Stuart

Not an egg

[Tom Baldwin @TomBaldwin66]

Just remembered this, in my biography of Starmer, from one of his old friends who always thought he was mad to go into politics. Of course, Colin Peacock won’t be saying “told you so”. Instead he hopes history might say this PM has achieved more than critics give him credit for.

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

Proper mate behaviour

[Tom Baldwin @TomBaldwin66]

Just remembered this, in my biography of Starmer, from one of his old friends who always thought he was mad to go into politics. Of course, Colin Peacock won’t be saying “told you so”. Instead he hopes history might say this PM has achieved more than critics give him credit for.

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

Yup

[MARK A IZATT @markaizatt]

I don’t think they’ve considered, for a second, how disconnected from the electorate this little tableaux is - complete with the Chancellor in shot, vying for a job no doubt.

It’s also, classless, only a few hours after their leader and PM fell on his sword.

This won’t end well.

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

Arseholes

[Royal Mail @RoyalMail]

Moving home?

Remember to redirect your mail ✉️ https://t.co/DgDFRfZ1Hk

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

Mensch on Mensch

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Keir, thank you for all our cooperation, your support, and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life stronger.

The United Kingdom has been, is, and will remain among the world’s leaders. Here in Ukraine, we deeply value Britain, and every meeting and every conversation we have had has always been filled with real substance.

Thank you for always being in touch, always engaged, and always striving to do what is needed and what will truly help.

I wish the United Kingdom and all British people every success as well as realisation of your national goals. We have confidence in Britain.

Keir, you are always a welcome guest in Ukraine.

@Keir_Starmer

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

"I have accepted Keir Starmer's resignation as my chief servant and have invited Andy Burnham to lay out details for how many meals a day he'll give me"

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

Oye harsh on our food there JR. But to aye to the rest. Shambolic

[Jimmy Rushton @JimmySecUK]

Seven Prime Ministers in ten years: the UK seems like a fundamentally unserious country. We used to joke about Italian political instability but now that's us (just with worse food).

[Damian Low @DamianLow3]

Seeing some of the embarrassingly hateful reactions to Starmer's resignation today, I thought it was worth resharing this.

The level of personal hostility directed at Keir Starmer deserves scrutiny in its own right. Not because he should be immune from criticism, but because the tone and intensity of the attacks tell us something unhealthy about the state of democratic politics.

Starmer is a conventional political figure. Cautious, legalistic, incremental. He frustrates people precisely because he is managerial rather than messianic. Yet the reaction to him often goes far beyond disagreement, tipping into visceral hatred more commonly reserved for authoritarians or demagogues.

Much of this hostility is disconnected from concrete policy. It is not about specific votes, proposals or outcomes, but about projection. A belief that Starmer embodies betrayal, bad faith or hidden malice. That kind of politics runs on suspicion rather than evidence.

This matters because democracy depends on the assumption of good faith among opponents. You can think a leader is wrong, timid, or misguided without believing they are fundamentally illegitimate. Once politics becomes moralised to the point of demonisation, compromise is reframed as treachery and pluralism as weakness.

The pattern is familiar. In fragmented, polarised systems, anger concentrates not on extremists, whose intentions are clear, but on moderates, who disappoint maximalists on all sides. The centre becomes the lightning rod precisely because it resists totalising narratives.

There is also a media and online dynamic at work. Incentives reward outrage, not proportionality. Algorithms favour contempt over analysis. Over time, this creates a political culture in which relentless personal attack feels normal, even virtuous, rather than disgusting.

None of this is a defence of Starmer’s decisions, instincts or record. Those should be argued over robustly as you do in a democracy. The problem is the substitution of critique with hostility and the quiet erosion of democratic norms that follows when political opponents are treated as enemies rather than rivals.

A democracy cannot function if every election is framed as an existential struggle against internal evil. At some point, the target may change, but the damage to trust, restraint and culture remains.

[Fraser Nelson @FraserNelson]

Oddly important for MAGA to talk about a UK with “unfettered immigration” and “through the roof” crime - when trends clearly in opposite direction….

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

A sitting US president just publicly called the resignation of an allied prime minister, hours before that prime minister is expected to name the date himself. Trump did not leak it. He posted it.

Where it actually stands tonight. Keir Starmer has not resigned. He is at Chequers with his family, still insisting "I will run, I will stand." But the floor is gone. More than 95 of his own MPs have called for him to go. His health secretary quit. His defence secretary quit. A senior figure in his own party says he has "absolutely no authority" left. And on Thursday Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor, won a seat in parliament with 55% of the vote, is sworn in as an MP Monday, and is openly circling the job.

Now the strangest fact in British politics tonight, the one nobody is saying. Net migration to the UK did not rise under Starmer. It collapsed. From a peak of 944,000 to 204,000 in two years, the lowest since 2021, down 69% in the last year alone. The exact issue Trump named as his failure is the one where the numbers moved hardest in his favor.

It did not save him. Because the boats still cross the Channel on the news every night, energy bills stay high while the North Sea stays shut, and a country that feels the strain does not read the statistics before it turns on its leader.

