Rousing Labour conference speeches don’t pay bills.
Either this month’s Budget helps families survive a painful cost-of-living squeeze or Andy Burnham risks squandering enormous goodwill. Chancellor John Healey’s date with destiny on the 28th, the 100th day of his line manager’s Premiership, is pivotal for revived Labour.
The public isn’t daft and knows the Treasury isn’t awash with money. Yet nor are their purses and wallets, so they want relief from soaring energy bills burning holes in household finances.
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Loot
How Burnham and Healey make the sums add up is what the PM and Chancellor are paid and elected to do.
Windfall oil and gas corporate blood profits booming from Trump and Netanyahu’s disastrous Iran war are ripe for redistributing. As are banks awash with our cash, a banker conceded to me they expect and could afford to hand over more loot.
Burnham will walk the talk by fulfilling expectations generated by his lofty promise to end 40 years of damaging neoliberalism – that saw inequality zoom, privatisation ripping off customers and sold council houses never rebuilt. This is vital to restore and retain trust.
Small down payments, such as removing VAT from electricity charges and reintroducing £2 bus fares, earned the likable PM a decent hearing. The country is pleased he is trying and on their side.
But deeds not words, a Suffragette test as good as any, is ultimately what matters. I give no apology for re-stressing this, the Chancellor, who quit as Defence Secretary, must dodge the vow to give an unbelievably wasteful MoD extra precious resources to squander. Otherwise there may be nothing left to improve living standards.
Siren
Healey’s fiscal discipline lectures aimed at calming casino-bond market speculators from pushing up borrowing and gloomy presentations to Cabinet Ministers are unlikely to be well received by voters in the face of the siren call of tax cuts from the Tories, Reform and Lib Dems.
The magic money tree offering bribes may prove phantom if those opposition parties ever get power. But desperate voters under pressure will punish Labour if it fails to deliver. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves discovered the hard way pessimism doesn’t sell. Burnham and Healey craved the offices they hold.
To keep them, this is the time to deliver or scorching energy bills in particular will burn Labour.
Hypocrite Boris is still living in fantasy land
“Huge congratulations,” gushed Boris Johnson, “to Donald Trump on his amazing victory. I have no doubt he will now set about making America strong at home and abroad.”
Which is why it’s now vomit-inducing that the disgraced former Prime Minister called “sickening” Trump’s sanctions-busting Putin deal to buy Russian diesel without an ounce of self-reflection, responsibility or remorse.
Johnson cheerleading Trump’s second US term was the British charlatan undermining invaded Ukraine, when backing Zelensky was one of only two major decisions (Covid jabs was the other) the Partygate law-breaking Brextremist liar actually got right.
In his nasty little way, Johnson helped create the orange monster, and refusing to own the horrendous stupidity of hailing theWhite House tyrant is trademark behaviour from a fraud living in a fantasy world.
The sordid diesel deal will do little to lower US prices that are up more than 50% from Trump’s Iran war ahead of crucial mid-term elections. But the cosiness illustrates a toxic closeness to Putin and a Russia again hoping to swing American politics the way of its useful idiot.
We’re all paying for Johnson conning voters to leave the EU and put him into No 10. Ukrainians are similarly discovering the cost of his rampant narcissism.
Tax-free pass
Hands up if you’ve enjoyed a 222% pay rise over the past 13 years and your massive home was high-end completely renovated for free?
That’s only the manicured sausage-fingered hand of wealthfare benefits street golden boy Charles Windsor we see. And the subsidy junkie was also gifted a tax-free pass on an estimated juicy £370million inherited from mummy.
So bonnet rouges off to Labour peer George Foulkes for objecting to a £99.9million Sovereign Grant next year for taxpayers-cash sucker King Charlie who isn’t going to even live in £369m revamped Buck House.
And before anybody shouts the dysfunctional Royal Family is a tourist attraction, the democracy group Republic reminds us more people visit Chester Zoo than Windsor Castle.
Fighting for his political life
Zack Polanski and Ed Davey may both be musing old advice that if you want a friend in politics, get a dog.
The Green leader’s rapid descent from hero to zero is dizzying. Polanski is fighting for his political life with the only Jewish leader of a national party engulfed by an explosive anti-Semitism racism row.
Equally Lib Dem embarrassing dad Davey battling a leadership challenge little more than two years since winning the third party’s most seats since 1923 is Starmeresque.
Not that Nigel Farage can afford to smile when Reform is in reverse and he risks a second Clacton by-election focusing on his £5million bung, but this time against proper opponents rather than a bin. The Tories might be going nowhere fast but nor is Kemi Badenoch while Andy Burnham looks as solid as a rock.
Were we premature to write-off Labour-Conservative two-party politics?
Going up
Durham pit village lad and now Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds stopping Amazon, Deliveroo, Evri and the rest denying 900,000 workers the legal minimum wage, sickness pay and paid holidays through a bogus self-employment scam is a Sunderland fan staying true to his roots.
Going down
Burka-obsessed Reform MP Sarah Pochin is a twisting berk to buy an £800,000 third house only two days after raising concerns in Parliament about the impact of second homes on rural communities.
Who wants a bolthole if she loses her seat?
