I’m going to call it now and say Farage will never be in No.10.
I think I am way out of touch regarding the internal UK political scene so so probably shouldn’t comment or worry too much about it!
I hope you’re right Tim. I would have said the same about Trump’s presidential prospects. His win and Brexit have forced me to revise my views on just how stupid the electorate can be. If people are pissed off rationality flies out the window. If Starmer staggers on then Farage has a good chance IMO.
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That’s very sensible. If I could take a tablet to make me indifferent I would 
Edit: in the meantime, rosé will have to do.
As an aside, the villages around us, which would normally be seeing the tourist uptick, are deserted. Not good for our local hospitably industry. How things have changed in the last fifteen years 
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I’m luckily I am have no intention to return to the UK to live now! But for family and friends still there I hope all goes OK.
Just need to get pension cash out asap before it all gets raided!!
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So do I, and because I listen to UK news, despite never wanting to ever go back there, I am sorry to say that I can’t think of a single person at the moment, including Burnham, who would do anything better than the present inadequate, which is why I say stay, cut the crap and try the best you can KS.
Stop taking money from Israel and BDS it. Get rid of the tax looholes that benefit the likes of Amazon and Starbucks. Get rid of the existing cabinet. Show some gumption and crack down on the racism and fascism that is becoming so rife. Etc…..
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There you have it…..
This should be the courageous vision and plan. Immediately open negotiations to rejoin the EU. Set a target date of two years hence (all the legislation probably just needs is to be dusted down ) and declare war on all the bastards Farage, Johnson, slimy Gove, etc. that screwed the Country through lies and misinformation ten years ago. A common enemy (them) will unite the Nation. Scapegoat them for everything, including all setbacks they’d nothing to do with, and then scapegoat them again 
Blame everything on Brexit. Given the gullibility the electorate displayed in 2016 I think it’ll go down a treat.
Make it personal. Large posters saying '“Farage screwed Britain ten years ago, do you want him to screw it again?”. Make it so it’s not safe for smug, grifter Nige to show his face in public. The £5m for personal security will come in handy then.
All is takes is the balls to do it, or fail honourably, having done the right thing, in the attempt.
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Are you in the south? We are seeing huge influx as people avoid the heat of the south.
But can the EU be bothered to open negotiations? May have other priorities.
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But that’s not how it works is it? It does not matter how many EU citizens want the UK back, it is for the UK to make that move and I have zero faith that the populace will not be stupid enough to put Farage in N° 10 in 2029 (or sooner), in which case you can kiss your dreams of rejoining the EU a very firm goodbye.
I still don’t see it happening in my lifetime.
Yes Jane, I’m in the Var. And I can add to the comment. One of the villages near us had their Fête de la Musique last night. My wife’s away so I popped up for dinner and the restos were full but the streets deserted. The last time I was there, several years ago, the place was packed. The heat could certainly have something to do with it but I think the numbers coming to the South have been declining year on year for a while. They don’t seem to reach the levels I took for granted twenty years ago. On the other hand I may be better at avoiding them now.
Regarding reopening negotiations, you’re dead right. It could take years for the EU to show interest, and I’m not even sure if the UK would have to join the end of the queue. However “Project Rejoin” could explain why things have been going so badly, give a better vision for the future, unite the party, unite the Nation and show voters a real and tangible plan was in place to improve their lot. Not just more rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic stuff.
If Burnham is to succeed IMO he needs a big, big project the whole Country can get behind. It doesn’t really matter if it takes a long time, as long as visible progress towards the goal is being made. It’s a sort of wartime spirit that needs to generated.
It’s a bit like managing a corporate turnaround 
Just a very big one 
Some had an arrêté for no alcohol in the street, others have been completely cancelled.
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I’ve always been keen on Andy, is the moment burnham wood comes to starmer’s dunsinane?
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Let’s hope that nothing becomes SKS and his post better than his leaving of it….
And in any case it’s probably not a good idea.
Was Andy in the Commons today at question time? I didn’t see him. It was full of generous and humorous tributes to Keir Starmer, but it set me thinking. As he seemed to have ready answers written down is he forewarned as to who is going to speak and raise what points?
If that is the case, what is the point of all those not chosen to keep bobbing up and down? Perhaps it is a secret, and perhaps the PM is in on it along with the Speaker. 
I may have mentioned this before but I can’t help feeling that this charade is anti-democratic. I understand the point about not being a presidential system and the prime minister is not directly elected to the post but, when he stood with his party at the last election it was well know that if you voted Labour he would be the Prime Minister. So to say that he can be removed by a vote in his parliamentary party is to say that it is ok for several hundred to change what several million thought they were voting for.
I am not a Starmer supporter, nor am I a Burnham one, it is a point of principle which first irritated me when Margaret Thatcher was similarly stabbed in the back.
It’s called “Catching the Speaker’s Eye”…
https://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/catching-the-speakers-eye/
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Yes, that is what I thought Gareth, but how does the PM have advance notice of so many bobbers?
Almost sounds like he is so super human that he is well worth still being PM
PMQs are quite formalised. MPs submit questions in advance of which a certain number are selected in a random pick. But the hook is that after the anodyne question they are allowed to ask any supplementary they like. And so can any MP who has tabled same anodyne question - hence the bobbing up and down.
And if you look at the live coverage you will see Kier Starmer is carrying a large file of briefing notes on the subjects his civil servants think are most likely to be raised. And he will have had a briefing session before as well. But he will have about 1 second while question is being asked ro turn to the correct page of he can’t remember the details.
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Yes I thought of that as well Jane, but it still doesn’t explain completely how he can find the relative ones and formulate a reply to them, so quickly.
Perhaps I am comparing him too much to me and that, after all, I am not suited to the post. 