This is the pattern devouring Western governments this year. Borders and energy. The same two forces now ending a prime minister who cut migration by three quarters and still lost the room.

Starmer fixed the number and lost the story. In this era, the story wins every time.

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

Fuck Trump and his lickspittle sneery wee MSM public school cunts who have tried to destroy a good man. Weren't bullied enough at skool. Leveson 2 and whack up VAT on their fees. And the far left can GTF too. Useless eejits

https://t.co/swiPrkvkAV

[Jack Dart @JackWDart]

If people genuinely believe Burnham won’t receive the exact same media onslaught, they’ve not been paying attention.

Starmer is not, objectively, bad. This idea that he is somehow the worst PM in British history is frankly laughable.

Liz truss lasted 49 days, crashed the pound and was laughed out of Downing Street.

Since Labour took office, Keir Starmer’s government has:

• Scrapped the two-child benefit limit, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and putting money back into some of the hardest-pressed households in the country.

• Expanded free school meals, cutting costs for families and making sure more children get a proper meal during the school day.

• Expanded funded childcare, reducing one of the biggest monthly costs facing working parents and making it easier for people to stay in work.

• Raised the National Living Wage, increasing pay for millions of low-paid workers.

• Strengthened workers’ rights, giving people greater protection against insecure work and bad employers.

• Introduced statutory sick pay from the first day of illness, so workers are less likely to choose between their health and their wages.

• Ended no-fault evictions, giving renters more security in their homes.

• Brought rail operators back into public ownership, taking key services out of failed private hands and giving the public a stronger stake in how they are run.

• Cut NHS waiting lists from their post-pandemic peak, meaning more patients are being seen sooner.

• Raised the state pension through the triple lock, protecting pensioners’ incomes against rising costs.

• Scrapped the old non-dom tax regime, making some of the wealthiest people in the country pay more fairly.

• Added VAT to private school fees, raising money from those most able to contribute.

• Removed business rates relief from private schools, ending an unjustified tax break.

• Increased neighbourhood policing, putting more officers and PCSOs back into communities.

• Helped bring knife crime down, meaning fewer families face the devastation of serious violence.

• Recorded the lowest homicide rate since the 1970s, a material improvement in public safety.

• Created Great British Energy, giving Britain a publicly owned clean energy company.

• Created the National Wealth Fund, backing investment in industry, infrastructure and clean energy.

• Passed planning reforms aimed at getting homes and major projects built faster.

• Improved relations with the EU, reducing diplomatic hostility and rebuilding practical cooperation.

• Agreed a UK-EU security partnership, strengthening cooperation on defence and European security.

• Signed a long-term partnership with Ukraine, reinforcing Britain’s support against Putin’s invasion.

• Secured new trade agreements, opening up markets for British businesses.

• Helped restore seriousness to government after years of scandal, chaos and decline.

People do not have to like Starmer. They do not have to vote Labour. But pretending this is the record of the worst Prime Minister in British history is absurd.

[Sam @SamCKx]

If Keir Starmer does resign, history will look back on his reign and scratch its head as to why the hell he was so hated.

On paper, he's probably delivered more to working British people in such a short time than any PM for decades.

After inheriting an absolute mess: NHS waiting lists fallen. Worker's rights improved. Rail operators nationalised. Improved relations with EU and improved UK's global reputation. Removed non-dom tax status. Halved childcare costs. Boosted state pensions. Lowest homicide rate in 50 years. Lifted 550k children out of poverty. Immigration vastly reduced.

We are in the age of billionaire funded misinformation, whose sole purpose is to topple democratically elected leaders, and insert leadership that favours the wealthy elites over the working people. Looks like the game plan is working...

[celtic Jaime 🍀 @celtic_jaime]

Boston 🇺🇸 is now complete and now Glasgow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Annette Dittert  @annettedittert]

What a hell of a way to mark 10 years since the EU referendum, with the anniversary of the vote, falling on Tuesday.
7 PMs in only ten years. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[HLTCO @HLTCO]

Listen to it. That’s ridiculous.

[Josh @joshpearson180]

Typical

[Mike Bird @Birdyword]

Makes the heart swell with pride. We can be the Britain that Russian nationalists think we are

[Stuart @MrStuartLodge]

FFS Poland. CHILLAX

[Christopher Miller @ChristopherJM]

Zelenskyy returns Polish state medal in escalating dispute with ally

Several other Ukrainian officials said they would renounce their Polish decorations after President Nawrocki’s decision.

Kyrylo Budanov said he would return the Order of Merit received from Poland last year. Three former Ukrainian presidents, Leonid Kuchma, Viktor Yushchenko and Petro Poroshenko, announced on Saturday they had also renounced the Order of the White Eagle received during their respective presidencies.

via @fabrice_deprez @RaphaelMinder
https://t.co/PuyN82hzl6

[David D 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @BloggerScotland]

Yer da is at Trnsmt still on meltdown about Celtic winning the league.