The price politicians of all stripes will face for indulging the extremist demands of the eco loons. Give them an inch and they’ll still want a light-year…
What about a second referendum? 🗳️
Sophy challenges @AndyBurnhamGM on another vote – has he given mixed messages? #Ridge
More on politics here: https://t.co/pRmLeMwrb1 pic.twitter.com/gyUCxBM8mE
— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) February 17, 2019
Andy Burnham squirms around trying to justify his own conflicting positions on a second referendum, coming out broadly against one. With a healthy dose of fudge…
A spin doctor to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has been sacked after failing to declare he was facing drugs charges. Paul Gilfeather, a media adviser to Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester was last seen in public attending the Mayor’s Christmas party in December. According to a report in the Manchester Evening News, a week after the party the 46-year-old admitted possession of heroin and cocaine. You didn’t have to be on drugs to work there…
Last week Andy Burnham’s team briefed out that he snubbed Corbyn’s visit to Manchester so he could celebrate his mayoral victory with friends. Today Andy did a Burnham and changed his mind, awkwardly meeting Corbyn on stage at Labour’s campaign launch. Classic Andy does it again…
Bit bizarre hearing these right-wing calls for a “Barista Visa”. God forbid the idea of waiting longer in the morning for their posh coffee.
— Andy Burnham (@andyburnhammp) April 17, 2017
Our Andy, who only ever drinks cold Bisto, is letting those southern softies on Twitter know what he thinks about their “posh coffee”. You’d never catch Burnham drinking overpriced la-di-da beverages from a high street chain. Never. Anyway, here’s a photo he tweeted two days ago:
Liquidised chips? Or was it a Moroccan mint tea…
UPDATE: Wasn’t long ago Andy was calling for posh coffee shops to expand…
Guido has obtained Andy Burnham’s draft manifesto for the Manchester mayoral election, which is set to be unveiled tomorrow. The section above is particularly moving, telling the tragic stories of a woman “who found it difficult to find work and was forced to take up a zero-hours contract”, as well as another woman “who had her retirement plans ruined and has now lost her independence”. All very unfortunate. Just one problem: these stories are not real and the women do not exist. Despite the apparently personalised stories, there are no names in the draft text, instead the letters “XXX” appear as Team Burnham try to find women who fit the gloomy narrative. Struggling to find case studies for their tales of woe?
For those interested, here is the draft manifesto in full:
Today Andy Burnham calls for tougher controls on immigration, in fairness something he has backed multiple times. The only problem is he has backed down every time he got tough. Let’s look at that flip-flopping record:
In 2010, he told the Telegraph that his party was “in denial” on immigration:
“We were in denial. We were behind the issue all the time, and myths were allowed to develop. There’s still an ambivalence among some in Labour about discussing immigration. I’ve been accused of dog-whistle politics for doing so.”
But in August 2015 at the Mirror leadership hustings he was happy to attack Cameron for the same ‘dog-whistle politics’:
“It’s disgusting to have a Prime Minister who refers to a swarm of migrants and it confirms there’s no dog whistle that these Bullingdon boys won’t blow.”
A month later in September 2015 he argued for tougher immigration controls, saying:
“For too long, we have argued that free movement across Europe benefits everyone and affects all areas equally. That’s just not true … Labour hasn’t faced up to that, and that’s why we look out of touch.”
However the next month he slammed Labour’s infamous “Controls on immigration” mugs:
“I am not responsible for all Labour party merchandise. I didn’t purchase one of those mugs myself and I am not particularly proud of them.”
In June 2016 he argued against an immigration cap:
“The Conservative party are realising it’s a mistake to put an arbitrary number on the whole issue. It is much more complicated than that… The numbers will go up and down according the the current health of the economy.”
And today he wants to get tough. He’s been on quite a migrant journey…
Andy Burnham angrily told an aide that “some little sh*t” had broken his toe during the Labour v Lobby football match on Sunday. Which member of Her Majesty’s press corp was responsible? Guido can reveal it was in fact an aide to Owen Smith playing as a ringer for the journalists’ team. Who once again ended up on the losing team…
Sharp-elbowed Burnham was also involved in a fracas with a young political correspondent, telling him: “F**k off, you f**king pr*ck”. Calm down, calm down…
Andy Burnham is to finally quit the Shadow Cabinet, because he has won Labour’s nomination for Manchester mayor. Which gave us a rare sight of Andy’s victory face. He’ll also be standing down “at the first and earliest opportunity” as an MP, so there’ll be a by-election in Leigh. At last he can leave the Westminster bubble!
