Yesterday, as it turned out, was one of those really momentous days in British politics. It all kicked off, as it were, at 6.00am in the morning when Angela Raynor let it be known that the tax authorities had cleared her of deliberately withholding tax on a second home and this cleared the way for her to make a leadership bid should she feel so inclined. Then Wes Streeting actually did resign from the government as Health Secretary so that, he too, could make a bid for the Labour Party leadership although as things stands, it is doubtful whether he actually has the numbers at this point of time to support his bid. But the really momentous political news came late in the afternoon when the Labour MP who holds a seat adjacent to Andy Burnham’s old seat of Leigh in Lancashire agreed to resign to make way for an Andy Burnham return to Parliament. But there is one big problem which is in the local elections held recently, in every ward of the soon to be vacated seat, Makerfield, Reform had won every single ward. On the face of it, this seems to indicate that Andy Burnham has a massive fight on his hands to win this Parliamentary seat. But I would concur with the opinion of some analysts that Burnham may prevail quite easily and this for two reasons. Most importantly, many of the Labour voters who did not turn up to vote in a local election would be energised to vote in such a crucial by election where, in effect, a Prime Minister was being chosen.But secondly, there will be a huge personal vote for Andy Burnham and some who voted Reform may be more than happy to vote for Burnham, particularly as the seat was then won by Labour at the last General Election held two years ago. If, and when, Andy Burnham returns to the House of Commons, then an actual challenge will still have to be mounted against Keir Starmer but one could almost see a situation where no one apart from Burnham actually puts up against him allowing him to be crowned as a new Prime Minister almost by acclamation as the returning ‘king from over the water’ (first said of Bonnie Prince Charlie of course) So there will be lots of feverish speculation over the weeks ahead but at least the Labour Party may have a new leader around whom the party can unite. I have a very interesting thought about Andy Burnham which no commentator has yet mentioned and that is the simple fact that if Prime Minister makes it to be Labour Leader (and Prime Minister) this will be the first northerner since Harold Wilson resigned in 1976 which is, of course, half a century ago. It seems a fairly self-evident fact but perhaps the fact that voters in the north who have traditionally supported the Labour Party feel left behind, forgotten and taken-for-granted is that the Labour party has been led by Celts or a London metropolitan elite for decades. So major transport investment has been made in the transport infrastructure of the South whilst HS2 which was meant to link the North to the rest of the country has foundered. One does not have to be a professional northerner not to give voice to this fact and I am wondering how long it will be until it is mentioned by any of the current crop of political commentators.
As here we are at the end of the week, I went down the hill to park the car and pick up m newspaper before I set off to the ‘Gifts of Love’ outlet which I frequent on Friday mornings. But I had a particular mission which was to go along the High Street and pay a visit to Boots, a store I tend to avoid since most of the profits that they declare are to a US private equity firm, Sycamore Partner, and this raises the whole question whether they pay the appropriate amount of tax which would be paid if they were owned by more conventional UK owners. I was in search of a bristle hairbrush (my principal one having been lost over the weekend) and was delighted to find a bristle brush at a very reasonable price with the opportunity to purchase a second at a 50% discount. So I was pleased initially with my purchases but when I got them home and examined them closely, the bristle tufts surrounded a longer nylon ‘spike’ which, admittedly, leave one’s scalp a pleasant tingle when brushed. Nonetheless, I had something akin to buyer’s remorse when I discover that the brush advertised as ‘bristle’ was actually ‘bristle and nylon’ so I might wait until my hairdresser next calls around to get a more expert and professional opinion on my purchase. After I got home, I cooked myself a risotto lunch and then later in the afternoon, my American friend called round with one or little goodies as delayed birthday presents. In return, I had a portion of risotto left over which I heated up for my friend. We discussed some of the arrangements that we have made for a week’s time where once my friend is free of her virus we shall go to Harvington Hall in the morning and then go and have a good lunch in the afternoon. The hotel is one in which Meg and I used to eat often on special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries and I know it well, so after we have dined we can have extensive walks around their grounds which are so extensive that you feel as though you are walking in the open (Worcestershire) countryside, so that is a treat in store for both of us. The evening before last, I saw a fascinating interview with an American military exert on a YouTube liberal podcast, who divulged the contents of an American intelligence report that suggested that Iran may still be in control of as much as 70% of its mobile strike capability. The Americans had evidently bombed the sites of which they had become aware but not with the enormously expensive ‘bunker busting’ bombs which would have been an excessive strain on America’s military resources. So the Iranians having hidden their missiles deep inside caves and mountains were now extracting them and using them in other locations The American military expert made the startling revelation that he did not believer a word of the propaganda made by the Iranians – but neither did he believe the Trump military regime either.