Am I just being impatient and mean? New PM

Well - all good?

AB is a political opportunist - he’s shown that.

I dare say he’ll take the credit for a lot of things put in place by KS.

Sadly we’ll have to get used to it.

Wyllow3

Firstly, is the information rock solid - I find it hard to believe I have not heard of in one single LP meeting in all this time.

If the information is correct it seems as if its good that Burnham has prioritised acting one it as part funding already set aside, since it's an area he has experience in so much the better and most understandable.

But if things like this had been publicised better the Starmer government would not have been so unpopular. It’s almost as if some people in government made a point of not publicising the good things initiated by Keir so they could replace him by a more populist leader just as those plans were nearing fruition . Same thing happening with the social care plan I believe.

“Keir Starmer's government allocated billions of pounds for homelessness and rough sleeping services, including a record £1 billion investment for the 2025/2026 financial year and a £3.5 billion package tied to their national plan.

Funding DetailsMajor Investment:
Allocated over £3.5 billion for homelessness and rough sleeping services across a three-year period (2026–2028).

Annual Support:
Invested a record £1 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year focused on prevention services.

Winter Boost:
Provided an extra £84 million in October 2025 for immediate help with temporary accommodation and rough sleeping prevention.

Targeted Grants:
Included specific funding like £3 million extra for rough sleeping drug and alcohol treatment programs.”

… but not good enough for the PLP

So Burnham knows he’s got the money for ‘his initiative’…

Casdon

It depends what type of meeting it is. If it is a small, participative meeting, when the camera is switched on for everybody, people will make good use of their time, there must be plenty of parliamentary meetings of that kind. It’s also possible to have people in two locations, each with a chair, and zoom them into one meeting, that would also work. The key is choosing the best option for all kinds of meeting - we did this years ago where I worked.

Yes, it's not a one size fits all thing. Some meetings are better face to face, and for others the ease of Zoom/Teams makes that a better choice.

As for the publicity and handling of Comms, what do people want? Many of us said over and over that Keir's team were hopeless at it. Burnham is making a decent fist of it, and he's getting called duplicitous.

Politics is ruthless. Starmer cut out left wingers, people who voted against him and those who he saw as threats (including Burnham) - he was absolutely ruthless about that, so it was difficult for people to get their views represented by 'legitimate' means.

MayBee70

So Burnham knows he’s got the money for ‘his initiative’…

I think that’s an unfair criticism, because he was running an initiative in Manchester, and you don’t yet know whether the funding that was previously earmarked will be used in the way that Starmer intended exactly, or whether it will be repurposed for an initiative similar to the Burnham Manchester model.

What is it with people who one would assume want Labour to succeed making such critical comments because they don’t like the leader? That’s what happened with Starmer, and here we are again. Don’t you realise that the criticism of his policies, after one week of Burnham, is irrational, he hasn’t had a chance to do anything yet. Talk about a self destruct button.

It’s because I’ve been watching his attacks on Keir over the past couple of years ( it started during the Southport riots) and then the actions of Sarwar, that woman that said she was going to challenge Starmers leadership, Streeting, Heeley; the disruption Burnham tried to start at the party conference etc etc. During which time Keir was dealing with Trump, Ukraine, Iran etc etc. And now he’s going to take the credit for everything that Keir was working towards and I think it stinks.

I just don’t like him. That’s it!

I get that not everybody likes him, I’m on the fence myself. It just seems irrational to attack him for things you think he just might do, before he has implemented anything, it shouldn’t be about personal feelings, it should be about what he delivers,

Agreed, Casdon. It's utterly depressing.

With respect, the plan published in December 2025 said:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-national-plan-to-end-homelessness/a-national-plan-to-end-homelessness

This is an ambitious and comprehensive plan, taking essential action now – eliminating the unlawful use of B&Bs for families, improving the quality of temporary accommodation and testing innovative approaches to halve long-term rough sleeping – and tackling the complex causes of homelessness.

Targets:

Setting a new national target to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of this parliament.

Launching a £15 million programme to tackle long-term rough sleeping, working with targeted areas to test innovative approaches and spread learning.

Burnham’s proposal provides another £340 million to end rough sleeping.

Two different things - halve in targeted areas and ending altogether.

mhclgmedia.blog.gov.uk/2026/07/22/%F0%9F%8F%A0-ending-rough-sleeping-what-the-governments-new-plan-means-for-people-sleeping-on-our-streets/

Casdon

I get that not everybody likes him, I’m on the fence myself. It just seems irrational to attack him for things you think he just might do, before he has implemented anything, it shouldn’t be about personal feelings, it should be about what he delivers,

Such as stupid videos on social media with Burnham and Healey in a pub debating whether pork scratchings are better than prawn cocktail crisps? What the hell is that all about?

It doesn’t matter, as long as it doesn’t impact on him delivering in the PM role, and keeping Labour in power by achieving manifesto goals, does it? He can’t please all potential Labour voters, and as with any leader, he’s doing it his own way. I think in reality it is we who are the dinosaurs, not him. We’ll soon know if he’s pitching it right.

I suppose halving long term rough sleeping is a big shift by the end of this Parliament
Ending homelessness altogether (for an additional £340 million) would be a miracle I think as it's really complex.

I have worked "at the sharp end" with young single homeless and in hostels etc - quick fixes are not the solution.
"Housing First" is my own preference - but where there is lots of support.

MayBee70

Wyllow3

Firstly, is the information rock solid - I find it hard to believe I have not heard of in one single LP meeting in all this time.

If the information is correct it seems as if its good that Burnham has prioritised acting one it as part funding already set aside, since it's an area he has experience in so much the better and most understandable.

But if things like this had been publicised better the Starmer government would not have been so unpopular. It’s almost as if some people in government made a point of not publicising the good things initiated by Keir so they could replace him by a more populist leader just as those plans were nearing fruition . Same thing happening with the social care plan I believe.

Therein lies the problem that was Starmer.
He was totally unaware that many of the positive changes he made were not getting out to the very people who needed to hear them.
As a commentator said: Andy knows what the man/woman in Greggs is talking about.

AB will need this political term and the next one to achieve all that he wants to do, but the difference between him and Starmer is that he actually has a chance of winning the next GE in order to accomplish things.
I like all he says so far but will wait until that translates into something tangible.

I can hardly believe that some Labour Supporters are complaining about their Leader already.

Is he too far right for some, or too far left??

He’s got to be better than his predecessor. At least he isn’t so annoying, wooden and lacking personality. There was a reason for Starmer being ousted and it wasn’t just spite and Machiavellian politics.

I think he will appeal to ‘the man in the street’, which I assume is the image he wants to create, i.e.

A regular, working class, ‘Northern’ bloke.

Is he/will he, take Farage's thunder?

I am saying this a bit tongue - in - cheek, but are Gransnet posters then, on the whole, how can I put it, "classier" than the "average" voter?

Gut feeling is that Farage will be on a slow decline and will disappear in a puff of smoke before your next election. Someone else will take his place because there is a bit of a ‘gap’ and an opposition party will emerge.