The Burnham idea that we must all come under Regional Mayors is not a way of taking local opinion and community feeling more seriously. It will often do the opposite. Regional Mayors will be able to override local Councils. They will grab powers from below more than wrestling powers from above.
The EU Re set is designed for the EU to requisition powers of self government to make us obey EU laws, extinguishing important UK freedoms. A tapestry of Regional Mayors looks much like the loathed Europe of the Regions attempt to balkanise England into unloved regional conglomerates, ignoring geography, history, place and local feelings.
In my part of England the majority want an end to letting in and housing illegal migrants and want the closure of the local migrant hotel. The majority does not want to pay extra taxes for the state failure to control the borders. We do not want excessive new housing development over our remaining greenfields, preferring a period of no net migration to cut the need for extra homes. We want a lower Council tax paying just for good core services.
If we get lumbered with a Regional Mayor the costs of government go up with a needless new layer, and the tax goes up to pay for it. Mayors are dear, coming with new ways to waste our money and new ways to make us pay for their excesses. If the government is serious about wanting more say locally they need to listen to areas like mine which say No to more government.
We would not want a Mayor to insist on us taking more illegal migrants, nor that we need to build more homes on greenfields. The people of Wokingham supported getting rid of two tier local government, opting for a unitary Council. The nation opted to get rid of the needless EU level of government. The UK government and a unitary Council is quite enough bureaucratic structure. Trying to set up more wastes money, delays sorting out the real issues and threatens to override local opinion.
I am glad I still live in No Mayor land.
August 26, 2026
It was just distraction politics by Burnham when running for Parliament as it is doubtful he could have come up with any positives to sell the country right now.
Of couse we do also need another great level of bureauocracy to expand into the void and fill their boots with salaries and expenses, why not ?? !
August 26, 2026
What is needed is far lower taxes, far less red tape, cheaper on demand energy and far fewer politicians. Burnham is delivering the reverse on top of all the reverse we have already suffered from for 25+ years.
The excellent Kathryn Porter an energy consultant warns of grid collapses if the government and the below do not get a grip. People will die if it does can take days to restore the grid too.
System Operation and High-Voltage TransmissionNational Energy System Operator (NESO): The government-owned NESO operates the electricity system for Great Britain, balancing supply and demand second by second.
National Grid Electricity Transmission: Owns and maintains the high-voltage transmission network of pylons and cables across England and Wales.
ScottishPower Transmission and SSE: Own and maintain the high-voltage transmission networks in southern and northern Scotland, respectively.
August 27, 2026
@Lifelogic
During the summer silly season the media are often strapped for copy, so I was interested in recent scientific reports that those who have accepted the recombinant mRNA shingles vaccination Shingrix have a reduced probability of getting dementia in later life. Shingrix is made by GSK at their Rixenstart facility in Belgium
Similar results have been found with the RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) vaccine, i.e. it shows a protective effect against dementia. Weaker evidence suggests that the annual ‘flu jab may have a similar effect
Several other scientists are using these results to suggest that a previously unknown virus, susceptible to the vaccines, may be associated with the cause of dementia. Looking at some of your climate emergency denying, pro-fossil fuel, anti-renewables and anti-net zero posts here, maybe you should look into this
August 26, 2026
Regional mayors weaken powers of local government and parliament by blurring lines of responsibility. It is another wheeze in addition to devolving powers to quangos and legal interpretation.
August 26, 2026
Yesterday’s guitar playing by Mr. Burnham reminded me of the cringe-worthy behaviour of the David Brent character from ‘The Office’ reaching for his guitar at an inappropriate moment.
I would have thought a protest song was more Socialist/Labour. Bob Dylan ‘Masters of War’ or ‘A hard rains a gonna fall’ would be suitably insensitive.
He could even have gone with the old Labour standard about ‘the red flag flying here’.
Instead he chose to outdo Harry Hill classic cover version – ‘Tonight Matthew I am going to be…’. and failed miserably.
