Uk politics

Andy Burnham is now making a career out of being an aggrieved northerner, fed up with London dominating the agenda. Never mind that the Mayor of Greater Manchester made his name down south, Burnham takes a pop at the Westminster ‘bubble’ whenever the opportunity presents itself. But Mr S wonders whether he really thought through his latest dig. Following a morning of chaos on Britain’s railways, Burnham chose to direct his ire, not at the railways companies, but at the BBC for its coverage of the story: [caption id="attachment_10090812" align="aligncenter" width="265"] Andy Burnham's tweet[/caption] The only problem?

This week, Theresa May got her Brexit inner Cabinet to agree that, in the event of no trade deal being in place by December 2020, the UK would continue to apply the EU’s common external tariff. In The Sun this morning, I try and explain why Brexiteers aren’t kicking off about this and the other concessions May is making, or preparing to make. One influential figure puts it to me like this, ‘it is all very unsatisfactory, but it is what it is’. In other words, given the mistakes that have been made—with the lack of proper no deal planning and the backstop--there isn’t really an alternative.

How long can John Bercow hang on for as Speaker of the House of Commons? In recent months, he has come under pressure to resign his position amid allegations from former parliamentary staff that he bullied them. Adding to that, today Bercow has found himself the centre of a fresh row over his alleged behaviour. The Telegraph reports that Bercow called Andrea Leadsom – the Leader of the House – 'a stupid woman'. Curiously, Bercow has not issued a clear denial – instead the Speaker's office has acknowledged that 'strong and differing views were expressed' in the House of Commons: 'Wednesday was an unusual and controversial day in how business was handled in the House by the government and some strong and differing views were expressed on all sides on the subject.

It’s good to see that for all their bickering over Brexit and war of words over austerity, the Tories and Labour are firmly united on one point of view: that the poor must be saved from themselves. That the wretched are incapable of making sensible choices and therefore their betters must step in and make choices on their behalf. Behold the great bipartisan belief of 21st-century British politics: paternalism. How else do we explain the cross-party effort to reduce the maximum bet one can place on a fixed-odds betting terminal — or FOBT — from £100 to £2? The government unveiled this state-mandated reduction in how much of our own money we can put inside a fruit machine this morning.

He’s making the most of it before he gets the push. The Speaker chaired one of the longest-ever sessions of PMQs today. It lasted nearly an hour. He opened proceedings with a ceremonial speech welcoming a handful of visitors to the chamber. They thought they’d come to watch parliament but Bercow knew better. They were there to see him. He greeted each of his guests by name and then turned towards the public gallery, his right arm sweeping upwards in a gesture of munificent benediction. Caesar offering peace-terms to the humbled tribes of Gaul could scarcely have looked nobler. Jeremy Corbyn seized on the latest Brexit wounds. He asked the PM what she’d meant by ‘as little friction as possible’.

Are you considering a career in Labour politics but fear you may be left behind amid all the exciting changes the party is undergoing? Maybe you want to be a part of the Jez revolution but can’t get your head around the ever-developing terminology. Perhaps you are eyeing up a safe seat but aren’t sure which paramilitary cell’s endorsement would most impress the selection panel.  Help is at hand with this guide that takes you through the key terms of Corbynspeak.  Gammon: Self-righteous middle-aged man who voted Leave, thinks everything was better back in the Seventies, and doesn’t get along with ethnic minorities. Deployed, boldly, by fans of Jeremy Corbyn. Prosciutto: Blairite gammon.