As the country waits for its new unelected government to arrive and come up with a plan, the bills mount through the incompetent management of a bloated public sector.
British Steel is losing £1.3 m a day and its Chinese owners are demanding £1 bn compensation for the plant the government runs but does not own.
Great British Rail needs more money to cover its losses and to give it some more cash to invest in better trains and signals.Burnham’s people are talking of reviving a new line from Birmingham to Manchester as HS 2 gobbles the cash to try to get to Birmingham more than ten years late.
The Post Office got a huge subsidy last year so it could show a profit and may well need another £500m this year to help it pay all the compensation for its grotesque mistreatment employees in the past over false accusations of fraud.
Illegal migrants keep arriving by expensive Border Force boat needing housing and living costs. The surge in people qualifying for benefits continues. Unemployment rises most months. The benefits bill is out of control.
Remodelling government with Number 10 in Manchester as well as in London will mean more staff, more office accommodation, more train fares and motorcades. More devolved government to an unloved city region level of artificial government will add pointless bureaucratic cost to the already high costs of Councils and Whitehall. Three or four layers of government arguing over who does what means more staff, more lawyers, more oppression of people and companies with conflicting and cumulative government demands.
And how to pay for all this? So far it is let them pay tourist taxes if they dare to take a weekend break or a holiday. That will not prove enough to pay the hungry Mayors and cash gobbling nationalised industries.
July 1, 2026
The pan is about to boil over, the country is broke for sure. The state boot on the tax free threshold ( inspired by Sunak and Hunt ), out of control spending on benefits, asylum seekers, public sector workers’ wage rises / pensions / expenses / other benefits, etc.. / industry intervention subsidies / vanity projects et al..
Labour are scrambling to rob Peter to pay Paul, witness yesterday’s Defence fudge. Where will it all end?
This country is in dire straits and deteriorating fast..the own goals are in, the squadrons of chickens coming home to roost.. it is an extremely concerning future we face.
July 1, 2026
@Andrew Jones – how come you understand that and no one else does. That’s sarcasm and I am agreeing with you
July 2, 2026
The problem is Ian that we can’t do anything about it.We have been shouting for decades now about immigration legal and illegal but the only response we got was accusations of racism.
In the 90’s I was pushed out of a job in Manchester where a contract wasn’t adhered to .It was a fixed term on one unit with a promise for relocation.I wasn’t relocated but rather left high and dry.The following years I applied every where ,went on hundreds of interviews whilst hundreds of overseas staff were literally being begged to take up jobs.That was the start of the downward decline and over population.
Too many people and Brits stamped on.No politicians with a little foresight
July 1, 2026
sadly I think my prediction of civil war is still correct.
people can see voting changes nothing, and is a complete waste of time, the courts hate us and promote evil, the public sector is useless and anti British.
Trump is broadly correct, shut the borders and drill for oil & gas, and so much more.
its not going to end well.
July 1, 2026
Indeed well JR Burnham will give us growth in every postcode, hope In every heart and a number 10 up north and more money and power to local Mayors and politicians like Sturgeon, Kahn, Drakeford… surely that will work?
The UK Treasury quietly dropped the numerical reasoning test from its graduate scheme for policy advisers to improve candidate diversity. Uncovered by The Spectator, in a Freedom of Information request. This will surely help too. Candidate with sufficient “diversity” clearly have problems with numeracy. “Maths is racists in it” as some people like to say.
It seems that at Energy and in the Climate Change Committee they have zero grasp of maths, physics, engineering or logic is this perhaps for the same reason?
July 1, 2026
I assume the BoE under Bailey has a similar agenda looking at how inept the Bank is. Staff at the BoE can also work 8 weeks abroad and doubtless most of the rest off sick, on holiday leave or “working” from home. Absurdly generous “employee” benefits too.
July 1, 2026
I wonder how many normal workers at a private sector companies tax receipts are needed to fund an average BoE employee wages, peniosn and benefits. Perhaps 6 or so. To fund Carney or Bailey (He “earns” a base salary of £495,000. His total annual remuneration reaches approximately £598,074, which includes an additional £99,000 payment in lieu of pension it seems).