August 26, 2026
The argument will always be, though, that a regional Mayor can unlock funding for large-scale projects that would not be otherwise available. In other words, we will be bribed into accepting what Burnham wants.
August 26, 2026
Just remind me how much Debt did Manchester end up with after Burnham, was it the highest in the Country at £1.43 Billion and growing, or something else.
August 26, 2026
Birmingham City Council holds the highest overall debt of any UK local authority, standing at roughly £3.35bn to £3.5bn. However, the authority successfully balanced its budget and exited effective bankruptcy (Section 114 status) following some recovery.
Woking Borough Council holds the highest per-person debt in the UK, standing at over £2 billion (approximately £2.16 billion to £2.6 billion, or over £20,000 per resident.
Reply Good to have interesting comment and information. I will not post any more of your comments that tell us for the umpteenth time you disapprove of people like May and Cameron in a welter of angry adjectives. We know that already and its has often appeared here.
August 26, 2026
Second highest debt – Khan’s London has more.
It’s OK though, because lots of that spend bought assets. I was amused to see one of the assets listed is the Bee Bus Network which is losing around £200m a year – some asset!
August 26, 2026
Were these assets of any real value? I assume the vast sums they have wasted on bike lanes, bus lanes, road blocking traffic lights and islands, low traffic neighbourhoods… actually vandalism… causing loads of extra congestion is considered an “investment” too?
August 26, 2026
Did the Covid vaccines and lock downs and NET ZERO also go down as investments! They too were negative investments worse that just wasting the money they do and did net harms,
August 26, 2026
Some years ago (In 2024) Birmingham £2.9 bn, Leeds £2.2 bn, Woking £1.9 bn, Warrington £1.7 bn, Edinburgh £1.6 bn.
Related to actual population the ranking was modified: Woking (£18,756), Spelthorne (£10,415), Warrington (£8,236), Thurrock (£8,049), Runnymede (£7,270).
inyourarea.co.uk ‘See how much your Council owes as local authority debts hit £122bn’.
August 26, 2026
All part of the Great Reset and Agenda 30 John. Burnham is doing the bidding of his handlers. His first overseas visit to Ukraine was a major pointer.
Yesterday in the Mail was a full exposure of what the invading forces are getting including immediate on site dental and medical assistance, something denied the taxpayers who are funding it.
This country is gradually slipping into civil war and having regional Mayor’s to do the governments bidding will accelerate that.
The politicians aren’t reading the room, preferring triggered realities.
Only the other day a stupid judge agreed that a Gazan student could bring 18 of her family over and be taxpayer funded. When Healey presents his budget saying we need to raise taxes for essential services we all know he’s lying.
It’s not going to end well.
August 26, 2026
+1
August 26, 2026
‘ This country is gradually slipping into civil war ’
Certain pundits keep pushing this view, usually by outlining what they consider to be the factors that will lead to such a war.
However, it seems to me that is just as likely that population will simply put up with it – with more grumbling than usual.
Ireland is more likely to react in such a way. They have a far more cohesive and settled population and recent experience of violence with very effective paramilitary groups.
August 26, 2026
It is more likely that the UK population will vote for extremist parties (Greens, Restore Reform as an outlier they have become more left wing and establishment) that take up arms.
August 26, 2026
The country won’t gradually slip into civil war, it will happen with a crack and subsequent catastrophe. When the war is over a totalitarian regime will take control.
August 26, 2026
You could say it has already started, with one side armed with knives and axes. However, it takes two sides to fight a war, and I don’t think the other side has any weapons to speak of. Also, there’s a realisation now among those opposed to what’s happening to this country, that adopting violent tactics just plays into the hands of the state authorities. It gives them a pretext to use the law to crush dissent. In any case, conventional warfare has changed a lot in recent years, so perhaps we shouldn’t expect civil wars to be the same as before either. Popular discontent will increase, and may take effective but non-violent forms.
