Sometimes one’s feeds actually throw up some golden nuggets. I came across this facebook video reel from Andi Shehu. It’s not very long, but packs a lot in. He argues that much of the support for the Brexit vote was
<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="750" height="500" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/State_Opening_of_Parliament_18129547086-OGL1-w750-via-wikimendiacommons.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-13966" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/State_Opening_of_Parliament_18129547086-OGL1-w750-via-wikimendiacommons.jpg 750w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/State_Opening_of_Parliament_18129547086-OGL1-w750-via-wikimendiacommons-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /> State Opening of Parliament – FCO – OGL1.0 2015 Sometimes one’s feeds actually throw up some golden nuggets. I came across this facebook video reel from Andi Shehu. It’s not very long, but packs a lot in. He argues that much of the support for the Brexit vote was based upon nostalgia for an empire that had already been dismantled and one that today’s voters cannot possibly remember and that that this political nostalgia is fuelled by outdated Victorian traditions at the core of British government, maybe even from pre-Victorian times and that true improvement requires democratic reform. The reel led me to look at some earlier theorists who first articulated these ideas and suggesting that the British state never adopted democracy and remained the instrument of old wealth based on land. In many ways what came after 1945 was much better and much more democratic and served the mass of the population better than its predecessor. The UK built houses, formed the NHS and developed its manufacturing capability to provide jobs wealth and income to the bulk of the population. People’s memory of the poverty of the Great Depression led them to build a comprehensive welfare state guaranteeing social security and a limited freedom from poverty. This was dismantled by reactionary conservative movements, and the engine of the economy moved back towards finance and the City of London, institutions that have no patriotism and yield no investment in the wellbeing of the British people. These changes were not the fault of Brussels, but the project designers needed a scapegoat as the factories, steel works & mines were closed, and relative poverty, ably illustrated by the work of P. Danny Dorling, ensued. Shehu then argues that much of the nostalgia is focused on the pomp and ideology of the British State. He quotes Tom Nairn’s ideas about the “glamour of backwardness” where the “mother of parliaments” & the pomp of the monarchy become to be seen as desirable and sources of pride. There are many recent examples of this constitutional exceptionalism, but one egregious example was Andrea Leadsom’s criticism of the European Union as having five presidents that no one could name; at least they’re not hereditary monarchs and the European Parliament is wholly elected by proportional representation. The conclusion is that the British state is no longer fit to run a 21st century society and that it remains a tool of control of the economy and its people in the interests of an economic elite, which in the UK . looks very much like the old, 18th century one. I recommend you look at the Facebook reel as he is much more economic in words than I am. However, watching the video reminded me of the conclusions, or maybe the premise of “Capitalism divided?” by Stuart Ingram who sought to examine why the British state did not act as “the executive committee of the bourgeoisie”; I found the book fascinating, and I’ve promised myself to review it on this blog. At the centre of his argument, is the proposition that the funding of the original industrial revolution was based upon the wealth of the landed aristocracy. The British economy became a commercial economy and the centre of world trade finance; the British state was optimised to defend the power of landed wealth and gave birth to the development of a mercantile economy not a manufacturing one and so it never served the capitalist class. It’s for these reasons that the post 45 reforms were required and the victory of the People’s War gave the working class the confidence to build a “land fit for heroes”. My two takeaways from the video and my brief limited reading since then, is that democratic reform is a critical part or attempting to build a society free of poverty where people can fulfil themselves in the world of work and avoid alienation and appropriation. Proportional representation, devolution and subsidiarity and the abolition of the monarchy are not side issues to economic fairness. The second takeaway reinforces the idea that the British economy’s continued reliance on global finance is a weakness in delivering for the mass of people in the UK. See also The reel author, Andi Shehu has a substack blog. Shehu mentions Tom Nairn, here is an anthology page at the London review of books. The two key works from Nairn are, Breaking-up Britain and a review of The Enchanted Glass: Britain and its Monarchy.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/reservoir-farinsadiq-vjWE8KXmbwI-unsplash-w750-letterbox-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Edgbaston reservoir" decoding="async" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/reservoir-farinsadiq-vjWE8KXmbwI-unsplash-w750-letterbox-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/reservoir-farinsadiq-vjWE8KXmbwI-unsplash-w750-letterbox-230x230.png 230w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />I am planning to write a series of responses to Labour NPF report 2026. Some I hope to pursue the conference itself through my CLP, others I hope will be of interest to others in the party. In this article