Scouser Andy Burnham running for Manchester mayor was always an odd one. The Everton fan’s Twitter stream is full of opposition from local Mancs who would rather have Stretford boy Tony Lloyd in the job. So it’s not surprising that Burnham’s campaign has bombed – he came last in the Co-Op Party hustings last week, and came last again in the Gorton CLP hustings last night. Lloyd won both by a landslide. Maybe Andy’s just too Westminster bubble…
Via Helen Pidd
Burnham played up his Northern credentials when he threw his hat in the ring to be Labour’s Greater Manchester Mayoral candidate:
“It’s hard growing up in the north: if you say you want to be a doctor, lawyer or MP you get the mickey taken out of you.”
Sounding like the seventh Python won Burnham no favours. A series of prominent Northerners in politics and the media took to Twitter to take t’piss out of the shadow home secretary. Dr Who writer Gareth Roberts tweeted “Ee by ‘eck Andrew so-called Burnham wi’ your la-do-da Labour Party I’ll go t’t foot of our stairs” while Barnsley-born Jack Tindale asked if his running mate would be a “kestrel”. Even a local councillor piled in to tell Burnham to do one…
Cambridge student newspaper Varsity quotes Andy Burnham as describing the EU as “remote”, “arrogant”, “anti-democratic” and an “elite capitalist club“. Even more intriguingly, Burnham told students at the Cambridge Union that he would put money on Britain voting to leave:
“If I was to lay money on it now, tonight, I would bet that Brexit is going to win, and I don’t like saying that, but I feel that from talking to people in my own constituency… The mood is not to stay in”
Another helpful Labour contribution to the Remain campaign…
H/T @KulganofCrydee
Labour have put out a statement boldly claiming they have “consistently” raised doubts about Theresa May’s Investigatory Powers bill. According to Sir Keir Starmer:
“Labour has consistently argued that the extension of surveillance powers can only be justified if accompanied by much improved transparency and ever-more robust oversight and scrutiny.”
Have they really “consistently argued” this?[…] Read the rest
+ READ MORE +
Guido was wrong to worry that the demise of Andy Burnham’s leadership bid would mean an end to our stories about his textbook u-turns. Fear not.
This is what Andy had to say about Theresa May’s Investigatory Powers Bill just last week:
[…] Read the rest“We support the Government in their attempt to update the law in this important and sensitive area.
+ READ MORE +
Andy Burnham wasted a total of £338,163 on his doomed bid for the Labour leadership, a Guido investigation can reveal. Our analysis of the final declared leadership donations shows Corbyn raked in almost £370,000 from private donors, the public, trade unions and terror supporters.[…] Read the rest
+ READ MORE +
Andy Burnham seemed to be enjoying himself last night when he graced conference goers with an impromptu rendition of The Beatles’ ‘I Saw Her Standing There’.
The song opens with the lines:
Well, she was just 17
You know what I mean
And the way she looked was way beyond compare
So how could I dance with another
When I saw her standing there
Is Burnham making a play for the Millifandom crowd?[…] Read the rest
+ READ MORE +
First question to Andy Burnham following a leadership campaign speech at a church in Sheffield:
[…] Read the rest‘Andy, I like what you’ve been saying. But do you realise you’ve been speaking for twenty minutes under a sign which says: “Repent: JC Is Coming”‘
+ READ MORE +
Labour’s favourite transvestite Eddie Izzard has continued his run of cursing campaigns with star-crossed endorsement. Having already doomed the campaigns to:
- join the euro
- elect Ken Livingstone
- Gordon Brown
- vote Yes side in the AV referedum
- elect Ed Miliband
… Who was Eddie backing for Labour leader?[…] Read the rest
+ READ MORE +
This was genuinely tweeted from Andy Burnham’s official campaign account as the result was announced:
… And swiftly deleted…[…] Read the rest
