Peter Fludde

@TedUrchin @Essex_Patriot All such posts can be prefaced with "We want you to believe that..."

@Essex_Patriot No, we don’t. He is certainly one of the best.

The whole of the UK agrees

@PhilC273 @joshsimonsmp @AndyBurnhamGM It does seem an odd decision, as you say. I wonder if Mr Simons' background and history could throw any light on it. Don't know about such things myself.

@joshsimonsmp @AndyBurnhamGM You are saying this so many times you are probably starting to believe it yourself! Stepping aside wasn’t a great gesture, it was a weak & divisive move when you’re an MP in a Govt that’s trying to rebuild the country. Believing Burnham can do a better job is deluded. We see you

Being an MP has radicalised me. People don’t trust politics because votes don’t produce big change. Sclerotic institutions are too used to the status quo. I loved being a local MP. Stepping aside was tough. But @AndyBurnhamGM can rebuild these broken systems. Britain needs it. thetimes.com/article/11f6e9…

A couple of excerpts from Keir’s reply to Tony Blair. Plus a Link to the whole essay too. I found it inspiring and I’m up to date with what this Gov’s plans are. I’d be interested in your thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/keirstarme…

@Chalky1963 @AndyBurnhamGM @UKLabour Agree about media, would only suggest it is more concerning than a preference for sensation and gossip - it's a tactic one has seen elsewhere, of repeating lies and reversals of fact until they are lodged in the public mind, a foundation for grievance, claims of malpractice etc

The fact that the media is already treating @AndyBurnhamGM as if he was already leader of @UKLabour and thus PM, shows exactly the current state of UK media right now. Simply incapable of reporting actual news and more interested in sensation and gossip.

Tony Blair might not like my plan, but he's wrong: it's changing Britain for the better. keirstarmer.substack.com/p/tony-blair-m…

Inflation “unexpectedly” fell by 0.5% to 2.8% Growth was an “unexpected” 0.7% - the highest in the G7 Net immigration “unexpectedly” fell by 82% NHS “unexpectedly” met it’s interim 18 week target Our media have so deceived the public that all positive news is now “unexpected”

@mcdermottkc_ One must question the meaning of "we" in such statements. The pronoun clearly cannot refer to the Labour Party or the UK public, neither of whose interests will be served by a change in leadership. One perhaps needs to look overseas to see who would benefit from a shift in policy

Coming together seems an odd idea Lucy when the purpose of this by election is clearly to unseat a Labour PM who led the party to extraordinary success less than 2 years ago ….

@GordonFielden @gorbalsgoebbels Wild theory: Mr Burnham's and Mr Streeting's job is to draw fire, exhaust the arguments and position Mr Milliband as a sensible compromise.

Listening to the latest address from Andy Burnham at the launch of his campaign, one is struck less by the substance than by the staging. We are told that only a few hundred were present. This was no spontaneous groundswell, no great public acclamation, but a carefully curated assembly, presented through the lens as something rather grander than it was. Such contrivance may be commonplace, yet it does little to inspire confidence. More troubling still is the repeated assertion that he stands for the people of the constituency, that he is there for them in earnest. That claim is difficult to sustain. A man genuinely committed to those he serves does not abandon his post mid course. He completes the work entrusted to him. Instead, we are presented with a calculation: if success eludes him, he returns to the mayoralty and seeks once more the favour of those he has set aside. That is not steadfast representation, but convenience dressed as principle. The slogan that he is there for everyone is, in these circumstances, not merely unconvincing but faintly absurd. It asks the public to accept a proposition that is plainly at odds with the reality before them. Words of that kind demand a consistency of action to support them. Here, that consistency is conspicuously absent. Indeed, the campaign has already been marked by a succession of reversals, five, perhaps six, on positions that were only recently advanced with certainty. Such instability of judgement invites a harsher, though not unjust, conclusion. A man who shifts so readily cannot reasonably expect to be regarded as a figure of firm conviction. In public life, clarity and constancy are not optional virtues. They are the very foundation upon which trust is built. At present, what is offered is neither clear nor constant, and the effect is to leave the observer with the uneasy sense that ambition has outpaced substance.

Difference between a career politician like Burnham & someone who came into politics to serve like Starmer cannot be emphasised enough. Burnham is all fake & ego. Starmer is dull but worthy. Plodding yet sincere. Starmer is a safe pair of hands & is getting it right slowly.

