Bye bye Starmer

[Beany]

I think also the Reform councils - already a dogs dinner in many cases - will shine a pretty big light that Reform won't want on their candidates and their ability to run things. It's a secondary thing, but "they can't even manage local councils" does come up in general elections for the main parties.

Trying to stay close to Trump and the US right (who are absolutely going to cause a lifetimes worth of damage to the US) and people protest voting for "a change" at the local level may well be the worst thing that could have happened to Reform.

[jamcg]

The problem you’ve got for the general election, and a big problem at that, is the fractured votes from previously safe seats. The whole of the north east’s ex mining communities previously would rather die than vote anyone but Labour. They’ve all got the flags up everywhere at the moment, so if there was an election tomorrow I’m sorry to say that Nigel would walk into those seats

[unzippy]

Had she actually sought proper, expensive tax advice (like what my Dad used to do until he finally retired 21 months ago at age 79), and not just from her conveyancer or whatever, then she probably wouldn't have done what she did. And ironically, had she actually sought that proper advice and indicated she would avoid the tax anyway, then the adviser would've had to make a declaration to HMRC about her intentions. It was foolhardy, and it'll cost her more than the £40k or whatever she saved.

tl:dr 'Idiot'.

Like what Farage seems to have done - all sorts of shady (yet legal?) house shenanigans but seems to be untouchable

[Swervin_Mervin]

Tough month for Starmer

[V8Granite]

Imagine what governments could achieve if they werent fighting for their own jobs or fighting each other

Dave!

[Jobbo]

Mandelson is a Blair hangover FFS. For him to be causing Starmer problems is embarrassing.

[Jobbo]

Oh surprise, Mandy is gone.

[DaveE]

Oh surprise, Mandy is gone.

Again

[GG.]

Oh surprise, Mandy is gone.

Again

x3

[Beany]

Yet another "you'd think they'd learn" moment for Labour. Why Mandelson wasn't ripped out root and stem from the Labour party the last few times he's made them look utterly stupid, I have no idea.

The political fucking naivety of this lot is genuinely gobsmacking.

[dinny_g]

Why Mandelson wasn't ripped out root and stem from the Labour party the last few times he's made them look utterly stupid, I have no idea.

Knows where various bodies are buried…

His peerage wasn’t removed ???

[Jobbo]

Why Mandelson wasn't ripped out root and stem from the Labour party the last few times he's made them look utterly stupid, I have no idea.

Knows where various bodies are buried…

His peerage wasn’t removed ???

He didn't need to be ripped out, just not appointed to such a prominent role. Or any role in fact.

[IanF]

Well, if you’ve got a sleezy Epstein pal there’s nowhere better to send him than the US

[Explosive Newt]

Imagine what governments could achieve if they werent fighting for their own jobs or fighting each other

Dave!

Agree - I find it very tedious when the news broadcasts are full of people clamouring for some political figure to resign. It's the most boringly easy call.

Private industry would fall apart if people resigned over indescretions.

While I don't agree with what Rayner did, I don't think it's worth resigning over.

[Simon]

You don't think not paying the correct tax on a house purchase isn't a resigning matter for the housing minister?

[Beany]

A more practical outcome would be to use that to pivot to simplifying the system so that it's harder to pay the wrong amount, surely?

[IanF]

And I guess you didn’t see the Coldplay concert!?

ETA: huh , I don’t see explosive_… as an @person

[Explosive Newt]

You don't think not paying the correct tax on a house purchase isn't a resigning matter for the housing minister?

Honestly, no. I think there is wiggle room to suggest that this wasn't certainly done maliciously or deliberately but even outside that I don't think messing up your taxes should lose you your job.
Fire people because they are bad at their jobs I say. You might argue that this speaks to the person's abilities or attention to detail but I don't think it's an agregious enough breach.

I think the case of Rushanara Ali evicting tenants to rent a property at a higher level does reach the threshold of a sackable/resignable offence. It's a shitty thing for any landlord to do and shows her character in a much worse light than Rayner's.

I think the reason I find cases like Rayner tedious is that people resign because the noise reaches a level that prevents them getting on the business of government, I think the threshold for such calls are too low, and they are therefore disruptive by forcing shake-up of ministerial teams and loss of continuity of government.

[Explosive Newt]

And I guess you didn’t see the Coldplay concert!?

ETA: huh , I don’t see explosive_… as an @person

Huh. Not sure why.

I think the coldplay concert and the more recent case of the ?Polish exec who stole a ball from a boy are examples of the news story reaching such an enormous critical mass that it causes significant reputational damage to the company. The difference is that these went viral on social media and were hugely instagrammable and sharable. Most execs don't have the telegraph looking into their tax affairs so stuff like this doesn't happen.

[IanF]

https://news.sky.com/story/no-10-appoin ... s-13428814

Starmer has had an undeniable septimana horribilis, so I wonder if it’s acceptable for all these oversight omissions to be accepted without his resignation? I actually hoped his authoritarian management persona would work but I can’t escape the fact he has repeatedly ignored, or been unaware, of serious wrongdoing in senior elected officials.. deputy Labour Party leadership contest might be more relevant than we perhaps appreciated..