John Adamson

[Gracie💙 @Gracie_Blue89]

ANDY BURNHAM was confronted by a Makerfield resident whilst he was out canvassing

He was asked about his lack of support for a rape gang inquiry

Surprise surprise he walked away.... just like he always does 😡

[Liam Halligan @LiamHalligan]

Labour risks being forced to seek emergency help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as Britain lurches toward a debt crisis, leading economists are now warning.

Former IMF chief economist Ken Rogoff says, in a new interview, that there is “more than 50:50 chance” of a major UK debt crisis before the end of this decade.

He is joined by Sir Charlie Bean, a former senior official at both the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility, who says the need for an IMF bail-out is now a “material risk” for the British economy.

I not only firmly agree with Ken Rogoff and Sir Charlie Bean – but have been repeatedly issuing the very same warnings for a very long time.

Because the grave risk of a major fiscal meltdown has been apparent for at least the last two years – to anyone who combines serious knowledge of UK economics and politics and global debt markets with an open mind.

The UK's public finances were already fragile when Labour took office back in July 2024.

But this government's misguided, ideologically-driven statist policies have made a bad situation much worse, seriously increasing the danger of a deep fiscal crisis - which would cause a disastrous state funding shortfall and a very nasty inflation spike.

That would result in Downing Street being forced to follow the orders of unelected technocrats flown in from Washington and elsewhere.

It would be a very major national humiliation combined with a deep economic slump and an even more intense cost-of-living crisis – in which low-income households, as ever, would suffer the most.

Yet those of us that have shown the brains and courage to point out these inconvenient truths over recent months and years have long been dismissed and derided for our trouble - not only by ignorant politicians and approval-seeking journalists but also the overwhelming majority of "leading economists".

Ahead of the general election in mid-2024, with Labour on course to win, the conventional wisdom among the great sages of broadsheet journalism and the economics establishment was that "the adults would soon be back in charge" ... Labour would "get lucky with the economy" ... and "Britain would now enjoy an extended period of political and fiscal stability".

I thought that was total nonsense – not least as I was well aware Labour's plans irresponsibly to increase borrowing and spending would be met with deep scepticism by the global pensions funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors that lend governments serious money.

My weekly @Telegraph "Economic Agenda" column of 23rd June 2024, a fortnight ahead of the general election, was a total outlier. I recounted the disaster of 1976 – when Britain was forced to go "cap in hand" to the IMF for a bailout – and warned that "The Ghosts of the 1970s" would haunt Labour's (so-called) economic resurrection".

Six months later, after the October 2024 "Hallowen" budget in which Chancellor Rachel Reeves did indeed sharply hike borrowing and spending, I assessed the market reaction then doubled-down – warning more assertively in my column of 12th January 2025 that "The UK risks a return to 1976 unless Reeves changes course".

And then again on 20th July 2025, as Labour's policies raised the costs of doing business, translating into price pressures which pushed up government borrowing costs even more, I again cautioned that "Inflation risks are taking Britain to the debt-crisis cliff edge".

"It’s now screamingly obvious that Labour’s crude Keynesianism – “pump priming” the economy by upping state borrowing and spending – isn’t working," I wrote in that column last July.

"Worse than that, this Government’s actions are pushing Britain towards a budgetary crisis every bit as serious as that in 1976 – when the UK was forced to go “cap in hand” to the IMF for a bail-out".

It's been a lonely task issuing these warnings. I've been hounded in public debates, slagged off by senior civil servants and often dismissed by "leading economists" as "alarmist".

So what do these same "leading economists" now say to Rogoff (Harvard Professor, Former IMF Chief Economist) and Bean (LSE Professor and Former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England)?

The "economics establishment" – with very few honourable exceptions, the brilliant @jagjit_chadha among them – has been and remains extremely reluctant to point out the deeply unsustainable nature of this government's addiction to ever more borrowing.

The systemic fiscal dangers of evermore "tax and spend" – and the prospect of a serious spike in gilt yields and related fiscal meltdown – are now so real and present as to be completely undeniable.

