Politics

  • Burnham shows up a poor media culture

    The candidacy of Andy “The Madman” Burnham shows the UK suffers a paltry version of media that pretends to a crown. It’s become clear for those of us that have looked in-depth at this chaos. “The impulse to just do it anyway without using real credentials is pretty much the norm,” said an anonymous Journalist to me, who’d worked for The Standard, among others, “and they just get on with it and make it work.”

    They’re known as “Credit Journalists” in some parts of the industry, and it’s become marked by returned cars, discarded suits, and prepaid cards thrown into bins. The culture is hideously superficial and it reaches into television presenter domains regularly, so we all get to see it happen. The burden is felt by managers that walk away scarred for life.

    The lack of proper handling of the Burnham case – a career criminal who’s trashed Manchester with his perverted activity and is wanted worldwide – is now indicative of a failure of today’s newsrooms to manage themselves. The day to day rush to get somewhere on time is a misnomer against digital signals from every corner of the earth that say it’s a problem.

    The UK isn’t so large a place for people like him to disappear in for long stretches. He’s been found lost and homeless, but no one cares if he gets suited up. He’s been on and off drink but it doesn’t feature if he’s talking. He goes from hooker to prostitute but other places make him look better. This is a man also guilty of fraud, battery, and banking crimes, but he’s got a candidacy going, so why stop him?

  • Caught: Labour party “lead” criminal

    In a stunning exclusive for Conservative News Site, a criminal activist alleged of “running” the Labour party due to the prevalence of criminal characters in its membership and also senior positions has now been identified.

    A suspect
    A suspect alleged of misdemeanours in political realms seen here in a central London location.

    The suspect is alleged to use flashpoint issues like Gaza and reparations to stir up anger, and to provoke responses then used by commercial news media companies in London to agitate communities for assets and other stolen goods.

    Increasing anger

    The situation in London and elsewhere in regard to politics has been deteriorating for some time. It’s believed agitators in Intelligence and some Policing remits have made the problem worse by providing insight to criminals on how to anger UK citizens to create conflicts.

    Particularly older workers have indulged in creating havoc and using career links to others in the government network. This has spread discomfort for many in staffing realms because of the potential for physical altercations, and therefore a less safe working climate.

  • Starmer vs Blair is a paper-thin view of things

    The fallout between Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Tony Blair is a blockbuster event for Labour diehards, but for the rest of us it’s just a squabble between the two.

    The malaise in Labour is not going to be corrected, even in the lifespan of two of its Prime Minister’s, by petty differences that are usually based on language and nuance.

    Labour face a crisis of trust, not in its belief system, but in its ability to get the job done. Every crisis needs to be ended, and every plan needs a first step. This is what voters can’t see in the politics of the day.

  • Is “change” all we can believe in?

    The mantra “Change” was the Prime Minister’s pledge of trust for his election landslide in 2024. He offered it as his bargaining chip to the UK public in a push to takeover from the Conservatives.

    But it’s not a new word to use in politics here. The significance of its meaning is fading.

    It entails overhauling the law to include concerns that don’t translate in public services. It means making sure everyone is benefiting from a government of scope. It entails making sure a broken Civil Service is fixed for good.

    In honest truth, we’re not sure the Prime Minister has delivered on that.

    The problem of lower prices so everyone can power their homes affordably is not here yet. The promise of safer neighbourhoods is not here yet. The promise of an end to a large scale crime event on the Dover Strait isn’t here yet.

    This isn’t change, but a slow-paced office working backwards on things.

    The Prime Minister has to get a grip and speed up his work, to make his promise make ultimate sense to us. It can’t hang as a word above his head so he’s understood. It has to be delivered as a result.

  • Farage wants politics back in the game

    Nigel Farage MP (Clacton/Reform UK) is a politician on a mission. He wants to put politics back into the hands of UK citizens.

    He hates references to irrelevant places, knowing that local government serves people in ways others can’t.

    “It won’t be Iran that helps us,” he once said to me, referring to the disruption of local areas by protesters. “Those households need to pipe down,” he also said.

    His party, Reform UK, needs to make significant gains to take on the Conservative party, which he sees as “failing us massively” on many policy issues.

    He doesn’t hate the Tories, but he despises delay and loathes laziness.

    He’s a politician with attitude, and as his media tours have indicated, it drives his effort to reach out.

    The long term strategy is Number 10, but his aim in the meantime is to win people over to his program of events anywhere they want him.

  • New York City hits reality with Mamdani rhetoric

    The talkative part is over as soon as the election result is declared. The difficulty sets in and it can show. In other large cities, a new Mayor discovers that just a part of their platform is not possible. In New York’s case it may be they discover all of Mamdani’s key points are unlikely to work out well.

    There’s a particular relaxation of the rules when it comes to a Left candidate in America. People recognise that the policies are unsound and not workable but give extra room for effort. It looks good to have somebody that’s enthusiastic about the role at least. 