August 26, 2026
I W – And another – yesterday: See the Daily Express article : ” Migrant caught with 8 wraps of cocaine in uninsured BMW grins as he walks free from court ” Migrant / arrived July 2024 / Asylum Seeker from Jordan. Yes, Jordan. But don’t worry, he loves the UK. Read and seethe.
August 26, 2026
It’s as if we never left the EU at all…..the project rumbles on, unhindered.
Like so many in politics Burnham does not recognise England as a distinct nation, and certainly does not respect its history, culture or indeed its people’s right to remain the custodians of that which was handed down to them over centuries.
August 26, 2026
Michelle, the UN and WEF dictate that mass immigration into Caucasian countries is necessary to remove their advantage. It’s all about levelling down, not improving the third world but dragging us down to their level. We’re perceived as the criminals for developing our countries into sanctuaries which must be destroyed.
August 26, 2026
Yes Mayoral fiefdoms are a continuation of Labour’s project to break up England , to ensure we never have a representative government for English people. Look at Labour’s plans for a second chamber , their ‘Council of nations and regions’, no guesses for who are the regions, and Labour wants these mayoral creations to be our representatives there.
Labour have a racist hatred of the English people that would make the NF feel embarrassed.
August 26, 2026
M: Indeed … the project : Also no word to date to my knowledge regarding the UK/EU’s forthcoming Youth Mobility Scheme detail as to whether or not the EU’s incomers will have access to UK financing – UK Student loans which I believe the EU wishes to be the case. Will the PM make an exception to the norm for our friends & partners in the EU ? I believe it’s already reported that they are more than likely to be given the same UK domestic rates for course fees. There are already missing billions £ from the past. We don’t seem to be able to control anything these days.
August 26, 2026
The situation became clear when a Reform Mayor in the North said they wanted to use the additional government funding coming their way to reduce Council Tax and were told that they couldn’t as they were not the Chancellor. So, devolution in name only. It looks more like concentrating power in urban areas which have Labour majorities.
Curious as to the selection process which located No 10 North in Manchester. Which other Northern cities were considered and which factors made Manchester the winner and what are the assessed benefits ? For such a costly move the process must have been quite thorough, right ?
August 26, 2026
@Roy Grainger – yes the spend culture has to be controlled from the centre. If you do a good job you don’t get to invest or share you have to give the rewards of your efforts away. Lord Redwood touched on it the other day of sorts the Local Liberal Council in Wokingham seemingly had money to burn, money seemingly from central government to fix ‘pot-holes’ The chose top splash $5.5 million on painting what was then brightly(now fading) coloured maple leaves on a road at a junction – does anyone know what ‘multi coloured maple leaves’ painted on road mean?
August 26, 2026
Ian most people including myself would agree with you, but this project was put up for an award by the Council and got very close to winning, just shows how stupid and irrelevant government and local authorities have become, living in a fantasy dream world of their own, but at our expense.
Just wait until they put up traffic lights on the woosehill roundabout !
August 26, 2026
Yes I agree 100%
I live near Maidenhead Berkshire not far from you and that is exactly how people feel here
August 26, 2026
The regional mayors of Manchester and Birmingham have been virtually the sole voices in favour of HS2. Thats what ‘localism’ and ‘devolution’ mean in practice.
August 26, 2026
Those regions do not need HS2 they need local trams and trains.
August 26, 2026
Yep more vanity projects, probably because it makes them all feel they are part of something important, when really the opposite is true.
August 26, 2026
The North East rejected Regional Mayor by a supermajority in a Referendum,
Referendum results must be respected, or the people will come to believe democracy is dead and then it’s the law of the jungle…
August 26, 2026
Regions Without a Referendum Virtually all regional combined authority areas with a metro mayor were created without a local or regional public referendum. These include: Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Liverpool City Region, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Tees Valley
…..What a disgrace
August 26, 2026
Good morning.
I agree with our kind host, more bureaucracy and cost, with less accountability. But this is part of the EU plan to break up the UK and especially, England. It also adds an extra firewall of protection for politicians to blame others much like the EU did and QUANGO’s do today. But what could be said of Regional Mayors, can also be said of Police Crime Commissioners’ – Jobs for the boys and girls.