So about 60 average private sector workers just to pay for him. Then on top of that they have to pay for his and the bank gross economic incompetence on top!
July 1, 2026
It is far, far worse than that.
Forbes puts median pay for 25 – 64 year olds at or above 2.6K per month, that is 31.2K pa.
The government PAYE tax calculator reckons that will produce a take-home pay of 18.6 pa and 3724 in tax pa.
So you would need 133 people on median pay to fund Bailey’s base salary of £495K and 166 people if you include his in-lieu payment.
Another way of looking at it is because of the extent of imports of goods and food we rely on you likely need 9 private sector workers on median pay for every single public sector worker on median pay.
July 1, 2026
The woke are using diversity to destroy meritocracy in order to degrade the state and its ability to function competently. Diversity is designed to cause impoverishment and because it is seen as unfair, social breakdown. The woke depend upon making and keeping people poor and diversity is one of their most powerful tools
July 1, 2026
And how to pay for all this ?
Pretty damn obvious to a blind man the Liebour party are going to tax us to death as they always do when in power, that’s all they know what to do so long as they don’t get clobbered in the process, no doubt wants the so called saviour of the North gets into No10 we will get to hear some policy’s but you can bet your bottom dollar that the workshy/ illegals won’t get hit the Burnhamator will look after them that’s for sure
July 1, 2026
But higher tax rates from the current hugely over taxes position will not raise any more tax revenue. Indeed over a few years it will raise less and less tax and rapidly reduce the tax base. This as people leave, stop working, go black market or go on benefits (of both).
The Reeves Doom Loop agenda speed up by the day.
See the recent UBS wealth report by country.
July 2, 2026
They’re going after the black market, via bank account reporting, they believe there is £15 billion there undeclared to HMRC each year. Everybody who is not on paye or doing a tax return over the minimum wage, I believe, will come under investigation first. How are they buying or renting their home, from what income? There computer systems are only just capable of talking to one another for Ai not humans to do the identifying.
July 1, 2026
It’s not going to happen. The countries technically bankrupt and printing more money will result in a Bond strike.
It’s a bit like when the BBC wanted to move production to Salford, staff had to be forced kicking and screaming, eventually most commute there at great expense.
I think Burnham is going to be a big disappointment.
July 1, 2026
Today wind is supplying 0.86gw or 3% of demand. We are having to import 22% of our electricity. Madness.
July 1, 2026
Good morning.
I am not fan of Any Burnham MP, but the guy has not even been an MP for 14 days let alone 14 years ! And none of what has been mentioned has been done on his watch.
So how will PMQ’s be done, via Teams ? This is clearly a power play. Just like the Ukrainian President (don’t remember his name and cannot be bothered to look it up) and his style of dress which says; “I am too important to worry about what I look like to the likes of you !”etc ed
Well, as I said here before when TTK was sort of in charge, he has about 18 months, no more, to turn things around. If people do not feel any better after that, Labour are done !
July 2, 2026
How often is Starmer actually present in the HoC? How many days per week, which hours?
July 1, 2026
This problem of balancing the books did not start with this Government or the one before or the one before that however with all the brains locked up in the Lords I am sure you can collectively come up with some ideas to put forward to Government to ease the situation – perhaps that saving of 350 million on the side of the bus could go some way – however let’s hear the full Burnham plan first before we run him down.
July 1, 2026
Well we heard Burnham’s vacuous plan on Monday. More money and power to local politicians like Kahn, Drakeford, Sturgeon types, growth in every postcode code, hope in every heart, and a No 10 up in the grim north, a council tax for everyone. Nothing about the open door immigration, crime levels, or funding all this, or the net zero rip off energy lunacy.
Should be wonderful until they realise they have no money.
July 1, 2026
@Lifelogic – if you think about it more power sent locally makes sense, letting those that can do do. The However!, the UK Parliament will retain all powers, and send out Diktats for the local scapegoats to act on. There will be no meaningful freedom to get on and achieve. How can I say that? He(Burnham) was previously in the Government(Blair/Brown) that cocked-up devolution and everything else from the get-go.
Above all there is no way the UK Parliament would step back, reduce its numbers and let those that can ‘do’ their ego is to powerful and the money for nothing to strong
July 2, 2026
All trained on the same training schemes funded by Americans.
