His last PM’s.

 Today was the last PM’s for Keir Starmer as prime minister. There were respectful acknowledgements of his time in the office, for a little over 2 years. Nevertheless it was impossible not to be aware of the fact that his erstwhile supporters had - stabbed him in the back over his lacklustre leadership of the Labour Party. From Monday Andy Burnham, takes over the - near impossible job as prime minister. Will he do any better? The opinion polls will soon judge whether he is a up to the task - more than the previous seven prime ministers since 2010.  

Getting ready for Armageddon.

 The chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones, has warned that there is a reasonable possibility of a - cyberattack from Russia within the next few years and we should therefore prepare for it. According to Jones the government would hold next year- the largest ‘national home defence exercise, since the Cold War’. Preparations like: having enough bottled water to last a few days, canned foods, a wind up radio, medicine and warm clothing, a torch etc. This might sound like - scaremongering, but best to be prepared for the unthinkable - as it could happen. 

The killing of Ann Widdecombe.

 The ‘brutal targeted attack’ and killing of the one time MP Ann Widdecombe - is extremely disturbing and worrying. A 28 year old white male is being interviewed by counter terrorism police. How has our political discourse - come to this? What could motivate such a person to kill a fellow citizen? Social media is a contributing factor as what are called - citizen journalism - is becoming an increasing problem for the police. Many MP’s are concerned about their safety in the way they live their lives. 

The World Cup so far.

 The short list is getting shorter. France and Spain have booked their places in the semifinals and tonight it’s England’s turn against Norway. Can we manage to get - one over the formidable Harland and defeat them? It won’t be an easy battle, but on balance - I think we should win. Tomorrow it’s the turn of Argentina against Switzerland to book a place. As Argentina are ranked at number one in the FIFA World Rankings, and with Messe in the team they are likely to win. So if all this comes to pass the FIFA rankings will be correct as predicted. 

No place for Harry.

 The - on again off again - parlour game of where will Harry and family stay is becoming absurd. Apparently he should have confirmed by the end of last week - he would be staying at Buckingham Palace. As he hadn’t done so. Consequently the palace isn’t now available. How extraordinary that this saga has been allowed to continue for so long. No doubt Harry will complain about the lack of consideration, but who is to blame for the gross misunderstanding? 

Jobs in the cabinet.

 There is increasing anxiety about the - jobs in the Burnham cabinet. The key role of chancellor is between a number of people: Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper, and the outsider Wes Streeting. There is talk about David Miliband, coming back from his position in the UN. However having two Miliband’s in the same cabinet - would potentially be problematic - for the prime minister and other ministers? Nevertheless he has a lot to offer and would make an excellent foreign secretary. This is a difficult - balancing act for Burnham. There is concern that Ed Miliband, isn’t sufficiently sympathetic to business and that would cause worries in the City and business. Much depends on getting the mix right as not only jobs in the cabinet depends on it, but wider society. 

Morgan McSweeney podcast.

 On the Political Thinking podcast by Nick Robinson, we had the former chief of staff to the prime minister Morgan McSweeney being interviewed. And it was very revealing about the - political thinking going on behind the scenes, before the general election in July 2024. He accepted that they were - ill prepared for government and for the depth of the problems facing the country. Moreover not sufficient thought had gone into the impact politically of the cancellation of the - winter fuel payment to OAP’s. This had a serious detrimental impact on their core supporters and allies. They never fully recovered from this faux pas - which did them great harm. He has no intention of returning to politics any time soon and resigned his position earlier this year.