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/reservoir-farinsadiq-vjWE8KXmbwI-unsplash-w750-letterbox-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Edgbaston reservoir" decoding="async" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/reservoir-farinsadiq-vjWE8KXmbwI-unsplash-w750-letterbox-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/reservoir-farinsadiq-vjWE8KXmbwI-unsplash-w750-letterbox-230x230.png 230w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> I am planning to write a series of responses to Labour NPF report 2026. Some I hope to pursue the conference itself through my CLP, others I hope will be of interest to others in the party. In this article I talk about Water, which I don’t propose to put to my CLP. In the Commission, “MAKE BRITAIN A CLEAN ENERGY SUPERPOWER”, there is a section on the Water industry, which welcomes the Labour Government’s initiatives to repair the damage done by the conservatives. Most submissions want greater pace. The report also makes little mention of the excessive bonuses being paid to directors of Thames Water, and probably others. In the conclusions section, on page 25, the obvious policy proposal missing is the renationalisation of the water boards The BBC report on 10th August that Thames Water made a £1m signing bonus to a new Finance Director. (This might well be a hook for a contemporary motion, although SERA & Mainstream have published a model motion calling for the renatitonalisation of the industry.) If this is important to you, take it to your CLP, and submit it to Labour Conference before the 17th Sept.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-border-Sergey-Bystro-CC-BY-SA-2013-cropped-w650-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-border-Sergey-Bystro-CC-BY-SA-2013-cropped-w650-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-border-Sergey-Bystro-CC-BY-SA-2013-cropped-w650-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />There is an essay by Nick Boles, published on demos website that argues to reframe Starmer’s EU reset by offering to extend Britain’s nuclear umbrella in exchange for a single market in goods. It is claimed this is circulating within
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-border-Sergey-Bystro-CC-BY-SA-2013-cropped-w650-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-border-Sergey-Bystro-CC-BY-SA-2013-cropped-w650-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/russia-ukraine-border-Sergey-Bystro-CC-BY-SA-2013-cropped-w650-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> There is an essay by Nick Boles, published on demos website that argues to reframe Starmer’s EU reset by offering to extend Britain’s nuclear umbrella in exchange for a single market in goods. It is claimed this is circulating within government. It has caused much excitement by the rejoin opposing press and its followers in the Labour Party. It has also been noted by some of the rejoin commentators as an item of hope. It’s nonsense. This proposal fails to recognise that, Starmer’s reset has failed, mostly through lack of ambition on the British side. This proposal is similar to the reset agreement made in May 25 which set an agenda, including an enhanced defence agreement. Not one single item of the reset has been finalised. The one disappointment I have in Starmer being replaced is that the learning process on the subject of EU relations within the government has been set back. I believe the Starmer speech on 1st May, together with the House of Commons Select Committee report and the Fabian Society’s “Pressing Reset” shows that large elements of labour we’re ready to learn a new lesson. What needs to be understood is that the European Union will not make an agreement that leaves a third country in a better position than either current members or aspirant members and it considers the single market as indivisible. The proposal has the benefit to Labour’s Atlanticists that it embeds Britains commitment to the US designed strategic nuclear deterrent, and its proposed extension, the air based so called tactical nuclear weapons in exchange for minimal concessions from the EU. I say, minimal, splitting the single market which is what is proposed is not minimal, but if the UK is making the offer, it should be able to get more than a single market for goods, even if only seen from the nation of shopkeeper’s accountant’s lense. The country needs a better deal on all three dimensions of the issue, defence, trade and international solidarity. Labour’s NPF also shows a continuation of this lack of ambition, and a failure to learn from the failed two years of the Reset. Rejoining the EU could be the easiest deal in the world if we just forget what we once had and embrace the economic benefits, the opportunity for deeper social relationships between our peoples, and the continued development of a force for peace, democracy and human rights. This needs ambition and I am very unclear that Burnham’s government is ready for this. Those of us that want to rejoin need to push harder and articulate achievable goals. The UK should join the single market now, and Labour should put that a Labour Government will seek to rejoin the EU in its next manifesto. The Russian Ukraine border Sergey Bystro, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a red rose" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />The Labour Party’s accounts and this membership facts are available on the Electoral Commission site. On membership, they say, “As at 31 December 2025 the total individual membership of the Party was 264,754 (2024: 333,235).” That’s a 21% decline on
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a red rose" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> The Labour Party’s accounts and this membership facts are available on the Electoral Commission site. On membership, they say, “As at 31 December 2025 the total individual membership of the Party was 264,754 (2024: 333,235).” That’s a 21% decline on the year and over 50% from when Starmer took over. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="414" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/LP-Membership-2025-1024x414.png" alt="" class="wp-image-13941" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/LP-Membership-2025-1024x414.png 1024w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/LP-Membership-2025-300x121.png 300w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/LP-Membership-2025-768x310.png 768w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/LP-Membership-2025.png 1269w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Labour’s membership 1989 – 2025 For more, see the Data file, in .xls.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-no10n-cc-2026-BY-NC-ND-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Burnham's first cabinet meeting at No 10 North" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-no10n-cc-2026-BY-NC-ND-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-no10n-cc-2026-BY-NC-ND-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />So it seems that Burnham is going ahead with his plans to introduce a local income tax. This is a major step forward beyond the Brown Commission’s recommendations. Without detail this may be hard to comment on, but when I
