments.
Literally borrowing money to pay interest.
The sooner the IMF are called and routine power cuts become a feature of daily life, the sooner things will change.
June 20, 2026
Quite, not a chance, but then the Tories didn’t do these things either.
We have another career politician whose only interest is the job. If Burnham’s mayoral experience is as useful as Bunter’s job experience as London mayor, then we’ll have another unprepared, inexperienced actor as PM.
Well, at least he’s not another Oxford man, give Cambridge a go!
June 21, 2026
Boris was a success as London mayor, but it was because he at least two very competent assistants in the form of Simon Milton and Eddie Lister. He wasn’t able to replicate that in Downing Street as the quality of those around him wasn’t the same. Dominic Cummings although very bright wasn’t temperamentally suited to being a chief of staff which requires administrative skills. I see no sign that Burnham will be able to call on a competent team, just as Starmer couldn’t, so it’ll end in disaster.
June 20, 2026
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Only Burnham is a bit more human and relatable.
June 20, 2026
Easier for a new man to reinvent himself perhaps. He is a Chameleon but the dire deluded Labour MPs will stop him doing sensible things even if he does try!
June 20, 2026
He is yet to develop the ‘Starmer stare’.
June 20, 2026
A the slow robotic delivery of repetitive lies. Has he leaned to “yes we to have some two tier justice and anti white straight male discrimination in the police, court system, social housing, adoption and state recruitment system and I will be addressing this”. Or will he stick with the two tier lies. The discrimination is all fully documented after all.
June 20, 2026
Indeed but interest is to some extend offset by inflation you pay it back in the devalued £ (sometimes)
Gold today $4,172.00 USD per troy ounce when the incompetent Gordon Brown sold it in circa 2000 it was about $ 275 so the £1 you earn is worth about 1/15 of what it was in 2000 in Gold and many other terms. Thanks to PMs and Chancellor Gordon Brown, Cameron right through to Starmer and the dire BoE – many working from the beach in Spain it seems!
June 20, 2026
There’s rumour going around that 2TK is about to water down the 2030 target of 80% EVs down to 50%.
The SMMC says current targets are unachievable. The usual suspects are against this because they are part funded by Hedge Funds, particularly the charging network.
From 2010 to 2025, UK production of cars has dropped from about 1.2 million to 750 thousand. Clearly seen as a win by the imbecile incharge of Net Stupid.
June 20, 2026
Indeed the justification is to save CO2, but EVs do not save CO2 unless they do fairly high mileages on low carbon electricity as with current tech. as they take so much fossil fuel energy to build them and their short lived batteries. Plus we have no spare low carbon batteries even renewables are not that low carbon in reality. Not that CO2 is a serious issue anyway.
June 20, 2026
Lifelogic,
What hope do you have for your anti-Green politics (I agree with most of what you say) when you support Trump who is the worst ambassador / PR rep imaginable for what you advocate – his toxic brand (Brand Trump) is a GIFT to the Greenies (and the socialists / marxists / WOKE brigade) in the medium to long term – in other words, Trump breeds pro-Green agenda and socialists / marxists / WOKE-ites). .
You write a lot of great stuff but undermine it to a degree in your praise of Trump. The sooner the right (including Republicans) turns properly/fully on Trump, the better for the future of right-wing politics including the many excellent points you argue for.
June 20, 2026
Well I agree Trump is not perfect but what was the alternative Biden or Harris!
He is right or energy, borders, fracking, the climate hoax, tax levels… and you have to admire is self effacing modesty and humour!
In an interview with Axios following the U.S.-Iran conflict. Asked what he learned about the bounds of his authority, he replied: “I know there are, but there are no limits.”
June 20, 2026
Hi Lifelogic, not having a go at you but I am having at go at Trump and believe that people should not be supporting him.
‘Well I agree Trump is not perfect but what was the alternative Biden or Harris!’ – But we all agree Biden / Harris rubbish. Not the point. The point is not to support Trump (but to support the Republican Party, yes). And certainly to point out the way Trump has greatly damaged things for right-wing politics for the medium to long-term future. And has given socialists / democrats breathing space – even life support – so they can carry on with high taxation and high immigration etc.
‘self effacing modesty and humour!’ – I prefer to stick to the pub, Private Eye or Dad’s Army for my humour … ‘Modesty’ – what?!
