It’s a double U-turn from Andy Burnham overnight. The Times reports that No10 has shelved plans to take Thames Water into administration because it is too fraught and expensive. As Guido warned…
The left is reacting with predictable disappointment to that one. Additionally, Burnham has continued with Starmer’s social housing policy and therefore U-turned on his pledges prior to becoming PM:
This is essentially the same policy as Starmer’s, though selected councils will get more money as “strategic partners” to build houses with taxpayer cash. Continuity Burnham…
Angela Rayner included a quote in the coverage: “Families can’t be left raising children without a place to call home, and none of us should spend years waiting for somewhere safe and affordable to live. I know how important fixing this is – because I’ve been there. A safe and secure home was the foundation for a better life – I couldn’t have got to where I have today without it.” No mention of her buying a cheap as chips council house and then flogging it for a £50,000 profit after pretending to live there for years when in actual fact she was living with her husband up the road – and now taking up a policy against Right to Buy…
Lord Khan in the Telegraph: “I hope, and I say this in a non-pompous way, that the public service I do will bring rewards in this world and the hereafter,” he says. “I’m hoping the work I do is earning me Brownie points.”