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-no10n-cc-2026-BY-NC-ND-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Burnham's first cabinet meeting at No 10 North" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-no10n-cc-2026-BY-NC-ND-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-no10n-cc-2026-BY-NC-ND-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> So it seems that Burnham is going ahead with his plans to introduce a local income tax. This is a major step forward beyond the Brown Commission’s recommendations. Without detail this may be hard to comment on, but when I read the Brown Commission report I noted that the proposals do not involve any transfers from poor to richer places. Those places with a low tax base, which often require enhanced services will not find their problem solved by these proposals. I also note that Labour is still stuck with its fixation on Commissars otherwise known that directly elected mayors. I am of the view that these are not democratic improvements, that committees are more democratic than commissars and wonder whether or when labour will drop this. My more detached mind knows this is unlikely. For the big cities, a hotel tax might be simpler and great greater room for movement.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a robot giving off sparks, in bue tones (AI)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />The events that made me write Rejoin the need for speed reminded me of Robocop II, where Robocop’s three directives were augmented to over 300. In that case, they were deliberately designed to reduce Robocop’s effectiveness. In the world of
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a robot giving off sparks, in bue tones (AI)" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/sparking-robot-deepai_org-w750h350-CCPD-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> The events that made me write Rejoin the need for speed reminded me of Robocop II, where Robocop’s three directives were augmented to over 300. In that case, they were deliberately designed to reduce Robocop’s effectiveness. In the world of resolutionary politics, too often, the special interest demands of part of a majority voting bloc are accepted weakening the powerful simplicity of the motion’s original design. Work out what you want and keep it simple. (It also makes it harder for opponents to nit pick).
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the staircase at Lancaster House" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />In an article, on Best for Britain’s sub stack, Joshua Edwicker reviews the personnel responsible for EU relations in Burnham’s new cabinet. On first glance it would appear that this team is more likely to support closer relationships with the
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the staircase at Lancaster House" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/staircase-lancasterhouse-viaOGL-w750-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> In an article, on Best for Britain’s sub stack, Joshua Edwicker reviews the personnel responsible for EU relations in Burnham’s new cabinet. On first glance it would appear that this team is more likely to support closer relationships with the EU without putting roadblocks in the way and will at least have more ambition, although he doesn’t talk about Shabana Mahmood staying at the Home Office. My fear is that relationships with the EU we’ll take a back seat in the priorities of the Burnham administration. New policy needs to start from the fact that the “Reset” has failed, yet most of the PLP don’t realise it. Not a single initiative announced in May 25 has been closed. It would be too easy for this team to continue to try for incremental changes to the trading rules with the EU. The EU will survive without the UK and it is changing up, most significantly for the UK via its Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA). People, mainly convinced Brexiters, have been saying the EU has changed too much, it hasn’t yet, but it will, The IAA is likely to increase the UK’s barriers to entry EU markets, harm the UK economy, and thus the living standards of the UK people. We must put more on the table and act with speed. I believe that membership of the EEA, is a minimum first step and that the European Movement’s 5 asks are minimal demands.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/passports-dfl-cc0-2022-w650-crpd-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/passports-dfl-cc0-2022-w650-crpd-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/passports-dfl-cc0-2022-w650-crpd-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />The European Movement write to Andy Burnham on his arrival at Downing St.. They call for the Government and Labour Party to, They now have a petition to support their demands, I have signed it, it would be great if
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/passports-dfl-cc0-2022-w650-crpd-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/passports-dfl-cc0-2022-w650-crpd-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/passports-dfl-cc0-2022-w650-crpd-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> The European Movement write to Andy Burnham on his arrival at Downing St.. They call for the Government and Labour Party to, Drop the red lines on Europe, By the end of 2026, publish a strategy for cementing the UK’s place in Europe Make the UK Europe’s closest security partner Launch a national conversation on the UK’s European future Put a route to EU membership in Labour’s next manifesto They now have a petition to support their demands, I have signed it, it would be great if you did too. Image Credit: By me! CC 2022 BY-SA 2.0 or via flickr.