Personally, I think Trump needs a big hug (I hate it when people just point out how horrible people are – he’s got a human, decent side as well but he’s gone relatively insane) whilst being challenged at the same time (but equally, I can’t stand it when people put him – or anyone – on a pedestal – I don’t mean you but MAGA). One can see he’s a traumatised individual – no doubt from his extremely over-bearing father, growing up – and related issues. But still, he has to be challenged – and not given blind support (RE: MAGA)
Best.
June 20, 2026
Lastly, the way Trump turned / is turning on JD Vance is a great example of how ruthless he is and not to be trusted.
June 20, 2026
No spare low carbon electricity I meant!
June 20, 2026
As Mrs.T once said to Harold Wilson when he was PM. “You cannot fool the markets.” And an important part of that market is the consumer.
June 20, 2026
Indeed. I am old enough to remember Wilson lying to the nation:-
Following a massive economic crisis, his Labour government was forced to devalue the British pound by 14.3% (dropping the exchange rate from $2.80 to $2.40). To prevent public panic and reassure the working class, Wilson went on national television and famously declared: “It does not mean, of course, that the pound here in Britain, in your pocket or purse or in your bank, has been devalued.
Despite Wilson’s confident assertion, the devaluation heavily impacted the “pound in your pocket”.Import Costs: Devaluation made foreign goods significantly more expensive for British consumers.Rising Inflation: The increased cost of imports quickly triggered a spike in domestic inflation, diminishing the actual purchasing power of everyday wages and savings.
June 20, 2026
Also remember the limit on the spending money you could take abroad with you (yes your actual cash amount was limited), not so many credit cads available the, or cashless transactions, so people had to hide their own money if taking more than was officially allowed..
June 20, 2026
+1 but at that age I think I had only been on holidays to the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland and Wales. Plus the odd day trip to Blackpool so was not affected. But an exit tax for wealthy people leaving the UK is quite possible from this mad Socialist, doom loop government.
June 20, 2026
Possibly only affected the people who could go on the Grand Tour through Europe?
June 20, 2026
Burnhams team have been out and about proposing a massive increase in state borrowing, I am sure the markets will react accordingly
June 20, 2026
+1
June 20, 2026
the sad thing is these educated politicians, clearly been to uni, dont have the 1st idea what the national debt is, how much it is already going up, what the definition of an “investment” is, and so on
June 21, 2026
The charging network is a major constraint on EV rollout, especially if people expect to charge cheaply at home. The volume of work required is immense and not achievable on a short timescale unless we become China.
I think that those who want heat pumps and EVs should pay for the grid upgrades to achieve it, rather than socialising it across everybody else’s bills.
June 20, 2026
No 12 Forget any idea of rejoining the dreaded EU club
June 20, 2026
And get fracking generate energy from a huge bonfire of red tape and pointless state sector (and private sector) jobs in compliance.
June 20, 2026
John, we have not heard of any plan for change in government policy from Burnham.
The only thing he has confirmed is his intention to progress the return of the UK into the EU with all the negative impacts that will bring to our national standing and influence on world affairs.
The difficultly Kemi B has is convincing the voters she is serious about overturning Tory energy policy that was championed by David Cameron advanced by Theresa May turbo charged by Boris Johnson and only slightly amended by Rishi Sunak.
In other words will any serious attempt be made to cancel our international agreement with Net Zero dogma?
It is clear Burnham will continue to do what the EU dictates, with that being the game plan then Net Zero will be with us for as long as past Tory and current Labour policies remain unamended.
The 2008 Climate Change Act introduced by Ed Miliband remains in place despite the years of Tory government that came after it was introduced.
The Equalities Act 2010 introduced by Harriet Harmon was and remains a socially destructive instrument of control. Again that Act remains on the statute book unamended by years of Tory government.
Not a good look is it?
How are voters going to be persuaded to vote Tory with that legacy of collusion? Collusion with damaging legislation introduced by Labour?
Reply Kemi and Claire Couthino have been very clear net zero policies and targets will be stopped. I did help persuade Sunak to lift the stupid bans on oil exploration and development and delay the disastrous car industry bans. Kemi agreed and rightly wants to go a lot further. Claire liked my booklet on the runaway costs and impracticalities of net zero when she was Energy Secretary.
June 20, 2026
There is a book with the title “We don’t Believe You”.
I have a copy. It’s very good.
All Tory MPs should be given one, forced to read it and examined on the contents.
Those who don’t pass should be dismissed.
I imagine there will be few left.
June 20, 2026
Also one on 75 benefits of Brexit with a JR forward I think.
