@Peston Lol he can't even make a definitive decision about that.
Will he toss a coin in the morning?
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@PSQ17266
Pronouns, but not so keen on verbs. 🤭
United Kingdom شامل ہوئے Ağustos 2009
72 فالونگ188 فالوورز
I am told that the PM has not yet definitively decided that he will announce his departure. “It is looking that way,” says a source, “but it is not 100%.”
The prediction, among Keir Starmer’s close colleagues, is that he will decide to stay in post until just before Labour conference in late September. “In those circumstances of a delayed exit, history will probably be kinder to him,” said a colleague. “But of course we understand the instinct just to have done with it and walk away.”
As for the timing of any such announcement, that could still be Tuesday rather than Monday.
On whether there should be a formal leadership contest or an uncontested coronation of Andy Burnham, I am told the mood of MPs is polarised, but the majority would prefer “the men and women in grey suits” to fix it for Burnham, without a potentially fractious completion.
Apart from anything else, even close friends of Burnham say he is not yet ready to govern. “He definitely needs time to work out his team and programme,” says an ally of his.
So Starmer would be doing Burnham a favour by staying in post another three months - though he would do Burnham a favour through gritted teeth that would risk them falling out.
Robert Peston@Peston
Peter Kyle was explicit just now on the BBC that he does not want a coronation of Andy Burnham, that a leadership contest that debates how Labour can best hold Reform at bay would be preferable, but that the transition from Keir Starmer to a new prime minister must be “functional” and orderly. The implication of this - and of conversations I have had with other ministers - is that Starmer will announce a date for his departure tomorrow. Their working assumption is that he will exit Number 10 some time around Labour conference in late September, though no one knows for sure. That said, the question of whether or not there will be a proper leadership contest will be open for a few days. The settled position of Labour MPs and members is that Andy Burnham is likely to be the UK’s next prime minister. But that is absolutely not the same thing as saying that they are overwhelmingly against a contest. What they are considering is the risk of appointing Burnham by acclamation without subjecting him to proper scrutiny in a leadership contest, versus the risk that such a contest will undermine “functional” government for weeks and paint their government as no less chaotic than the previous Tory government. To put it another way, can MPs genuinely trust that Burnham has a credible plan for economic renewal if he is left to formulate it in semi privacy? And what kind of image about today’s Labour Party is projected if the party simply appoints another white middle aged man as leader without any kind of challenge? The uncertainty brought by a contest versus the perception of arrogance and mono-culture that would be the result of a Burnham coronation? It is by no means an easy decision.
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@Anna_Soubry People change their minds. You of all people should understand that.
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No one should be celebrating what seems certain to be the imminent departure of #Starmer & arrival of our 7th PM in 10 years
Something has gone horribly wrong in British politics. Stability & competence were key parts of what made us a great country.
Poorer quality politicians, the cheapening of political debate (in part social media but also MSM) & rise of so called populism led to #Brexit & the decision to leave #EU just exacerbated the demise of competent Govt, sensible politics & decent politicians.
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@timchap It's because we keep electing duds like starmer.
All those MP's and labour cling to another dud from the past like he's some gift from God.
It would be hilarious if the country wasn't being ruined in the process.
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If Starmer is toppled, the outside world will look on with bemusement and ask “ when will the UK stop knee-jerking its way through politics and political leaders and seriously apply itself to solving the massive problems of the day?” I will struggle to answer this.
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I gather Reform UK has declined to put anybody up for the Sunday morning political shows today...
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No ‘coronation’ for Burnham.
We want a contest at the very least.
I’m not sure that a man who has been rejected by the party twice is good enough.
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Burnhams ’ business-friendly socialism’ is not the contradiction in terms his detractors claim. Rather it captures the fulcrum inter-relationship between the public and private sectors on which all successful economies depend. Done well, it offers hope. observer.co.uk/news/columnist…
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@AdamFoxUK People said labour can't be any worse than the tories, can they?