July 1, 2026
I am surprised that he did not also promise everyone perfect health, great intelligent and a beautiful girlfriend or handsome boyfriend or both for all to keep sleep with while in their free council flats.
July 1, 2026
The fact that we have a person who was not an MP, has not put forward any policy idea other than to get Starmer out, is not bound by any present manifesto pledges, who has only been supported by less the 25,000 people in one area, is now likely to be crowned as Prime Minister, so far without any form of challenge, who will control the fortunes of 70 million people who have absolutely no idea what his thoughts or future plans are, is simply a disgrace and makes a complete and utter farce of our so called democracy.
July 1, 2026
And who was beaten in two previous PM contests…. Once by Corbyn.
July 2, 2026
+1
July 2, 2026
The Tories replaced leaders like a game.
The left banged on and on and on until elections were declared; it’s why May changed her mind.
“I think the next election will be in 2020… I’m not going to be calling a snap election” she told the BBC’s Andrew Marr in September 2016 . But that all seemed to change over the course of the Easter break. As Britain went back to work on the day after Easter Monday, Mrs May stood on the steps of Downing Street to deliver her surprise call for an election. Her stated reason was to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations. With official Brexit talks”
Instead, it weakened her, which I believe was the real plan.
July 1, 2026
That is for the Qur’an to promise, not for government
July 1, 2026
The £350 million was to be spent, not saved. Too few people vote for savings. There is the rub.
July 1, 2026
U.K. experienced the sharpest drop in personal wealth among all developed markets, with the average mean wealth per person falling by 23% since 2020. According to the UBS Global Wealth Report, this leaves Britain trailing second-to-last out of 56 markets globally.
Why would anyone with wealth choose to live in the UK unless they want to quickly give all their money to the state to waste (can the people not think of far better things to spend or invest or give to good charities). Often worse than waste as we saw with Sunak and Boris. £600 billion borrowed and spend doing vast net harms with Covid lockdowns and net harms Vaccines. Even more spent encouraging feckless people not to work or even learn how to work.
The Conservative Chancellor who announced the scrapping of the historic non-domiciled (non-dom) tax status was one Jeremy Hunt in March 2024. Yet another PPE chap, a dire failed health secretary and deluded socialist. I assume he thought it might win votes for the party! It did not and it drove much wealth, investment, high spenders and businesses overseas. Sunak, Hunt, May, Cleverly and many more – still all pretending not to be green crap loving socialists and all still taking the Tory whip.
July 1, 2026
The HS2 description of a service to enabling journeys from Birmingham to London 10 minutes early, arriving ten years late is very apt. It demonstrates the inefficiency of the public sector management.
The scale of the UK mismanagement at the state level is so bad I think Burnham will have to call a election. It will be that, or he will have to declare a national emergency. If it is the latter he will head a coalition of all parties attempting to hold the woke direction of travel together, while re-joining the EU as his solution to the complete and utter failure of government.
The most frightening feature of that strategy is the idea the EU is in any way shape of form, in a better place with its management policies than Britain is. Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is a mess nationally and Burnhams idea of giving Mayors complete regional control, of that mess is about as unhinged an idea as the socialist mind can come up with.
July 1, 2026
Well probably more like 20 years late and the 10 minutes saved will be more than outweighed by the longer end connections due to fewer stops and it not even really finishing in Town at both ends. By then we will have cheaper no driver cars and taxis. Plus doubtless to get affordable tickes you will have to spend 20 mins searching for spit jouney tickets or similar discounts! Even then for 1 it will cost about 10 times the costs of going by car (door to door with up to 7 people). Great plan! Labour and the Tories – formally started Jan 2009 to finish just the first stage in 2036 (well perhaps)?
July 1, 2026
The losers in our political world are howling for an election. The dreadful Nigel Farage, desperately trying to spend his £5m donation before the Commons investigation kicks in, is the loudest voice
Lets be straight about this. Labour have a huge majority and they do not have to go to the country for three years. The electorate put them in to fix multiple problems left behind by the Conservatives in 2024. Starmer and his government failed to quickly implement sufficient change and were punished in the May local elections
The end result is that Burnham gets his chance – he soundly defeated Reform/Restore combined. Immigration and the national debt are the overriding issues of the day. Whether Labour win again will depend on how Burnham and his Chancellor deal with them
July 1, 2026
You have a strange view of what happened in the 2024 General election SK.