A time for reflection by London Labour, or not.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a red rose" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />London Labour held its annual conference on 18th and 19th of July, a month and half after disastrous local election results, and in the shadow of Keir Starmer’s resignation as leader of the Labour Party. These two events shaped the
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a red rose" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ashkan-forouzani-rosegarden-unsplash-w750-cropped-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> London Labour held its annual conference on 18th and 19th of July, a month and half after disastrous local election results, and in the shadow of Keir Starmer’s resignation as leader of the Labour Party. These two events shaped the debates that took place and in the tradition of the current leadership faction, the vast amount of time was given over to speakers from the platform, either as panel speakers, or just guest speeches. There were two MP guest speakers, David Lammy and Wes Streeting who were occasionally joined on the platform by the outgoing regional director, Aline Delawa and regional chair Maggi Ferncombe of Unison. They all repeated what’s becoming a line about what a good leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer was, how he’d delivered a working majority after Labour’s greatest post-war election loss, and a successful government, even though and unmentioned, the number of votes won was amongst the lowest. This story is not true, and repeating this nonsense will make it harder to recover our vote share; it leaves the question, that if he was so good, “why did he have to resign?”, unanswered. It’s a retread of Mandelson’s strategy, “they have nowhere else to go”, which has been proven to be false, most dramatically in 2019, and I am reminded, that in Scotland, there is now a generation that has never voted Labour and that in 2024, the hero voter strategy failed. There is reticence to recognise that Palestine cut through and that the mantle of community progressive leadership has, in London at least, moved to the Greens. Labour were also hampered by being unable and/or unwilling to say it was a good government. For me and my Labour comrade councillors, it is galling to live in a borough which wins awards for its parks and have introduced landlord registration and yet lose to the Greens particularly where renters have switched from Labour to the Greens to punish a Labour Government that strengthened renter’s rights by making new laws. Something I have noticed, and it came up at the Conference, is an anti-Green sectarianism. While it should be clear that there are political disagreements between the two parties, the crude stupidity of Labour’s anti-Green position, focusing on NATO and a controversial position on drugs makes it hard to genuinely speak to Labour’s defecting voters, most of whom are good people who feel let down by the first Labour Government of their generation. We may come to regret this. Another part of the complacency is the idea that they’ll come back, we just have to wait our turn. During a Q&A session, one of the contributors pointed out that, the General Election strategy, where Labour instructed campaigners to campaign outside London meant that voters might and did feel ignored as the level of contact and conversation was diminished. We need to ask just how good the London Labour regional offices is or has been. It’s job has been to manage the party; winning elections has come a distant second. In London over the last two local election cycles, London Labour have lost six councils and in three of them, the councils are now led by Labour defectors who have been the victims of underhand administrative action by the regional office. Len Duvall, the leader of the Labour Group on the GLA spoke of the next London wide elections, on the challenges facing the Mayor and highlighting his successes, the Fare Freeze, School Meals, Policing, where knife crime is down, and clean air, through electrification and investing in trees and parks. He also highlighted Kahn’s brave stand against hate. Duvall warned that Labour needed to get its candidates in place as soon as possible. London Region’s record in just forgetting to hold trigger ballots is well remembered, at least by me. In the REC elections, Labour to Win won all the seats, with one exception and that was because they failed to run a full slate. The office had also excluded the delegation from Islington South CLP; its presence might have made a difference in that division which has often been a stronghold of their opponents. The three Newham Parties remain suspended. There was 1½ hours for motions, which were on the whole pretty anodyne. They included motions from the Unions on Pay, London Weighting, Hours, the Health Service, and gambling. To this we add Unite’s motion calling for a debate and greater regulation of automated vehicles with a moratorium until regulation is in place. The Co-Op party tabled two motions. The CLP motion on re-nationalising Thames water was ruled out of order, and a CLP motion calling for better rail routes in South London was defeated when the ASLEF delegate stated that it would require more track or sacrificing other routes. Lewisham North’s motions on Horizon Europe and Rail Services were not submitted on time. Does this accurately show the interest that CLPs have in policy? I attended as a delegate from my Union, and this is written in a personal capacity. It was written in mid-August, from contemporaneous notes and back dated to the Monday following the Conference. The featured image is from unsplash.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-swearingin-cc-hcommons-2026-by-nc-nd-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Andy Burnham in the House of Commons being sworn in" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-swearingin-cc-hcommons-2026-by-nc-nd-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-swearingin-cc-hcommons-2026-by-nc-nd-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />We have a new Prime Minister and so I have updated my infographic. Featured Image Credit: CC House of Commons 2026 BY-NC-ND
