In the knifing of Burnham, no senior Labour politician got blood on their hands. Shabana Mahmood, shielded by convention, chaired the crucial NEC meeting but did not vote (on the morning media round she had praised Burnham as an “exceptional politician”). Deputy Leader Lucy Powell, unsurprisingly, cast a lonely vote for Burnham. Wes Streeting condemned the anonymous briefings against Burnham as “disgraceful” and, without endorsing Burnham’s run, said the party needed “the best possible candidate” in Gorton and Denton. Ed Miliband said Burnham should be allowed to stand. So did Sadiq Khan. Those publicly trashing Burnham’s run were a selection of backbenchers. The figures on the NEC who voted to block Burnham are not household names. This is a decision that will be entirely put at the door of Keir Starmer. And if this decision results in the loss a safe Labour seat, in the party’s heartland of Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister will find that it is very, very lonely at the top.
So if you’re going to strike, strike for that.
Not just for a better payslip but for a system that has at least some slim chance of existing in ten years.
#doctorsstrike
To the resident doctors striking tomorrow:
Yes, you’ve been shafted. Yes, pay matters.
But the real fight isn’t just about your salary; it’s about an NHS that’s collapsing under a £13.8bn repair backlog, chronic underfunding, and political cowardice.
#doctorsstrike
Little is known about the origins of the #BayeuxTapestry, or its journey from Norman propaganda to a world-famous tourist attraction. Yet those moments in which its story does come into focus reveal a surprising history of cross-cultural exchange.
https://t.co/0PYNvAV3cj
If you are still supporting this stuff, after all this time, after all the deaths, after all the ICJ and ICC interventions… then you are a bad person. There is no other way to describe you.