Labour were not given an overwhelming majority by the electorate. They achieved a huge majority because the electorate wanted and needed to punish the Tories. Punishment for their failure to govern in the interests of the nation.
That lesson, delivered by the people was achieved.
Labour just happened to be the beneficiaries of the ‘traditional voters’ failure to turn out and support the disgrace of past Tory administrations. The 2024 vote punished principally Cameron’s, May’s and Johnsons/Sunak submission to the EU. It did not give Starmer a vote of confidence.
Only 20.4% of the electorate voted for Labour.
Let that stat sink in before you come back and try to big up Labour’s victory.
Almost 80% of the demos in our democracy did not vote for socialism/Labour policies.
Burnham with his devolution policy is simply casting around looking for something, anything that will differentiate him from the current Labour failures.
He had better keep looking, because placing even more national resources in the hands of Mayor Khan and his ilk will not end well.
July 1, 2026
Well Burnham will not dare to throw away Labour majority will he. Gifted to him by the Con-Socialists betrayal of 14 years.
The reason Burnham won in Makerfield is hatred of Starmer not love of vacuous EUphile, net zero loon and open borders WOKE Burnham. At the next election he might well lose the seat. Even I might have voted Burnham to remover the evil, robotic, two tier vandal – had I lived in Hindley (I did actually work there for about a year many moons back).
July 1, 2026
Yes, The Starmer Out vote won, Simples.
July 2, 2026
Well, how foolish was that! Labour now thinks they can do whatever they wish, with twinkle eyes in charge to charm the ladies. Bridgette’s busy closing down independent schools and then targeting free schools and academies to restrict their Heads’ earnings, which doesn’t exactly encourage the brightest and the best to work their fingers to the bone to move schools from local education controlled failures to Outstanding schools, (thank you job done lets remove the head and all will be well!)
Their health minister is getting cheaper drugs and replacing well-tried and tested suppliers with new, cheaper entrants, especially on those drugs where the patent has expired. Replace GPs with Practitioners to triage first. Private GPs who are retiring: their practices are being swept into super NHS-owned surgeries with no overall private-control leaders. We are spiralling down, and no one seems to notice.
July 1, 2026
yes
July 1, 2026
SG. You forgot to mention Defence. Burnham made no reference to Defence or Immigration in his speech. His acolytes have already got to Mahmood to water down Immigration policy.
I note you make no mention of contracts awarded by him and to his wife but you get deranged over Farage.
It’s easy to see where your loyalties lie.
July 2, 2026
Don’t want to worry the ladies’ little heads with defence.
July 1, 2026
It’s probably too much to expect the Burnham team to have any answers for the major problems we face, instead his fanciful ideas like devolution will solve nothing while spreading resources ever thinner.
Does he actually know how bankrupt the UK is, how much money we are paying as interest to keep the economy afloat, and all the time the only thing we get from labour is to find subtle but spiteful ways to tax us more.
If the old labour regime under Starmer had no concept about renewing the economy, Burnham turns a blind eye, while trying to distract us with wistful socialist daydreams. How much of our resources will he nationalise and how will it get paid for?
Ah yes, that’s it, there are still a few pensioners just above the breadline who have a little sum tucked away – who do they think they are hoarding money when the government can make so much better use of it supporting those that don’t want to support themselves.
Some call labour’s policies Wealth Transfer, others call it outright theft by a bungling regime that cannot even recognize their failings – the new Burnham regime will be no better than the old one.
July 1, 2026
He might respond to questions from the press, but he has failed at least twice to do so, so far.
July 1, 2026
It is going to be interesting to see what happens in the markets if, in the event he becomes our new PM, his Chancellor announces a budget that spends more but omits the accounting figures necessary to achieve the result he claims. Will it be Deja vu, Liz Truss? Or will he be excused because there are now lefties in Downing Street?
Reply The UK cost of borrowing has been well above the worst one day peak under Truss throughout 2025 and 2026 to date.Reeves relaxed the fiscal rules too much.