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-swearingin-cc-hcommons-2026-by-nc-nd-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Andy Burnham in the House of Commons being sworn in" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-swearingin-cc-hcommons-2026-by-nc-nd-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-swearingin-cc-hcommons-2026-by-nc-nd-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> We have a new Prime Minister and so I have updated my infographic. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="629" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Prime-Ministers-and-their-fates-2026-1024x629.png" alt="" class="wp-image-13912" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Prime-Ministers-and-their-fates-2026-1024x629.png 1024w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Prime-Ministers-and-their-fates-2026-300x184.png 300w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Prime-Ministers-and-their-fates-2026-768x472.png 768w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Prime-Ministers-and-their-fates-2026.png 1110w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Featured Image Credit: CC House of Commons 2026 BY-NC-ND
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the ECB building in Frankfurt" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />Niall Ó Conghaille and Mike Galsworthy discuss the Euro and its role in the rejoin process. This is what I think. While I agree, that for the UK to rejoin the European Union it is necessary for them to agree,
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the ECB building in Frankfurt" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ecb-frankfurt-cc-dfl1955-2011-BY-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> Niall Ó Conghaille and Mike Galsworthy discuss the Euro and its role in the rejoin process. This is what I think. While I agree, that for the UK to rejoin the European Union it is necessary for them to agree, in good faith, to join the euro. … Your arguments in favour of the EU insisting that the UK agree to join the Euro do not address the embedded macroeconomic theory within the stability and growth pact. The ECB has a mandate to pursue price stability before growth or employment. That is a choice, and one that should be taken democratically, not embedded in an almost impossible to change treaty. The financial tests of the Euro are deflationary and currently many of the large countries inc. Euro members fail to meet the criteria because they, i..e the criteria are bonkers or to use a more professional term, the democratically elected governments, with time-limited terms have decided that it is not in the interests of, nor supported by their voters. It would be useful if advocates of the Euro spoke of these disadvantages; you ask us to support the Euro, in fact suggest that negotiations will fail unless we agree to join, but austerity economics is high price to pay. It would help if those who agree said so and held out a prospect for change.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/euflag-markusspiske-wIUxLHndcLw-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the eu flag in front of a sand tone coloured building" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/euflag-markusspiske-wIUxLHndcLw-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/euflag-markusspiske-wIUxLHndcLw-unsplash-w750-cropped-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />RTE report that the EU Commission, has issued a warning to Ireland, and seven other countries, for failing to fully adopt an EU directive on transparent and predictable working conditions. The Commission statement states they have “… adopted two new
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/euflag-markusspiske-wIUxLHndcLw-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the eu flag in front of a sand tone coloured building" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/euflag-markusspiske-wIUxLHndcLw-unsplash-w750-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/euflag-markusspiske-wIUxLHndcLw-unsplash-w750-cropped-230x230.png 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> RTE report that the EU Commission, has issued a warning to Ireland, and seven other countries, for failing to fully adopt an EU directive on transparent and predictable working conditions. The Commission statement states they have “… adopted two new reports on the Employers Sanctions Directive and the Seasonal Workers Directive , assessing efforts to ensure fair working conditions for third-country nationals, prevent migrant exploitation and tackle illegal employment. RTE continues, “The European Commission said it has decided to open infringement procedures by sending a letter of formal notice to Ireland, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal and Finland. I wonder if the Commission has considered writing to HMG to see of the UK is infringing on the “level playing field” clauses of the TCA. The UK’s employee protection rights remain amongst the weakest in the OECD. I expect the Commission is currently too busy to pursue the UK on this issue.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="andy burnham" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-150x150.jpg 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-270x270.jpg 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-230x230.jpg 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />Andy Burnham, the likely next leader of the Labour Party made a speech on Monday 29th June, from the People’s History Museum in Salford. I have linked to the Sky News video of the speech. I have captured the transcript