June 20, 2026
Boris still thinks a rapid Covid Vaccine deployment was a benefit of Brexit. Surely he does not still think that the £billions he spent coercing unsafe and ineffective vaccines even into children and people who had had Covid already did not good does he? Then again I assume he and his wife still think that “renewable energy” makes sense. So they could be that daft I suppose?
June 21, 2026
Sometimes it seems as though Claire is trying to run up the down escalator with every new announcement from Miliband that will need to be undone to restore policy sanity. She has at least been trying to work out how to do it, rather than the approach of others that ignore the institutional framework that must be adjusted to get there.
June 20, 2026
The positives about Burnham is he is not as robotic as the appallingly dire two tier, he is not a lawyer and is clearly a chameleon. So who knows he might perhaps reinvent himself, alas the Labour Party will almost certainly not permit him to move to many sensible policies.
June 20, 2026
Not a vague hope of any of that happening under Burnham’s Labour.
Meanwhile the usual loudmouth Lefties crow about their ‘stunning victory over Farage/Reform’
Completely ignoring the truth; Voters who may have voted Con/Lib Dem/Reform in other circumstances. Tactically voted for Burnham in order to remove the despised Starmer.
June 20, 2026
Precisely.
June 20, 2026
Absolutely agree with your recipe for success.
But can we do this and balance the budget?
June 20, 2026
Much of what John has listed wouldn’t cost much if at all.
When it comes to balancing the budget, consider ending the responsibility of the NHS to treat lifestyle diseases, end benefits paid to foreigners and accommodate uninvited migrants in POW style camps rather than hotels. With those savings, there’s scope to reduce business taxes.
Won’t happen with this government who only want to tax, borrow and waste more.
June 20, 2026
Indeed, it will be a case of same old labour policies but with a new talking head to make it seem more palatable.
Red Ed will still have too much power over the environment. One reason he is so popular with labour backbenchers is because he so easily creates new ways to tax us – something they can only dream of.
Should Burnham fail to replace Starmer, the other candidates are not exactly inspired and will follow up the policies already planned.
This leadership contest is a major distraction when what we need is a general election.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Starmer garnered enough support and won the race?
June 20, 2026
Too soon for a general election. The country voted for Labour and now has to lie in the bed they made. The result in Makerfield just shows too many people are still deluded about socialism.
June 20, 2026
He will just load more taxes on the workers, savers, house owners, savers and investors, so the wasteful spending and freeloaders can continue living at their expense.
The big calls on Immigration, Welfare, Net Zero, Defence, and growing Debt will simply be ignored.
He is Starmer MK 2 but with a more human smile
June 20, 2026
I suppose one positive is that the Chagos deal will be finally abandoned and Hermer will be fired as Attorney General. Given that one again DEI-fixated Labour will choose a middle-aged white man as leader I suppose Emily Thornberry will get the job in the name of gender balance.
June 20, 2026
We’re in this nightmare scenario where Reform are eating up Tory votes but Reform are hated by about 70% of the population who will vote tactically to keep them out and so Reform hold no traction at national elections (and people will trust Reform even less after Farage’s association with Trump / MAGA and others).
And so Labour and others are given a free gift into government to raise taxes and increase / do nothing about immigration. And you can’t have a dictatorship, because in dictatorship power simply goes to those in power who end up ultimately destroying the country along with the shame and turmoil – and the moral consequences – of that.
If Reform really cared about reducing taxes and immigration they would join the Tory Party and work within its ranks to try and bring about low tax and low immigration etc.
(And giving the Tory party a hard time – in private – but never in public – to remain strong and united in public).
June 20, 2026
The consensus from the media and that suggest they know Burnham is that Burnham is just about Burnham. It is also suggested he is a chameleon with demonstrations of how he says what those that are around him want to hear – but then again that is now a political trait in all quarters of the UK’s political make-up. Any thing to win favour, get elected then full-on reneging once ‘you’ have got the power.
June 20, 2026
He sounds like a politician. No wonder 40% of Makerfield didn’t bother to vote.
June 20, 2026
Trump’s disastrous war in Iran and $300 Billion gift to the Iranians is a great example of WEAKNESS in a man PRETENDING to be strong.
June 20, 2026
Yes I agree 100% more empty words backed up by nothing but contradiction
The aspiration of this Labour government is we shall all become poorer
Come 2029 our country will reap its revenge with the end of Labour
June 20, 2026
If the vote for Burnham was indeed a vote for change, as you said yesterday, then his electorate is going to be disappointed.
