Max Dunbar

'Fiction is the truth inside the lie'

[Kevin Schofield @KevinASchofield]

Surely Labour, the Lib Dems, Tories and Greens will follow suit by not standing candidates?

The sight of Nigel Farage standing on the stage having defeated Count Binface would be quite something.

[Robert Ford @robfordmancs]

Pretty significant call this given Cons were second here in 2024 and won the seat in 2019. Getting increasingly likely the whole by-election will become one long spell of scrutiny on Farage’s affairs with no “establishment” candidates for him to rail against

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Amazing. What is the point of this? What are the people of Clacton being asked to do?

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Nigel Farage’s decision to stand down, forcing a byelection, does *not* mean he’ll escape the standards investigation into his £5m gift from crypto-billionaire.

Under parliamentary rules, it is just suspended and then picked up again if/ when MP is re-elected - and even if they aren’t the commissioner can continue if he feels it’s appropriate.

If he’s then found to have breached the rules, and suspended from HoC for at least 10 sitting days, there could be a *second* byelection in Clacton.

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

'He'll love it at first. But by the 20th or so go-round, the taste of victory will be as like ashes. Like ashes, I say! Like ashes!' declared the imp

'The people of Clacton will be locked in an eternal ritual. They will be his true curse - and he theirs'

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

I'm hearing Farage has been cursed by an imp

A senior Lord of Faerie has condemned the Reform leader to fight and win the Clacton by election over and over again

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

Could we get a double by-election in Clacton?

The parliamentary rules state that if a poltician 'ceases to be a member while an investigation is in progress' then the investigation is suspended 'until the Member is re-elected'

So there is a world in which Nigel Farage wins the Clacton by-election, the investigation resumes, he is censured, suspended and another by-election is triggered....

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Nigel Farage resigns to spend LESS time with his family.

[Sabrina Miller @SabriSun_Miller]

Andy Burnham should resign and stand against Nigel Farage in Clacton in the ultimate head to head by-election showdown.

[Nigel Farage @Nigel_Farage]

I will make a statement on my future in public life at 2pm.

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

'In a fiery dissent written moments before she flickered out of existence, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that the ruling amounted to 'an abdication of the court’s constitutional duty…' with the rest of her opinion atomizing to dust in the ether.' https://t.co/vpW0yT1z4x

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Wonder if these moon-on-a-stick petitions are different or the same one being rediscovered periodically?

[David Hearne, CFP™ @dontdelay]

The wildest petition I’ve ever seen

Increasing the state pension to £31,000 a year and paying it from age 60 would add about £200 billion a year to the cost 🤯

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Today:

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

Jonathan Banks has returned as Mike in a new video celebrating 250 years of America.

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Tory nimbyism

[Oscar 🌐 @Tweets_of_Oscar]

Jesus Christ what a diagnosis

[Rachel Moiselle @RachelMoiselle]

Let it be known that I never bought into the Burnham hype and thought Starmer should have seen out his term.

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

https://t.co/HRucrGLE8u

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

We should get used to 'I won Makerfield, so...'

[Geri Scott @Geri_E_L_Scott]

Burnham's response: "Fair challenge, Kemi - but don’t forget it’s only two weeks since I faced questions from 74,000 members of the public in Makerfield!"

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Meaningless.

[Callum Anderson MP @_CallumAnderson]

Andy is right. This Labour Government should respect its manifesto commitments.

But we should use the next few years - while the Triple Lock remains in place - to have that candid public conversation about how we deliver a dignified old age for all in the decades to come.

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Nothing new here

But yeah Manchester or something

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

A few things we’ve learned/ had reaffirmed in the last 24 hours about Andy Burnham’s plans for the economy:

➡️He’ll stick to Labour’s manifesto commitments on tax, saying he is “not indisciplined” when it comes to the public finances - pointing to his record as chief sec to Treasury & GM mayor.

➡️ But there is room within the promises for “some movement” on tax (we know he wants to cut biz rates for high streets/ hospitality, for example, possibly increasing them on out of town warehouses).

➡️ There will be no "crude cuts" to welfare - instead he wants to get the bill down by tackling underlying causes including more technical training for young people and council house building to reduce housing benefit costs.

➡️ Arriving at the @LBC interview with the Defence investment plan tucked conspicuously under his arm, he says the country has to “face up to” defence spending and he will “fully fund” the Dip.

➡️ The pension triple lock stays - despite concerns about long term cost of policy, he tells Reddit AMA “it’s important the commitment in the manifesto stands”.

➡️ Amid feverish speculation over whether Ed Miliband will be his chancellor, he has “very deliberately” not yet decided. But he insists that while his team will be a broad church, the direction he sets will be “non-negotiable”.

➡️ He wants fundamental change of UK’s economic model, arguing that it needs to move beyond neoliberalism and rejecting trickle down economics to deliver growth and prosperity.

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

People have been projecting radical and progressive ideas onto Burnham in the hope that he will do them.

Dismiss these illusions

It will be politics as usual I'm afraid

[Steven Swinford @Steven_Swinford]

BREAKING

Andy Burnham announces that he will keep the triple lock

Senior advisers to the prime minister-in-waiting have raised repeated concerns about the cost of the policy and suggested it should be scrapped

Burnham has used an 'Ask Me Anything' session on Reddit to confirm that he will retain the triple lock, which is expected to reach £15billion by 2030

'I appreciate there's a lot of debate about this but it is important the commitment in the manifesto stands'

[Max Dunbar @MaxDunbar1]

Evening.