NEW: Former Israeli soldier Jonathan Kestenbaum has resigned as a director of Labour Together. Last month, I uncovered the “IDF diary” of the Labour peer. Now, he’s stepping down. Here’s what happened:🧵

Just leaving this here...

@JohnSimpsonNews Courage and a desire to serve must be respected in all circumstances. I would be interested to know whether there was an additional point being made in the post, Mr Simpson.

I’ve got so much respect for the writers, poets and musicians who insisted on joining up in WW1, or becoming medics or stretcher-bearers, even if they were ill or long over-age: Edward Thomas, Maurice Ravel, Henri Barbusse, Ford Madox Ford, Toscanini, Compton Mackenzie, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Reynaldo Hahn, Guillaume Apollinaire, Arnold Schoenberg, C.E. Montague (who dyed his white hair to get in), John Buchan, Hugh Walpole (only 30 but with awful eyesight), and the wonderful Colette, who at 41 smuggled herself into the fighting area round Verdun to be with her husband, and tended to wounded soldiers under heavy fire. What a woman!

@allansharpe The forces that want Mr Starmer out of the way have no interest in the UK's internal politics and progress.

@NadineDorries Repeating something does not make it true. Repeating something does not make it true. What makes something true is that it is visible and verifiable. Mr Starmer's steady, strong and courageous leadership is visible and verifiable.

This isn’t a referendum on Starmer. Starmer has gone already and is now squatting in No10 until he is forced out. It’s so undignified. If Reform win, Labour are totally finished. If Labour win, we go backwards, divide the country and rejoin the EU.

@LaindonFEMINIST @CharlieM2024 @DianeFirestoker @UKLabour The longer this goes on and the more things don't add up, the thought comes to mind of public theatre in which all sides have the same director, stage manager and script writers. Only a random idea.

@CharlieM2024 @DianeFirestoker @UKLabour I’d beg to differ. Firstly we’ve already campaigned and won that seat. Who is she campaigning for? Burnham has not been confirmed as a Candidate. And this makes it look like a shoe in for Burnham - and frankly that’s not a good look. In fact it’s quite shocking

Apparently showing support to the Labour candidate in a by election means giving the seat to Reform Whatever your opinion on Burnham I think its frankly shocking for any @UKLabour member to suggest a cabinet minister resign for campaigning for **our candidate** in an election 👇

@TedUrchin @PolitlcsUK @LabourList Burnham is a distractor. Someone wants Milliband in. Only a thought.

I will vote for Starmer again. Never Burnham (I don’t like chancers), Miliband has been there before and failed (albeit he is a very good minister), and Rayner, sadly, would never win a General Election. Wes Streeting is not even worth a mention. This is all so unnecessary. It was a bad result in a midterm council election. So what?! #StandWithStarmer

🚨 NEW: Labour members voting intention: Starmer vs Streeting: Starmer: 53% Streeting: 23% Starmer vs Burnham: Burnham: 61% Starmer: 28% Starmer vs Miliband: Miliband: 46% Starmer: 39% Starmer vs Rayner: Rayner: 45% Starmer: 41% Via @LabourList, 1214 members

@johnredwood Nonsense. A subscription to a club is not a massive give away. You save up to afford the subscription, then you have the run of the grounds and facilities. With Club EU, you get to trade, travel, live and work throughout a vast and varied region - or stay at home if you prefer.

The key feature of the King’s speech will be a massive give away of power and money to the EU. This will make us poorer, requiring tax rises to pay the bill. The EU carbon taxes and new carbon tariffs will put up prices. The extra laws will damage business and non EU trade.

Not sure if this will do anything but I’ve signed just in case.

The X algorithm is suppressing this post on Reform UK's offshore funding. It's popular with 112 reposts but it has only been allowed 987 views.

@TedUrchin I support Mr Starmer

I’m following back all genuine Starmer supporters and those that wish to see his premiership continue and go from strength to strength. Reply here saying ‘I support Starmer’ and I will follow you back if not doing so already. We need to stick together. #StarmerStays #FBSS

This is a brilliant investigative piece on Farage, the dark millions behind him and the double standards of so much British journalism. Read and retweet! Nigel Farage pocketing £5m from a donor shows he’s unfit for power app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/73421/co…