Yet the UK government is about to shift even further to the left, pushing up borrowing and spending even more under a new leader, in a bid to appease the massed ranks of economic illiterates among Labour's Parliamentary party and activist base – making those dangers even more acute.

Yet, still, the silence among "public intellectual" economists is deafening.

I'm glad the likes of Ken Rogoff and Charlie Bean are now issuing clear warnings. So where is the rest of the "economics establishment" - those who purport to understand fiscal management and financial markets, and often funded by taxpayers' money?

Britain is now clearly in the crosshairs of a very serious danger. The government's creditors are increasingly fickle and based overseas – with no regulatory or cultural obligations to lend money to the UK government.

Those holding UK gilts are increasingly "speculative" rather than "strategic" long-term investors – looking for quick returns, financing their government bond purchases with "leverage" (money borrowed from elsewhere), which will quickly be withdrawn when senitment decisively shifts, causing a plunge in gilt prices and a sharp additional surge in government borrowing costs, setting up a vicious circle.

The UK government is very heavily indebted – and the global investors we rely on to bankroll a huge slice of our state spending are alarmed that of the £132bn the government borrowed last year, no less than £110bn was spent on debt interest – as I wrote in a column on 17th May 2026, "As Labour lurches further left, the markets are calling time".

Global investors are alarmed the UK has consistently had the highest inflation in the G7 (which pushes up borrowing costs) and has easily the highest share of index-linked debt (which magnifies the burden of inflation on the state's balance sheet).

And they are deeply, deeply alarmed that when Labour came to power in mid-2024, the Office for Budget Responsibility was forecasting additional state borrowing of £323bn by 2029, the scheduled end of this Parliament.

But Labour’s runaway spending and growth-crushing tax rises mean that the same five-year borrowing forecast is now £583bn – 80pc higher. And still, the trade unions, MPs and Labour activists who will choose Starmer’s successor now want even more.

It is not too late to pull the UK back from the fiscal brink, to avoid the extremely painful and deep, lingering damage of being forced to go to the IMF and perhaps other multi-lateral creditors for a bailout.

It is not too late to avoid the inflation surge, the currency crash, the shocking blow to consumer and business confidence alongside the sky-high interest rates that will seriously whack our economy – or the perhaps even deeper damage of yet more of the British electorate losing faith in the ability of our establishment to manage the country in a manner that avoids imposing serious hardship on so many hard-working people simply trying to make their way.

But our political and media class needs to start acknowledging the economic and financial truth – that the UK government is borrowing and spending too much, taxation is now so high that it's hammering growth and employment, and that trying to finally get the economy moving by "moving further left", borrowing and spending even more, will result in a fiscal collapse.

Smart, experienced, high-profile economists need to start speaking out – as Rogoff and Bean just have – raising the alarm in a bid to force the broader establishment to face reality. Before it's too late.

If you've read this far, you clearly think this analysis is worthwhile and important. So please like and share.

And for more, read my "Economic Agenda" column in The Sunday Telegraph each week – and subscribe to "When The Facts Change: Economics and Politics in a fast-moving world, with Liam Halligan"

[Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧 @TRobinsonNewEra]

This tells you everything you need to know.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

If Andy Burnham wants to become Prime Minister, he must stand up for free speech.

The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian. Police forces across the country are spending increasingly more time policing tweets than policing streets.

The Free Speech Union has been at the forefront of challenging this growing intrusion into matters that should not concern the police.

Despite recent arrests for “offensive” online comments, the workplace remains the most dangerous place to speak your mind. Since the Free Speech Union was founded six years ago, we have handled more than 6,000 cases defending the rights of British citizens to speak freely at work, at university and online.

In Manchester — where Burnham is the all-powerful Mayor — senior figures at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have reportedly cautioned firefighters who support Reform UK because of their political views.

In an email from fire service bosses, staff were informed that firefighters seeking to represent Reform UK had been cautioned. The message also appeared to encourage staff to report colleagues who support Reform.

This is truly shocking.

The Free Speech Union’s General Secretary, Lord Young, has written to Andy Burnham asking him to explain this extraordinary treatment of Manchester firefighters exercising their democratic right to stand for @reformparty_uk.