August 26, 2026
Compare and contrast (1) Margaret Thatcher abolishing the GLC and ridding us of Ken Livingstone (2) Tony Blair establishing a new devolved government regime and enabling the return of Ken Livingstone, along with Sadiq Khan, Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon. Do we really deserve any more of the latter?
August 26, 2026
@David Cooper +99
August 26, 2026
@David Cooper – The socialist ‘blame game’ when things don’t work out through having a central command dictating their one size fits all approach the fault is always they need more control of day-to-day things, peoples lives they dictate more power more control to the centre.
August 26, 2026
+1. We need far fewer layers of government not even more.
August 26, 2026
local politicians have no power over the main things impacting their population, like immigration, like poor quality healthcare, like high levels of state spending squeezing the private sector, like the nationalised rail infrastructure, and so much more.
all of those big decisions are taken by civil servants and their subcontractors.
August 26, 2026
First I’ll record sadness at the death of Dolly Parton who I think was the best songwriter in the world.
After that I say I can predict the government is opening the door to having a number of corrupt Mayors in giving identifiable Mayors sole power to grant planning permissions to projects worth hundreds of millions (and occasionally billions) of pounds.
August 26, 2026
+1 She was a joy to the world
August 26, 2026
What is the cost cost of governing us. Not the amount of money that government spends but the cost of government (local and national) machinations. Is it more in the devolved regions or do councils cost less.
Using this figure we can be asked if we want to pay more to be governed or less by not having regional mayors.
From a personal perspective, I don’t believe that Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson or Sadiq Khan has made my life better other than keeping TfL mostly running. This would have happened much the same with or without a Mayor
August 26, 2026
+1
Good post.
August 26, 2026
Independent, verified data from OSINT groups (such as ISW, NASA’s FIRMS satellite system and Exilenova+) alongside Russian milbloggers confirms that Ukraine is actively bypassing Russian air defences to hit high-value targets deep inside Russia. Though Russia’s official Ministry of Defence claim of an 800+ drone single-night interception rate is certainly “dezinformatsiya”
While the Russian MoD routinely claims to shoot down 100% of incoming threats, geo-located video footage, thermal anomalies, and complaints from pro-Russian milbloggers reveal a reality of successful deep-penetration strikes hitting bomber airfields, missile factories, ammunition depots, command and control centres, FSB offices and logistics networks
Struck on August 1, 2026 using precision Ukrainian long-range assets, the Navlya Drone Storage & Launch Facility in Bryansk was seriously damaged. This was a highly secretive underground storage and preparation base for Russian Geran-2 (Shahed-type) and Gerbera kamikaze strike drones. Satellite image reconstructions by independent OSINT analyst Harbuz and Dnipro OSINT confirmed that the strike successfully penetrated two of the three heavily fortified underground shelters. High-resolution imagery revealed massive blast craters and explicit thermal signatures showing secondary detonations and fires spreading directly out of the bunker entrances
Targeted and successfully neutralised during a synchronized drone and counter-battery sweep on the night of August 17–18, 2026, the Ustynka and Zhuravlyovka UAV Control Stations in Belgorod have been totalled. The Russian tactical military infrastructure containing ground control stations used by operators to steer reconnaissance and FPV strike drones over the frontlines are now one large joined-up crater.
In August 2026, Ukrainian “Flamingo” long-range cruise-missiles targeted the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara. OSINT analysts verified that this critical assembly plant produced electrical equipment for Soyuz-2 launch vehicles, which deploy Russia’s military communication and satellite constellations. The Russians have made no comment about this but on the night of 16-17th August the facility was still burning fiercely
Hit on August 16, 2026, the Kamesnsky Combine facility in Rostov was seriously damaged. OSINT project VARTA and Exilenova+ used satellite data to confirm that Ukrainian strike assets penetrated multiple air-defence layers (including Pantsir-S1 and S-300/400 systems) to hit five distinct production zones. NASA’s FIRMS satellite data tracked massive thermal spikes at this plant, which produces rocket propellants for Smerch, Uragan, and Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems
In mid-August 2026, the Russian insider Telegram channel “Spy Dossier” published footage showing the total destruction of the major Yalynske Russian ammunition dump in Donetsk Oblast. GEOINT analysis paired with NASA FIRMS satellite data confirmed secondary detonations, showing that several Ukrainian strike assets bypassed local electronic warfare to ignite the ordnance.
