The Greens are reeling, the Lib Dems are plotting to get rid of their leaden leader, and Reform UK is mired in allegations of sleaze.
asserted
UK → reel → sleaze
Many Labour MPs believe our unelected Prime Minister has been working his magic.
asserted
Minister → believe → magic
Some think he should take advantage of the 'Burnham bounce' and call an election.
asserted
he → think → election
There is a feeling among Andy Burnham's supporters that he's a gifted politician who is reviving his party following the catatonic leadership of Sir Keir Starmer.
asserted
who → be → Starmer
They reckon that after a triumphant election victory he will be able to take Britain back to the supposedly golden 1970s.
asserted
he → reckon → 1970s
May I dissent from this upbeat analysis, which I regret to say is shared by some nervous souls on the Right?
uncertain
I → dissent → Right
The more I see of Burnham, the more convinced I am that, far from being the saviour his cheerleaders claim, he is a prize dud, against whom Starmer will soon seem a towering genius.
uncertain
Starmer → see → whom
Burnham was a failed national politician when he went to Manchester to become its mayor, and his nine-year sojourn in that great city has blunted such political acumen as he once possessed.
asserted
he → fail → acumen
He evidently believes, for example, that the European Union is a dynamic economic bloc which Britain must rejoin if it is to enjoy the growth Labour leaders have continually promised.
asserted
leaders → believe → growth
In the past few days Andy Burnham has dug what may become his political grave.
uncertain
what → dig → days
He has made it plain that he'd like to take us back into the EU, and hasn't denied that a pledge to do so could be included in Labour's next election manifesto.
uncertain
pledge → make → manifesto
He also cast doubt on the validity of the 2016 Brexit referendum by telling The Rest Is Politics podcast (hosted by ex-Blairite spin doctor Alastair Campbell and ex-Tory minister Rory Stewart, both EU fanatics) that the Russians clearly interfered with the result.
asserted
Russians → cast → result
In the past few days Andy Burnham has dug what may become his political grave, writes Stephen Glover
In so doing, Burnham has revealed himself as a fool and a knave.
uncertain
Burnham → dig → fool
A fool for resuscitating Brexit divisions and for risking so much political capital in a doomed cause – namely rejoining the lumbering behemoth that is the EU.
asserted
that → resuscitate → behemoth
And a knave for saying something on the podcast that isn't true.
asserted
that → say → podcast
On Monday in the Commons he was forced to retract his claim of Russian interference in the Brexit referendum, and instead insisted that 'Russian actors sought to interfere in the 2019 general election'.
uncertain
actors → force → election
Various authorities have debunked the notion that Russia influenced the Brexit result.
asserted
Russia → debunk → result
In 2018 the head of MI5 declared there was no evidence it had.
asserted
it → declare → MI5
The present holder of that job, Ken McCallum, said yesterday that the Russians tried to interfere, though that doesn't mean they had any impact.
asserted
they → say → impact
Burnham's claim on the podcast was a shameless attempt to discredit Brexit.
uncertain
claim → discredit → Brexit
It was the sort of wild allegation one might hear at a Rejoiner dinner party from hell – but one doesn't expect it from a prime minister who wants to be thought honest.
uncertain
who → hear → minister
On the knave rather than the fool side of the ledger, I should add that the PM's enthusiasm for the EU contradicts what he told the largely pro-Brexit voters of Makerfield in May's by-election.
uncertain
he → add → election
He said categorically: 'I am not proposing that the UK considers rejoining the EU.'
asserted
UK → say → EU
It is exactly what he is now proposing.
asserted
he → propose → what
Andy Burnham likes to present himself as being above party politics, and unsullied by its low ethical standards.
asserted
Burnham → like → standards
Yet would even that political Houdini Tony Blair have told such a brazen whopper?
asserted
Houdini → tell → whopper
I can't say I'm surprised because I never imagined for a moment that the King of the North was straightforward.
asserted
King → say → North
But I am taken aback that he is turning out to be such a political clot.
asserted
he → take → ?
Why is he prepared to expend so much political capital on a rotten cause?
asserted
he → prepare → cause
A cause that could bring no economic benefit but is so divisive that it would almost certainly finish off Burnham's prime ministership.
uncertain
it → bring → ministership
He said on Monday when discussing getting closer to the EU: 'If we are serious about promoting growth, controlling immigration, upholding our values and security, it is a conversation we must have.'
Yet in fact Britain has grown faster than the EU's three biggest economies, France, Germany and Italy, since the Brexit referendum.
asserted
Britain → say → referendum
Yesterday, the International Monetary Fund forecast that the UK would do better than all three countries this year as well.
asserted
UK → forecast → countries
All right, no one is pretending that the British economy is thriving under Labour after the unlamented Rachel Reeves raised taxes to record levels.
asserted
Reeves → pretend → levels
But it is at least outperforming Europe's leading countries – running on three spluttering cylinders rather than two.
asserted
it → outperform → cylinders
Vladimir Putin's Russian regime has repeatedly been accused of trying to influence democracies in the West, including the UK's referendum on EU membership
As for Burnham's contention that getting closer to or rejoining the EU would help control immigration, that really is bunkum.
asserted
that → accuse → immigration
Membership would mean accepting the free movement of people.
asserted
Membership → mean → people
Legally, we now have control of our borders.
asserted
we → have → borders
Our leaders just don't bother to exert it.
asserted
leaders → bother → it
It's as though he doesn't know what is going on.
asserted
what → know → ?
Why is he so keen to nuzzle up to a union whose three biggest countries could soon be controlled by hard-Right governments?
uncertain
countries → nuzzle → governments
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