As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham is ultimately responsible for the governance of its fire and rescue service.

If he wishes to lead a free country, @AndyBurnhamGM must condemn this kind of thought policing.

Read this excellent piece in the Daily Mail 👇

[Laurence Fox @LozzaFox]

John Lennon won.

These spoiled millionaires don’t give a shit about our country.

I want Englishmen in the English football team.

[Heidi Bachram @HeidiBachram]

What the hell is @ZackPolanski doing wearing a shirt to free the Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti who murdered 5 civilians. This is TOO FAR.

h/t @habibi_uk

[Burnside @BurnsideWasTosh]

Labour can't help themselves, they take the side of a racist police force against the victim, effectively endorsing their treatment of the Nowaks. They have done nothing since taking office for the British.

[Allison Pearson @AllisonPearson]

Henry’s inquest is delayed until September 2027?
Surely not.
More evidence the police and government want a cover up.
We need an inquest asap!

[Adam Brooks AKA EssexPR 🇬🇧 @EssexPR]

Migrants in France are openly bragging about coming to Britain to sell drugs and stab people…

Live on @GBNEWS at 10pm onwards

[Basil the Great @BasilTheGreat]

🚨NEWS: It has been revealed the only reason the Police statement painting Henry Nowak as the aggressor did not go out is because they were warned by both the family and their legal team that this could prejudice the trial

It just gets worse and worse

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Be angry, but use that anger. Direct it for change. Radical change, through the ballot box. The only way.

Vote. Volunteer. Participate.

Make a difference.

Restore Britain.

[WeGotitBack 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇺🇸 @NotFarLeftAtAll]

A Makerfield resident confronted Andy Burnham while he was out canvassing about his lack of support for the Rape Gang Enquiry…

Credit: James Holmes

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

Restore Britain’s support in Makerfield is going to shock the establishment.

[Lee Harris @LeeHarris]

🚨WOW! Even *THE BBC* are now calling out two-tier policing by showing David Lammy actual EVIDENCE of it!

It wasn't that long ago a leaked Home Office document said that any suggestion of it was 'far-right' and 'extremism'.

Leftists have now comprehensively lost the argument.

[Andrew Neil @afneil]

Grim times for Britain’s defence establishment.
An upcoming report by Parliament’s Public Accounts committee is thought to conclude that the British Army’s troubled Ajax armoured vehicle may never make it onto the battlefield because it is not ‘fit for purpose’.
Over £6 billion has been spent on the Ajax programme. It should have started service in 2017. It is still not deployed. It has been plagued with issues, including leaving soldiers vomiting and with permanent hearing damage during field trials.
This latest report discloses that soldiers have been instructed to conduct maintenance checks every time they stop the vehicle. Which is hardly realistic when operating Ajax for long periods in combat.
Another day, another defence procurement and resources shambles. Tory, Labour and Lib Dem politicians should hang their heads in shame for presiding over what is now a national scandal.

[Peter Bleksley @PeterBleksley]

It is blatantly obvious that there are some incredibly stupid people within @HantsPolice, and that they should be sacked, immediately. https://t.co/ycuIqAvAMu

[Burnside @BurnsideWasTosh]

Lewis Hamilton is tax resident in Monaco. The reason he may not yet be a billionaire is because he spends all his money buying clothes from the "pissed yourself" bin in Primary Schools.

[Chris Rose @ArchRose90]

Very chilling authoritarian move by Andy Burnham.

He commanded Senior figures at Manchester's Fire & Rescue Service to have words with Firefighters who support Reform UK, saying it was a cause for 'concern'.

Make no mistake about it, Andy as PM will be a threat to free speech.

[Paul Embery @PaulEmbery]

This is deeply troubling. I hope my union - @fbunational - will explain to fire service bosses that firefighters must be free to express their political views without fear of sanction by their employer. @manchesterfire has seriously overstepped the mark here.

[Chris Rose @ArchRose90]

This was brilliant. Trevor Phillips played a clip of what Keir Starmer said about George Floyd and displayed how Labour MPs expressed their “anger”.

David Lammy said it was fine because they were in opposition.

But not fine for Nigel Farage to use the term “rage” like they did.