In two short years they got their answer. 😂
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I genuinely cannot believe we're in this position.
Keir Starmer won a huge mandate from the British people. He transformed the Labour Party from one that had suffered its worst defeat in generations into a party capable of winning power and changing the country.
And yet, just two years into government, we're talking about leadership speculation instead of the job we were elected to do.
I'm not pretending everything is perfect. Government is hard. The challenges facing Britain are immense. There are difficult choices to make and there are no easy answers. If solving these problems was simply a matter of better communications or finding a catchy slogan, someone would have done it already.
What frustrates me is the idea that replacing one leader magically makes those challenges disappear. It won't.
Whoever leads Labour will face the same economic realities, the same fiscal constraints, the same online discourse and the same difficult decisions.
Some seem determined to oversimplify those realities in pursuit of their own ambitions. I think that's a mistake.
This Government has real achievements to be proud of. Growth is returning. NHS waiting lists are falling. Interest rates are coming down. Small boat crossings are down. There is still a huge amount of work to do, but progress is being made.
The public don't want a Labour Party consumed by itself. They want a Labour Government focused on them.
Right now, our energy should be on delivering for the country, winning elections and building on the progress we've made…not tearing ourselves apart.
Because if we don't learn that lesson now, what happens when the next leader faces the same difficult decisions in a year or two's time?
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If @Keir_Starmer resigns on Monday, I resign my long term membership.
End of.
@UKLabour
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@Kevin_Maguire Ha ha desperate times make people do desperate things.
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The scale and style of Burnham’s victory means he will be PM after trouncing Farage and Starmer.
mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…
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@timchap That's why they're so rarely in power.
Student activists just can't help themselves.
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So widen the picture about Labour, Starmer and Burnham. Labour toils for 14 years to become electable again. Starmer wins a massive majority and in under two years Labour gets spooked and puts all this at risk without blinking. Madness!!
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@johnandi That's lefties for ya.
That hate right-wingers, but they hate fellow lefties even more.
This is why they taste power so rarely, they always trip themselves up.
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Our allies around the world, who have the highest regard and respect for Keir Starmer, must be gazing at the UK in utter astonishment now, thinking that we have gone collectively insane. They would be correct.
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@Liam_Holman99 Ha ha maybe next time you won't fall for catchy slogans.
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I voted for a decade of national renewal.
Not irrational panic and backroom machinations after two years.
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@Valerie98375694 Fabulous.
There's nowt better than lefty versus lefty.
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I’ve been a Labour supporter for 50 years
But if Starmer loses
I will resign my membership with immediate effect, and never vote Labour again.
Do remember - it is the Members who will choose,.
ANDY FOR PM , at the third time of asking, is not a foregone conclusion.
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@Lordblackthe5th @BurnsideWasTosh Ahh I remember hearing those words in July 2024.
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@BurnsideWasTosh I'm willing to give him a chance, but not getting my hopes up. It cant get any worse can it?
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Excl: Andy Burnham plans to keep Shabana Mahmood as home secretary: thetimes.com/uk/politics/ar…
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@JoWhiteSays @AndyBurnhamGM You think labour are capable of that? 😂
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This by-election result highlights the country's demand for a new direction and hope. There must now be an orderly change of leadership for the good of our country and the Labour Party
@AndyBurnhamGM has proved he can deliver the change we need, and that is why I am backing him.
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I didn’t vote for Burnham when he failed to become leader on two occasions.
And that will not be changing
The majority of Labour members didn’t want him then and we still don’t.
#TenYearKeir
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@AVMikhailova And that's why people voted this way.
People are desperate.
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💥Andy Burnham wins Makerfield - comfortably beating Reform by more than 9,000 votes
There is no question Labour MPs will now gravitate towards the ‘Burnham bounce’ - and Keir Starmer’s days in Number Ten are numbered
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Massive congratulations to @AndyBurnhamGM a much deserved win. Labour, you know what to do.
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