Janine 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧🇮🇱

@DanNeidle @SteveSayersOne Hello Laffer Curve 👋🏻

Scotland raised its top income tax rate to 48% to make the rich pay more. New HMRC data suggests the result may have been the opposite: Scotland collected about £22m less. We can't be sure, but Scotland may have fallen over the Laffer curve. 🧵:

Why are the Met Police Special Escort Group (SEG) in Manchester? How did they get there and at what cost? Is this going to be a regular feature of Labour’s ‘Number 10 North’ charade? Will other officers have to be deployed to replace them in London?

@BBCPolitics How was No:10 North and all the security required around it arranged in such short order?? Wake up journalists!!

Does Andy Burnham trust Donald Trump?

@bbclaurak @andyburnham Why are you not asking how this was all in place so quickly?

Will @andyburnham commit to his Chancellor's unmet demand that govt must spend 3% of national income on defence, or risk the country's safety?

@BBCPolitics Why are the media not asking the right questions?

“I’m going to rule it out” Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in his first major interview as prime minister, Andy Burnham rules out calling an early general election and says “I don't think people want it” #BBCLauraK bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c0…

🚨🚨Andy Burnham became Prime Minister on Monday. Within five days he has opened “No.10 North” in Manchester — complete with contracts, furnishings, services, security, a logo, printed signs and banners, and held his first official meeting there. If anyone believes this happened spontaneously after he took office, they are kidding themselves. Secure government premises do not appear overnight. Security-cleared staff, protected communications, utilities, approved contractors, furniture, branding design, print runs and physical setup all require advance work - often months of it. Intelligence and security considerations alone make a genuine five-day turnaround from a standing start highly improbable. This raises obvious questions: How long have senior Labour figures been preparing the ground to remove Keir Starmer and install Andy Burnham? Was the No.10 North operation planned and advanced while Burnham was still Mayor, or while the leadership challenge was still unfolding? Government contracts, security clearances and official branding do not move at this speed without prior orchestration. The British public has watched a rapid transfer of power and the instant launch of a parallel Downing Street operation in the North. Mainstream coverage has largely treated the speed as unremarkable. That is not how transparent democracy usually looks. Full details on the temporary Heron House base, the longer-term Digital Campus plans, and the timeline: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._10_No…

Incitement.

@JonquilLucy @BenKentish The job of the press in a free democracy is to scrutinise and hold the feet of the government to the fire. I thought everyone knew that 🤷🏼‍♀️

@macjay72 @BenKentish 'Avoiding questions from the press who represent the public?' Chris Mason Laura Kuenssberg Henry Zeffman Beth Rigby Sam Coates Robert Peston etc Representing the public - behave yourself.

All the focus is on the social media videos but the really clever part of Andy Burnham’s comms this week was detaching the policy announcements from the media appearances. Keir Starmer used to announce things in speeches or at press conferences and then take questions, giving journalists an immediate chance to get him to comment on something else - which would then become the story. The 6am announcements this week, with Burnham only doing media much later in the day, ensured the announcement led the agenda for much of the day.

@redrumlisa I think I’m surrounded by gullible idiots! 😂😂😂 You actually believe that the cabinet round a table in Manchester is going to make different decisions as that same group of people would make round a table in London? I mean…seriously??? 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Unpopular position which I'm willing to stand by - No.10 North is a good idea in theory- too many decisions about the Country is made in London by people who have a London centric view of the Country- including politicians, media, civil service and the culture industries. Its important how and who tells the story of the country.

@WasAcop Definitely cakes 🤦🏼‍♀️

Cakes. 🍰

'The Prime Minister promised a new political model but his top team looks remarkably like the old one' @CamillaTominey explains the Labour families in Burnham’s 'nepo-government' 👇 telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2026/0…

@Dollywaggon Why exactly? What difference does it make?

When you’ve despaired at Westminster’s neglect and lack of ambition to change our city for the better, this is great to see.

@MayorOfWY @andyburnham @10DowningStreet @TracyBrabin 🙄

Power has a new postcode. Number 10 North signals a shift in power from Westminster to the hands of the people who know their communities. Today, @andyburnham has been clear that Mayors will be pivotal to driving the change we desperately need.

29th June. A month ago @TimesRadio 👇🏼

@Steven_Swinford English PM thinks Manchester is ‘the North’ Message to the actual North? You are irrelevant 🤷🏼‍♀️

Andy Burnham says that the opening of No 10 North 'might be the best day of my life' - possibly above getting married, the births of his three children and becoming prime minister on Monday. Possibly 'Thank you, everybody. I cannot tell you what a proud moment this is. I think this might be the best day of my life. 'I’m not joking. I know you think I am, but I’m not. Things are just completely coming full circle here, for me to be here with you all in the heart of Manchester this Friday morning at the end of a fairly big week is just everything to me'

Would be so easy for this to be cringe. And yet it’s not. Labour’s comms has been in another league this week compared to what went before.

🚨 WATCH: Andy Burnham receives a massive cheer outside No 10 North as he shouts "I love you Manchester"

@lewis_goodall Spectacular arselickery there Lewis! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@EmmaBurnell_ Because….🤷🏼‍♀️😂

As a Londoner can I just say that Number 10 North…. Is a bloody great idea.