Again in August 2026, the Ukrainian General Staff and independent milbloggers confirmed successful strikes on the Karlivka warehouses, holding tactical equipment and ammunition, severely disrupting frontline logistics
Ukraine is launching unprecedented large drone salvos deep into the Moscow and Rostov regions. However, the Russian MoD artificially inflates interception counts by tallying Ukrainian decoy drones (like the Parodiya type) alongside actual strike variants. They also routinely lie about the success rates, rarely providing any geolocatable video or pics
Rather than corroborating the Kremlin’s claims of perfect intercepts, prominent Russian milbloggers frequently complain about the lack of physical protection. Postings criticize the military leadership for failing to construct reinforced concrete hangars for aircraft and for relying entirely on improvised physical nets and earth berms, which Ukrainian drones continue to penetrate.
We know that these successful offensive actions by Ukraine are severely hurting the Russians because they have re-started threats against the UK this weekend.
Following the latest threats from the war criminal Putin and his lackeys, we should re-double our efforts and help Ukraine burn Moscow to the ground.
Reply. I have no means of verifying any of this. Wanting to burn down the whole of Moscow would be an extreme war crime, killing many people.
PS I have not posted your piece on alleged Brexit harm. The forecasts of 4% or 8% loss of GDP from Brexit were long term forecasts of less growth, not forecasts of a one off decline in GDP. I and others have set out the facts that there was no one off Brexit hit to GDP and our trade has performed well over the last decade. I am not going to publish obvious lies about our economy.
August 27, 2026
@JR Reply “I have no means of verifying any of this”
The Russians are as adept at planting false “dezinformatsiya” in the western media about how they are winning the Ukraine war, as they are at undertaking sabotage operations across Europe and here in the UK. Usually it starts with Reuters. Their current lying narrative is that they are advancing on all fronts, that Ukraine retaliation against Russian oil refining capacity or “Wildberries” warehouses or their bomber airbases etc is having no effect None of this is true, witness numerous YouTube videos highlighting miles long queues at Moscow petrol stations for example
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has verified 68,147 civilian casualties since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as of the end of July 2026. Of them, 51,273 people were reported to have been injured and 16,874 killed. The OHCHR notes that the actual figures may be higher. After four and a half years of viscious war, many would shed no tears if similar casualties were inflicted on Moscow.
The information came from the ISW website, ukdefencejournal.org.uk, YouTube and OSINT sources and has mostly not been denied by the Kremlin. I don’t post uncheckable facts
August 26, 2026
The Public Sector’s capacity to create ever more Public Sector departments knows no limit.
The cost of their expanding department mindset has no limit, nor does their capacity for excessive spending.
When they have exhausted the capacity of the private sector tax payers they imagine they can borrow money needed to continue their valueless growth.
The bond vultures are already in the air.
August 26, 2026
Quite right but worst of all is the albatross hanging over the heads of future generations is the ever increasingly unaffordable payment of their gold plated pensions, as one by one in the future, they retire.
August 26, 2026
Regardless of my own views, I’m not sure your statement about the majority in this area wanting the things you say, Lord John, especially an end to net migration. In Wokingham Borough nearly half the voters opted for Lib Dems, Greens or Labour at the last council elections, and I’m sure quite a few Conservative voters are so centre-ish that they wouldn’t go along with your position. You have recognised the fact that mass migration has caused excess demands on housing, but I’m not convinced that the majority of people in the area have.
August 26, 2026
That defines it completely.