    In time, however, to make the office professional again, there has to be a search for answers. This leads to a drafting in of local experts to help make the plans that will benefit the area more solidly. These replace the goals made by crowds at their respective kitchen tables.

    In New York City, there’s usually a reckoning soon after an election with the reality of not just statistics but public opinion. There’s a wide variety of interest groups in the City that feel alarm over the level of decay that’s taken place so far. This is a difficult front to have to overcome and cannot be won popularly.

    While Mamdani has a politically motivated constituency of his own, the groups are very wealthy and heavily invested in the built environment. An issue like rent control, which is really a matter of who lives where, is not a battle that he can win easily. It’s also already coveted by social experts who look at it religiously.

    If he’s a diplomat, he’ll provide clarity between all the competing groups in an important urban space. His likely ethic is to hedge with charity but align with reality. This will bring a modicum of change, but not reassure most renters who need their monthly payment to be affordable. It’s also not something that can last fifty years into the future.

    Magic Mamdani may be able to work some spells and get people to agree behind closed doors, but it’ll be a far cry from his rhetoric during the campaign. The lesson of the Left continues in one of the biggest fields of play in the world. It’s a test of democracy, but also of people’s patience, and such wrangling as this can’t last forever before the real troubles come.

  • Revealed: MI6 considered Orban to be a dictator

    Viktor Orban has just lost power in Hungary, and so the suggestion that MI6 considered the European leader to be a dictator comes a little late in the proceedings. But it’s an important insight because some of the apparatus of the UK that responds to threats to security might have included this fact in its reasoning.

    The precise details are less facts on the ground than warnings from inside the country itself. In an effort to protect UK citizens – and its own assets – MI6 conducted a thorough review and it concluded that caution should be shown. It’s alleged Orban ruled from behind closed doors.

    The populist leader was not seen as so by many other conservative leaders, such as President Trump, but low level Intelligence activity is useful for planning beyond politics. It’s well known that MI6 acts with caution in the parts of Europe that know Orban well, finding Russia’s influence to be everywhere there.

  • Israel has shown self-determination is the key to survival

    The 2005 Gaza Disengagement stunned onlookers across the world as Israeli’s removed Israeli’s from parts of the Gaza Strip, thereby giving Hamas full and total control of a significant piece of land and preparing the ground for its renewed attempts to undermine Israel’s national security.

    It didn’t make sense, from other places, but Israeli leaders contested that it maintained its own position by making such concessions. The belief that people in Gaza would lead fruitless lives afterward is a truth that should concern the single-minded who follow such turns of events to blame Israel.

    The chronicling of the next steps in the Israel-Gaza dialogue is perhaps best epitomised by Hamas’ suicidal incursion into Israel in October 2023, but relations had completely deteriorated far before then. The terror group had already pursued a policy of radio silence, instead arming up and preparing its quasi-police state for a would-be assault that would end in chaos.

    The key to Israel’s existence has long been thought to be self-determination, a basis that is found in policymaking circles across the world. It has a basic instinct however that it wears on its sleeve, also showing it to the world in complete clarity. The fight isn’t nominal. It has the most desperate enemy at its doors, constantly vying for attention, so one misstep is its chance.

    The one effort that led to the resettling of thousands of Israeli’s didn’t grant the ‘freedom’ that crowds chant for at the doors of our Parliament, and at the feet of many more. It helped one country survive because the pressures were enormous, and engaged not a few hardened souls that had believed Israel would never do such a thing. The rest of it is history.

    In forging a future, the Jerusalem power base that forms Israel’s best chance at success is handling matters by how they unfold. The chances are slim for many in Gaza who don’t get the help they need to make Hamas surrender. It would mean they live freely, independently, and with choices ahead of them. This side of the story is incomplete.

  • Exclusive: Mayor Burnham caught out

    In an exclusive for Conservative News Site, and in a disturbing development for devolved politics in the UK, Mayor Burnham is now implicated in a car theft sting operation that has been underway in London and across the South East, led by Police but also the National Crime Agency.

    His part to play is said to stretch back to his days as an MP, and also extends through his official appointments, and even into his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester. He’s believed to be classified as a career criminal, albeit some investigations are still pending and this cannot be confirmed.

    The flashpoint in this investigation has been a sighting of Mayor Burnham in a car (pictured) with a known accomplice, in an apparent rendezvous outside a cafe in which a further accomplice to the crime had been meeting with a known car jacker. This thief is prolific in the East of London.

    A further suspected accomplice
    A further suspected accomplice (right) of Mayor Burnham sat with a car jacker (left) prolific in the East of London.

    The circumstances confirm reports that he has previously frequented crime hotspots in the capital to support his bid to takeover some crime routes in Manchester, but also further North to support his “investment” in the racket that has engulfed some communities in misery, and led to internal investigations in car companies such as sales forecourts.

    Mayor Burnham has been a figurehead of devolved politics in England ever since his election to the Mayoralty of Manchester, and had been a key player in the national Labour party up until a recent internal vote blocked him from standing in a by-election. It’s believed he’s being sidelined because of his criminal activity.