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="andy burnham" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-150x150.jpg 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-270x270.jpg 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/burnham-cc-2018-eu-by-nc-sa-230x230.jpg 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> Andy Burnham, the likely next leader of the Labour Party made a speech on Monday 29th June, from the People’s History Museum in Salford. I have linked to the Sky News video of the speech. I have captured the transcript and posted it on my wiki. See below, overleaf for my comments. Is that it? Moving part of No 10 to Manchester. What is he moving and how will that change things? We should note that this has already been tried once, when Sunak, then PM, moved part of the Treasury to Darlington. Devolution needs more than relocating civil servants from London. The proposal is an oblique criticism of Starmer’s failure to act on the Brown Commission report which proposed both a limited devolution in England and a legal entrenchment of local government rights. In my article, “New Britain, New Britcon”, (or on Medium), I argued that such plans would fail unless funded and funded in such a way that the axiom that poor areas need more services, and generate lower tax revenues is addressed. Devolution for a progressive government needs both money and a means of equitable sharing. Many will ask “why Manchester?” It is the second economic centre in Britain but is it the best place to locate a flagship to devolution. Having said that, he namechecks other parts of the UK, including even London but it just leaves me asking the question, “Does location of the Civil Service really make a difference?”, surely it needs to be about money and power. In “New Britain, New BritCon”, I also looked at civil service numbers and concluded that there was a very limited room for further dispersal. This reinforces the fact that location of civil servants is not enough since it’s the cultural & policy status quo that needs challenging. One of the problems in today’s economy is that even if it grows, those who reap the benefit are not the bottom 70%. Profits and return on capital mean the current economy as an extraction economy where the majority are struggling to afford to live while an ultra-plutocratic minority often living in the USA are getting richer. In order to resolve this, he doesn’t propose nationalisation, or the appropriation of private debt within public services; he proposes a form of regionalisation. I am not a fan of Morrisonian corporations and maybe a politically accountable commissioning model might work better but it doesn’t address the extraction economy nor the excessive financialisaton of the economy. He does speak about the Treasury, and I think underestimates the cultural inertia of forty years, or longer, of economic orthodoxy and promises to keep to Reeves’s rules. The Treasury is a problem, it’s tied to neo-liberalism and seems unable to unwind the interests of 21st century capitalism with that of the people it and the government are meant to serve. So even having strong political direction, unless the financial rules are changed the problems will remain and his proposed choice of advisers doesn’t auger well. In an article on the Guardian, they say, Burnham is understood to be getting advice from Andy Haldane, a former Bank of England chief economist, as well as Richard Hughes, a former chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility and Jim O’Neill, a crossbench peer and former Treasury minister who worked on George Osborne’s “Northern Powerhouse”. Haldane is an interest rate hawk, Hughes is unlikely to support more flexible attitude to borrowing. These choices emphasise to me the fact that the financial rules need to change and that Burnham does not understand that need. On Education, there’s not enough focus on Universities, neither their parlous financial state nor their crucial role in economic growth. Apprenticeships are important, but so is further and higher education. Private consumer debt funded university finance has failed. We need another model and need to remove the de-facto 16+. On housing the targets are ambitious and there seems little insight into the construction supply chains, possibly most importantly skilled workers most of whom come from eastern or central Europe. If the UK plans to build, it needs to welcome those who can make it happen. AI can’t build houses. It is not possible to grow the economy and continue with Mahmood & Starmer’s immigration policies. There’s no mention of foreign policy i.e. Gaza, and decoupling from the USA nor trade i.e. the EU, nor on Energy where price controls and enhanced profit taxes are needed and would be popular. It’s all a bit disappointing. Image Credit: Flickr EU Committee of Regions BY-NC-SA. This site is non-commercial.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />A nasty little piece by Mujtaba Rahman which contains the unstated assumption that the UK’s political direction and relations with the EU, are fixed and desirable. The other side of the coin is that the EU is about to change
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/berlaymont-dfl-2023-cropped-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> A nasty little piece by Mujtaba Rahman which contains the unstated assumption that the UK’s political direction and relations with the EU, are fixed and desirable. The other side of the coin is that the EU is about to change up; missing the boat would leave the UK isolated and poorer. The UK shouldn’t apply to rejoin until its ready to be a good citizen and sees the EU as more than a trade club. Rahman says, The EU of 2026 is an organisation built increasingly on common borrowing, an assertive joint industrial policy and a growing role in security and defence I ask who wouldn’t want that. The changing nature of the world’s international relations means we need reliable friends. Let’s see what changes Burnham makes to the Labour Party, or what space he gives to its eu-phile majority.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the stars and strips" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-150x150.jpg 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-270x270.jpg 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-230x230.jpg 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />Congratulations USA, on your 250th birthday except, the constitution of the republic was ratified 4th March 1789 making it the 237th birthday; it entrenched slavery and excluded native Americans and women, blacks couldn’t vote until 1870 and women until 1920,