Devolution is just another arm of BIG GOVERNMENT – There’s no need for it but the PM has to show that he is doing something and it appeals to the great unwashed.
A future realistic government would reverse all of this and save a small fortune. That goes for devolution in Scotland and Wales because they have done little but to show their ignorance of democracy with too much corruption creeping in.
The people of England have no national assembly – why should the Scot’s or the Welsh. Let’s level the playing field to create a fair country without special privileges. Let’s get a handle on reducing the high level of bureaucracy that is stifling the country.
August 26, 2026
Not only are these regional mayors an abomination to English local government , which was parishes, councils and countries , you can also be pretty sure they are part of Labour’s plan to rig our constitution in their favour . No doubt these regional mayoral areas will be dominated by a metropolitan conurbation, so they will hope to control them , and so inflict their policies on surrounding areas who don’t , like the rural areas , who they hate because they are too white, as we have seen in London , where that vile creature Khan inflicted his policies on surrounding boroughs.
What I can’t understand why the Conservative party have been so lame in unpicking the constitutional vandalism Labour has and is inflicting on us , they seem to think our constitution is Labour’s private play thing , and so let them get away with doing what ever they want. Remember ‘ English Votes for English Laws’, about the only time the Tories showed any fight , and that got watered down to English votes at the third reading , or something like that, which Boris Johnson quietly scrapped.
It is not as if these constitutional issues have no baring on people’s lives. The crippling debt our young people are amassing to get a university degree is the product of Labour’s constitutional vandalism. If I remember correctly Blair was about to lose the vote to stick tuition fees on English students, until he got Brown to marshal the Scottish Labour MPs , what ever the truth, the vote in the Commons showed a lot of Scottish MPs involved themselves in the vote when they shouldn’t have, for it wasn’t going to effect Scotland . Of 650 MPs around 620 or so voted , 320 odd for , 300 against , There are 75 Scottish MPs in Parliament. The West Lothian Question writ large.
August 27, 2026
IM:
Agreed.
August 26, 2026
Of course its a ‘Con’. More
PuppetsMuppets to carry out Central Command orders.There is no intention of ‘devolution’. Devolution is simple Counties do the County/Town/Villages stuff , the UK Parliament does the coordination within the Nation, and all the external stuff. The UK Parliaments version seeks a one size fit all approach, they and only they(Parliament) knows best – the last thing they want is successful entities that they don’t directly ‘control’ and ‘direct’.
The concept that Manchester should/is a separate entity to Lancashire – it didn’t work. London has to keep steeling from the surrounding Counties, one to punish those outside the Capitol two to show socialism is the boss.
Then the big override the elephant in the room – the ‘Cost!’. When is the Country going to be allowed to earn to pay for all the socialist command and control stuff? There is no plan to earn, just spend, spend, spend.
August 26, 2026
By concentrating mayoralties around big cities, Labour more or less guaranteed that a Labour Mayor would be appointed in most places. That is the real reason for them.
They are also the first step in the EU’s long-favoured plan to Balkanise England, to break up one of the World’s longest surviving single Countries, into far less powerful regional units that nobody wants.
August 26, 2026
Anything to avoid focusing on the things that really matter: defence, education, health and , most important of all, controlling Government expenditure.
August 26, 2026
No, the people of Wokingham don’t want closure of the local hotel to migrants only to spread them through local HMOs and council bought-up houses. We are watching.
Reply Wokingham doesnt want the hotel or the HMO s , it wants the end to dangerous boat trips
August 26, 2026
The only new devolution we need is, an English parliament. To put right the democratic defecit that allows non English constituency MP’s to vote on English issues. Issues that are devolved to the Scottish and Welsh parliaments. Whilst we are denied a reciprocal opportunity.
Twenty eight years now England has been the devoloution underdog. First the EU tried to destroy our identity. Having escaped their clutches. The Labour party now seeks to take on the task of destroying the identity of England.