June 20, 2026
In his speech he said that The North had voted for hope. Er… Wasn’t it just that particular constituency, stretching things a bit there. We can all hope. Hope he might do away with the £ 7500 bung for our adoption of heat pumps. Hope he might think again about the £5000 ( per worker ) bungs ( Max £25.000 per year ) for companies to import & hire foreign workers – or high skilled international talent we’re told. How about car manufacturers & the ZEV penalties mandate, didn’t that start off at £15.000 per vehicle.
Did we not see too, after his win the tears of joy from some Labour individual being interviewed at the thought that now we can foresee some serious wealth distribution ….
June 21, 2026
It will be a change for the worse. Of course, Starmer was already working hard at making his government much worse than it was already, so in that sense there is little change.
June 20, 2026
The best thing politicians could do is repeal all the policies they have introduced over the last few decades, pack their bags, and leave the country. We would have been far better off without their constant meddling, which has destroyed our country.
June 20, 2026
I get the desire of the extreme ideological left to want to appeal to their entitled bone idol supporters, they are all trapped in their religion. What I want to hear from any one is how do they and the nation as a whole generate the wealth to provide for all the give-aways?
Burnham’s advisors, think-tank never worked advisors according to their pronouncements think the answer is in more tax, what they can’t answer is how does UK.plc earn in a world-wide competitive market place to fund these taxes? They can’t dictate what world prices are. Without the Nation earning fresh additional money all their plans are dead in the water.
Let’s not lose sight we have yet to pay off Gordon Browns debt he left the Country with. A great chunk of the debt interest our taxes have to pay is for Gordon Brown’s ineptitude. All the mighty plans this century, the diktats and dumb aspirations that the UK Parliament has gone about injecting into society have all involved one thing great chunks of UK Wealth (its taxable income) being sent abroad, ejected never to return. Not one of them has considered how to earn to replenish what is being ejected. The keep digging the same hole, making the same mistakes all because ‘ego’ has got in the way, the only concern is the next election
June 20, 2026
you missed immigration freeze for 10 years while we reassess, massive increase in infantry and drone capability, the tens of thousands of gang rapists we know about to be rounded up and put in tents on a remote island until they can be tried, stop early release of prisoners, massive deportation of people who hate the UK, sweeping pro free speech measures, stop gender altering treatment on children, massive removal of woke idiots from the public sector… and lots of other obvious policies which would win a landslide
June 20, 2026
I read that China’s consumption of coal in 2025 was their highest annual burn ever. NZ is such a crazy and damaging policy. And we are to be told that it is our failure to buy EVs, cover our roofs with solar panels, install heat pumps and cover the countryside in wind turbines that is the only cause of climate change. Feel guilty, everyone, and if you can’t do these things without incurring a lot of debt then shame on you for being poor!
June 20, 2026
In the UK solar gives you a bit of summer electricity when you probably do not need much anyway. The cost of installing the panels, cleaning them, the extra fire risks, insurance, depreciation, cleaning they on the roof (with the working at heights rules) generally the sums say do not bother!
The gov. put them on schools they get most electricity when they are shut for summer hols. This is about indoctrination like that new propaganda movie with the deluded BBC nature chap.
June 20, 2026
We see calls for lower taxation, the encouragement of individual enterprise and the culling of benefits as ‘populist’. But what else but ‘populist’ is the election of a socialist MP who tells his constituents he will become PM and promises to borrow and tax even more to increase the state subsidy of their every need, when the truth is that the country is bankrupt?
June 20, 2026
I see Burnham has come out and said he plans to nationalise the utilities…
By which I suppose he means gas, electricity, and water, and maybe Telecoms?
Wow, what a joke.
Student politics and crackpot international lawyers showing once again they have no clue.
June 21, 2026
I suppose the next government would be able to raise some money by selling them off again. Unfortunately, the value is likely to fall in the interim under state management.
June 20, 2026
probably Burnham realises that “New Labour” has failed, and is trying to go back to “Old Labour”, but of course the Labour party founders, Jarrow marchers, and so on, would be horrified to find the way the white working classes have been treated by the party they created, some of the opposition should really be screaming that.
June 20, 2026
406 ‘illegal immigrants’ invaded the UK yesterday 19th June 2026 …
June 21, 2026
GC: That makes the total in the last 5 days 15/6-19/6 inclusive : 1508 in 22 boats.