  • Canadian politics hots up as Liberals surge defections

    If you thought the basis of a Mark Carney premiership in Canada was paper thin before, his case has gotten a lot more substantial since his election last year with the addition of some defectors to his benches.

    His Liberal Party has just had a fifth member cross the floor, boosting its chances of gaining a majority government, of which its short by just one.

    It’s a phenomenon that’s surprising some in Canadian politics, who didn’t see an upswell in support coming for such a politician who doesn’t seek to publicly stir the pot.

    The meaning may be in the method he brings to the table, surviving hard workers and lengthening their remit if they are successful. His pitch is as a Prime Minister, also, which gives reason to change.

  • Who you gon’ call? Board of Peace!?

    It’s a thrilling time to be alive for Trump’s Board of Peace, having multiple fronts on which to probe the resolution of conflict in novel and conceptual ways.

    But if it weren’t for the two drivers of global change right now – the US and Israel – being founding members, it might have thus rallied with a lot more proficiency.

    The technical challenge is finding compromise. This doesn’t come easy in more formal environs, and such a Board has to find conventions along which lines it’s done.

    It may be speaking and listening is it for now, but if successful proves a lot more than UN meetings that end in bad faith. However, it’s a long-shot for gung-ho Trump.

  • Starmer runs the same risk as Blair did

    “Sir Keir isn’t a King Lear,” a Labour activist once said to me, somewhat cryptically. I think it meant he’s not an imposing figure, but it differs for people how anyone comes across. There are also nuances for us all, in political circles, as to what anything means collectively.

    The current times are not favourable to the softly-softly approach of a Labour figure. Sir Tony Blair ran the same risk and he fell on his own sword, believed by many in its top ranks that he couldn’t keep up with the times anymore, so he left.

    It’s not that Sir Keir is due to leave soon, but his exit of a number of key staff has shown it won’t inevitably hold together, even if it’s led by his own intuition and activity.

  • Rumours fly and lies swirl in Westminster

    A rumour mill is situated adjacent to Parliament, at least according to many people’s misperceptions.

    Its output has not only matched expectations but has set a new record for inciting people to know less in the last year, or so reports suggest.

    This isn’t true, of course, but it’s evocative of the humour of some of those that engage with the UK’s political system everyday.

    The ‘tablets of stone’ have previously included comments about George Osborne getting the top job at the Bank of England.

    Another had said Sir Tony Blair may likely get a job at the BBC (unlikely now).

    A late hot pick is that Rishi Sunak MP (Richmond and Northallertnon/Conservatives) is set to become Prime Minister – again.

    The last one is ridiculous of course, but it does the rounds anyway. This is the way of sticking things through the letterbox with too much vigour and not enough luck.

  • Thatcher knew democracy is a costly freedom

    The trials of Margaret Thatcher in regard to her own security issues are not well documented in part because of too many failures. It was however the beginning of learning to understand what a domestic security service and also a UK Policing force is supposed to do.

    She knew about a plot against her life before it happened in Brighton, but it proved impossible to deal with. It wasn’t that it was thought to be impossible but disarray in the security service and also in many UK Police forces meant that it proved too difficult to foil.

    Margaret Thatcher speaking after the Brighton event itself and sharing her thoughts on the matter to a political journalist.

    In dealing with these matters, she knew that there needed to be discretion, but also activity that had to be paid for and supported by the State. It’s believed she had the impression that costings or pricing for people’s roles had been questioned. It wasn’t clear if anybody was going to help.

    The lack of a resolution to this tension at the centre of the UK State resulted in her nearly dying as a result of Irish terror. It wasn’t a good impression for her, but her stoical nature enabled her to keep her thoughts private and to carry on regardless of the attack.

    She later stated that she came to believe democracy itself comes at a high price. It’s important for Politicians to be an administrator also and to make sure that everything that is needed is also paid for and provided properly. She knew that growing bitter would be the antithesis of what she was trying to achieve in politics.

  • Churchill knew Labour had deep issues

    The Churchill of the Second World War is a figure of immense power and might. His status might be attributed to the Empire, but it’s more likely that his impressive persona had more to do with the complete deployment of our military might to mobilise against Hitler’s army, than any interests overseas.

    It’s known that States shape up during times of conflict, and what they are comes into full view. Its brightness is seen in brilliance, and its faults in full colour.

    This position put Churchill into the deep end of political intrigue, as many party’s vied to play a part in the War effort – and also to cause trouble in their own way. He knew that trouble was afoot, and trouble had seeped into political debate. He refused further participation of Labour as it was at the time, telling a close General of his “they’re planning something”, and making sure to block their efforts.

    It’s no doubt a problem of many people at all points along the spectrum, but such a move like it put him on a war footing of a kind against his own countrymen. It’s simply not clear who does what sometimes, and a word in public isn’t always a sanction in private. The Empire years are fraught with controversy, as are the War years, but intelligent leaders make sure to separate things as they go.