July 2, 2026
Surely Kemi should be asking the PM why he and his Chancellor have effectively got away with it?
July 1, 2026
Burnham intends to “deliver a circuit breaker to transform the UK enconomy” ….
That is, cut all power and support at the slightest problem.
Did he really mean “circuit breaker” or simply not understand what they do?
These people should not be allowed anywhere near machinery, technology and especially complex systems .. like the national economy.
July 1, 2026
We will be getting a circuit breaker on the National Grid soon, with most nuclear and gas stations about to retire with only one very expensive nuke very late and bogged down with over regulation. Whether the brains of Manchester understand this is doubtful.
July 1, 2026
It will be the familiar Labour (and sometime Conservative) cry of “some people will have to pay more tax, but not you”.
The envisaged taxes will not materialise as the well off have ways of deferring income and otherwise avoiding tax and so general taxes will have to rise to cover the shortfall. ‘Twas ever thus.
It never occurs to politicians and civil servants that maybe they should just stop spending other people’s money.
July 1, 2026
‘How will Burnham pay them?’ not by growing the economy, not by controlling expenditure, not by using common sense
July 1, 2026
Another sound-bite headline another lie from the man that has made lying an art form. The Defence Investment Plan is offered with £15bn with new money, but there is only £10.3bn available? Is the UK Parliament, the ones charged with holding this man to account on our behalf going to do or say anything about these lies?
Where does the already failed Burnham generate the wealth the Country needs. Talking wont keep us safe and secure, talking wont put food on the table. Talking about devolution is talking about increasing costs/expenses not moving forward but backwards at an accelerated rate.
The UK Parliament could order that that the UK Parliament, the UK Government stays in the Capitol – but will they?
Reply Kemi highlighted the £5 bn black hoke at PMQ s and the Conservative Opposition asked about it in Lords
July 1, 2026
After two years of Starmer/Labour, the UK is close to bankruptcy. After two years of Burnham / Labour, the UK will be bankrupt. What does it say about our education system that I can’t hear any MPs screaming for the Government to stop spending money? Public service employees are having a great time today, but they will be the ones whose jobs will go in the coming crash.
Badenoch / Farage have both mentioned savings, but they just scratch the surface of the problem.
July 1, 2026
Sounds like the children who hate their parents have broken into their parents’ bank account.
July 1, 2026
How will Burham pay the bills?
By repealing PM May’s Net Zero by 2050 legislation so that we can return to cheap, abundant energy and leaving the ECHR/repealing PM Blair’s HR legislation to stop the invasion across the Channel and to enable all illegal migrants to be held in camps instead of newly built houses before deportation.
July 1, 2026
Right now the EU heads of state with EU chiefs and president Zelensky are meeting at a ceremony in Dublin as Ireland takes over the presidency of the EU for the next six months and am sorry UK is not with us – but maybe next time.
July 1, 2026
NEVER.
July 1, 2026
63 ‘illegal economic criminals’ invaded the UK yesterday 30th June 2026 …
July 1, 2026
I repeat an earlier question with 1 addition.Does anyone contributing to this forum AND OUR KIND HOST
absolutely rest content that Mr Burnham will get us back on track?(nationalised or not)
July 1, 2026
I see Burnham has tweeted that he is going to make the government look again at ways to deport one of the gang rape leaders. They can pass a specific law to make it happen if they really want. And they can stop all aid to Pakistan if they refuse to take him.
But somehow I doubt much action will result. It is hot air.
I will believe it when I see it.
But maybe Burnham has a bit more political insight than Starmer.
July 1, 2026
For context, yesterday Starmer announced the UK will spend £15billion on defence but there is only £10billion that is available? So it wasn’t a lie, it was an aspiration that has been blocked before it gets of the ground a 50% exaggeration of what he really meant to say.
As we saw last week the US Defence Department was handing Rolls Royce $2.6 billion to upgrade some ageing bombers. Now to day the US Defence Department has announce the is needs to update that facilities it shares with the RAF in the UK they have made $4.2 billion available for the upgrade. $6.8 Billion even in dollars for refurbishment makes the UKs £10 Billion for new equipment a little impotent.