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="the stars and strips" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-150x150.jpg 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-270x270.jpg 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/starsstripes-karlcallwood-i8tfXAiwM1Q-unsplash-w750-230x230.jpg 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> Congratulations USA, on your 250th birthday except, the constitution of the republic was ratified 4th March 1789 making it the 237th birthday; it entrenched slavery and excluded native Americans and women, blacks couldn’t vote until 1870 and women until 1920, although this was before the UK permitted women to vote. They adopted what they saw as the results of the English Civil War albeit with an explicit separation of powers, and guaranteed local democratic powers invested in the constituent states and the people by the 10th Amendment. The growth of political parties, and the designed unaccountability of the Senate and Supreme Court can be seen today as critical weaknesses which one hopes are not copied by Europe’s constitutional reformers and that democrats in the US are able to fix.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a warship in a rough sea" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />I went to watch the cruel sea on HMS Belfast on 13th June; the show consisted of the film followed by two selections from the Imperial War museums film archive. There was a question and answer session, chaired by James
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="a warship in a rough sea" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cruel-sea-1-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> I went to watch the cruel sea on HMS Belfast on 13th June; the show consisted of the film followed by two selections from the Imperial War museums film archive. There was a question and answer session, chaired by James Taylor and Charlotte Ross of the IWM. During the Q&A, I made a contribution, and have transcribed my notes as a comment on the original article. The featured image is cropped from a graphic on this page, advertising the book as an audiofile. I have cropped it and justify my use as “fair use”.
Earlier this month, Michel Barnier made a speech in which he suggested that the European Union would welcome the United Kingdom rejoining the EU even with some of the opt-outs previously negotiated. Barnier is very clear that he is only
Earlier this month, Michel Barnier made a speech in which he suggested that the European Union would welcome the United Kingdom rejoining the EU even with some of the opt-outs previously negotiated. Barnier is very clear that he is only talking about Schengen and the Euro. The huge problem with the speech and the suggestion that opt-outs remain on the table is this will be interpreted by lukewarm supporters and political weathercocks as permission to haggle on the terms of re-entry. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="750" height="299" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Barnier-flickr-EP-CC-2019-BY-w750-letterbox.png" alt="" class="wp-image-13880" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Barnier-flickr-EP-CC-2019-BY-w750-letterbox.png 750w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Barnier-flickr-EP-CC-2019-BY-w750-letterbox-300x120.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /> Michel Barnier – European Parliament cc 2019 BY The unacceptability of UK opt-outs within the EU, specifically, staying out of Schengen and the Euro, is illustrated in a recent You Gov poll. Unfortunately, for rejoiners, the French and Germans will only accept a UK application if it includes Schengen and the Euro, while support in the UK falls if we do not rejoin on the terms we had. It would be interesting to note what people believe those terms to be, as apart from Schengen and the Euro, they include a partial opt-out from the justice pillar, together with the famous rebate. I am concerned that while a number of campaigners have been trying to prove their cleverness by suggesting there’s ways to rejoin without agreeing to the Copenhagen Criteria, others have been encouraged to consider EU membership as an a-la-carte process. It is not. On the question of opt-outs, we, i.e. rejoiners need to show some leadership. Schengen comes with the right to freedom of movement. This is a popular and positive benefit of full membership of the European Union. Politicians, particularly Labour politicians should be showing some leadership. The opt-outs are gone; there may be some technical reasons why Schengen and the Euro will take some time but being a net contributor is one reason why we’re wanted and full membership of the justice pillar gives each citizen access to the Court of Justice of the European Union acting as a backstop against the authoritarian instincts of the British State with judges appointed by the children of opponents of fascism and Stalinism. Being members of the Digital Single Market would have the benefit of defending our democracy against US Oligarchs and Putin. I want my European citizenship back, I want to vote for MEPs and a Parliament that appoints a Commissioner and Judge, and has a seat on the European Council. And since this is a metaphor in common use, I want it in my lifetime. I also want to participate in improving the democracy of the EU to make it accountable to the views of citizens and residents. Another reason for pace, is that the EU is about to move on in a big way. Many argue that its changed too much to rejoin anyway; it’s not yet true and just something that Brexiters say but if the industrial policy takes off, it will damage the UK’s ability to export and further damage supply chains.