Meanwhile opposition in Westminster is silent on the issue. It leads me to believe Westminster is still the EU puppet parliament it was.
August 26, 2026
+1 and many more
I just do not understand the Conservative silence on the issue, not that Reform are any better .
August 26, 2026
Agree
August 26, 2026
Dividing England and making it independent destroys the United Kingdom and trashes the Constitution of the United Kingdom forever.
That leaves the current elitists to draft a new constitution.
This is such a stupid act that if the English agree they deserve to be consigned to history and annihilated.
August 27, 2026
An English parliament would not divide England. It would unite England. The exact opposite of the effects of regional Mayors with large powers.
The constitition is not yet trashed but is weakened by the existence of Scottish and Welsh parliaments. While England of course remains under the control of the UK parliament, which contains 57 Scottish seats, 32 Welsh seats and 18 N.Irish seats
August 27, 2026
OA:
Agreed.
August 26, 2026
When I first read the title ‘regional mayors is a con’ …I was bemused, as regional mayors were created under the conservative government …..I agree with you comments today LordJ, however the tory manifesto needs to state that it will repeal the policy of devolution and city/regional mayors from day one
August 26, 2026
May be the expression “Lions lead by Donkeys” is apt or more likely at the moment “Lemmings lead by Donkeys”.
August 26, 2026
What is it with the socialists? They always want bigger bureaucracy everywhere, despite history showing it is a recipe for economic downturns, because bureaucracy always costs extra. Surely, they must know by experience that when they spend more than they earn, they end up in more debt?
If they have, or have ever had, a hefty mortgage, they know what happens if they default on payments. So why can they not consider it within their government spending plans? Or do they think it will work this time? Their solution: spend more, borrow more and tax more. It’s beyond a joke, and It’s going to be deja vu 1970s all over again; I can sense it.
August 26, 2026
Birmingham 20mph ….the beginning of the end
”West Midlands (Birmingham Metro) Mayor Richard Parker’s administration and the region’s Road Safety Commissioner strongly back local plans to make 20mph the standard speed limit on residential and local road”
Policies pushed upon councils by regional mayors
August 26, 2026
“Trying to set up more wastes money, delays sorting out the real issues and threatens to override local opinion”.
But that is the whole idea LJ. We have created millions of useless people with useless degrees in nothingness added to which hundreds of useless Lords and MPs, a job on the council is all that is open to them. Their real worth – cardboard boxes and polythene sheets is not to be contemplated.
Delays sorting the real issues – but but neither Tory nor Labour or the irrelevances have any idea how to Make Britain Great Again. The politicians dare not touch the real issues. We know what to do but getting elected afterwards….
Now our MPs and Parliament have hidden behind ‘local opinion’ for the last 50 years. Not building houses or roads because the punters won’t like it and some rubbish MP loses a seat. No matter the nation’s economy heads down the pan because we protect every bat, vole, badger and dare not upset the astronomers. No matter that bats, voles, badgers don’t matter and no useful optical astronomy can be done from the Home Counties.
Now whether Burnham will upset the chattering classes is yet to be seen and whether employing Mayors will eliminate incompetence and corruption and backscratching is also yet to be seen. But I think we know the answer.
August 26, 2026
I always got the idea that the house building opposition was linked to people’s opposition to mass immigration , a cause and effect. If our so called representatives had bothered to represent the people and not permitted 10 or more million immigrants to come here, then there wouldn’t have been the need to cover the countryside with ghastly new builds, and as any house building would have been seen as to cover the needs of our people, then there would have been less opposition to that. You might say the opposition to house building was the opposition to mass immigration, after all they struggle to call you racist for opposing that, they just call you Nimbys .
August 26, 2026
Not unless we had boat people arriving in the ’50s, 60s, 70s and ’80s. We peaked at about 400,000 houses in the 1960s and downhill ever since. Opposition to housing was a transactional thing, central government failed to provide hospitals, doctors surgeries, schools where housing had been built. The inconvenience was blamed on housing and encouraged nimbyism. In turn that encouraged ‘planning standards’ and ‘road standards’, remember back then a degree in town planning was a thing. Some illusion of usefulness for them had to be found. Housing and housing finance was/is a complex game played by HM Treasury with a nod to political popularity. Must keep house prices high if you want to stay in power.
Boat people are a new thing. Unless Ms Badenoch wants to stand on the shore machine gunning them there is not much realistic to be done. Perhaps we could try controlling the human population. Remove say 5Bn poor people (who tend to fill the boats) or remove say 500M fat rich ones who tend to warm the planet (and make it attractive to come). How I leave as an exercise.
August 26, 2026
OT
JR asked some time ago why the drivers of the rubber dinghies were not arrested on arrival in Britain. It was a good question.
Christian Drogan reveals the reason the smugglers don’t get caught on the UK side.
The French police stop the boats at the boundary and give the smugglers a lift back to shore, then repeat. The British then shepherd the boats to the U.K.
August 26, 2026
giving regional mayors more powers is simply political nepotism.Of the 14 authorities 10
are Labour.In addition each will have 10 Whitehall penpushers foisted on them to “advise
and consult”
August 26, 2026
Regional Mayors are suited to some places but not others the thing is to sort this conundrum, for instance such a role can allow for power play and resentment buildup or else fuel OTT populism in the wrong type of individual – so maybe a manager reporting to Council might be enough
August 26, 2026
1835 (Town Councils): The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 set up the first modern, elected municipal councils in towns and cities …..and have worked well for almost 200 years; why change something that isn’t broken
August 26, 2026
Like the Constitution of the U.K.?
August 26, 2026
Sorry to say it again, but the plan for more regional Mayors is madness. (Also said it about the Wind Farm ).
When is our new PM going to get stuck in at No 10 and discuss the real problems of the UK? They are Government overspending, and regional Mayors will simply add cost; too much Immigration, both legal and illegal; over-taxation; costly energy; freeing prisoners early to re-offend; slow justice with long court backlogs, among others! Yet our new PM seems to have spent his first five weeks swanning about and achieving nothing.
He will never get that time back, and if that reflects his approach as PM, he has already failed. That failure will become clearer over the next few months and move the UK toward financial bankruptcy at a faster pace.
It would also be nice to know if our new Chancellor has a clue what he is doing. So far, it appears not!
August 26, 2026
70million people in this nation. With a new PM working for every individual one of them, to better all their lives equally, how many of the 70million have asked him for what is loosely described a devolved Mayor. How many of the Countries 70million is the New PM, charging to support the few?
Who is going to pay in real hard income for this adventure and what rewards will each individual get from this expenditure?
It was noted that the Manchester ‘Bee line’ busses worked because the rest of the countries ‘taxpayers’ subsidised them. What did the taxpayer outside of Manchester get for being forced into handing over their money?
August 26, 2026
The tories need to take these Mayoral contests seriously and put up decent high profile candidates, business people, leaders, people with a personality, if you can’t take Cheshire you can’t take anywhere.
August 26, 2026
The Thames Valley local council leaders reportedly want a regional authority run by a committee (of them), but no Mayor. Unfortunately ‘our Ange’ has other ideas: Speaking to the BBC, Angela Rayner outlined plans to appoint mayors across every region of England. Regional mayors would have powers over housing, transport, education, and employment, she says. So what are our council leaders going to do now? Go on pretending that they will have a role to play, or recognise what’s coming down the line? One thing’s for sure: don’t expect any discussion of this in local media, it’s too important to discuss it in public.
August 27, 2026
The purpose of regional mayors is so those in power in towns and cities can have their power extended to include the surrounding countryside.
August 27, 2026
Quite right, John.
Unitary Authorities were ostensibly created to remove a tier of government. Now we are getting another tier of government.
Now the tiers are larger and further away from people and communities.
Furthermore there is no geographic correlation between the structure of local government and other state agencies particularly the NHS.
And we still have little direct accountability. Local government services should be funded entirely by local income taxes.