Is winning in Makerfield a new dawn for Labour, or just that this time, voters chose Labour as the “Not Farage” candidate. Since they won in Runcorn & Helsby, Reform have failed in Caerphilly, Gorton and Denton, and now Makerfield,
Is winning in Makerfield a new dawn for Labour, or just that this time, voters chose Labour as the “Not Farage” candidate. Since they won in Runcorn & Helsby, Reform have failed in Caerphilly, Gorton and Denton, and now Makerfield, losing to Plaid Cymru, the Greens and now to Labour. It was a great victory for Burnham and Labour, but the question has to be asked together with has Labour learnt the lesson that to fight Reform, you need to fight it. (I think not!) <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/55326778434_91f26b41af_b.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-13873" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/55326778434_91f26b41af_b.jpg 1024w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/55326778434_91f26b41af_b-300x200.jpg 300w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/55326778434_91f26b41af_b-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> Source: No10@flickr 10th June 2026 CC 2026 BY-ND-NC Having returned to the House of Commons, Burnham has forced Keir Starmer to resign and a time table for a Party leadership election has been declared. Much has been written about why he had to go; I have been calling for it since February when the likely defeats in Scotland and Wales became obvious. On the day, Labour also lost three more London Councils. Starmer’s resignation speech starts in the same way as his election campaign to be leader of the Labour Party, with lies. When Starmer inherited the Labour Party, it was in the strongest financial position it had been for decades and anyone who has closely read the Forde report and the EHRC report knows there is still work to do to eliminate racism from the Labour Party. The focus on macroeconomic statistics repeats the mistakes that Biden made. While I do not subscribe to the meme that “perception is reality”, perhaps it is truer in politics than in engineering. Claiming the credit for growth doesn’t work if income equality remains at the current miserable level and if the growth in the economy goes into the pockets of a few. If people don’t feel better off, then it’s pointless claiming they should. It’s also difficult to understand, how Starmer can claim credit for the abolition of the two child benefit cap when he initially suspended seven MPs for voting for that abolition. Much has been written about Starmer’s weaknesses as a politician and Prime Minister. For a lot more words you can check out Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian, who focuses on personality and the politics of Downing St., and fails to mention Gaza and the Middle East, and alternatively, Phil Burton Cartledge, who does mention them, together with the dishonesty of his mandate within the Party. Phil also repeats his accusation that Starmer and McSweeney deliberately sought to break up Corbyn’s electoral coalition. Although some would seek to claim he’s been good on the world stage; this does need to be contrasted with his speeches and actions on Gaza, which is one of the primary causes for Labour’s loss of political support. Labour started the general election campaign with a poll score of 44%, finished with a vote of 34% which has since collapsed to a score in the high teens. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="902" height="363" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image.png" alt="" class="wp-image-13872" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image.png 902w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-300x121.png 300w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-768x309.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 902px) 100vw, 902px" /> Source: politico.eu – British polls 24 June 2026 It is expected that Burnham will be crowned as Labour’s new leader. If so he will be beholden to the fixers and not the membership and his retreats from his beliefs in order to win Makerfield are worrying because Labour and the country need a change of direction not a change of personnel. The new leader also needs to turn Labour’s democracy back on. It is clear from the ending of Blair’s New Labour government that this Government and Labour leadership have run out intellectual steam; the Party needs debate and new ideas to sustain its relevance and energy. We can also see by observing the last two years of the PLP what happens when MPs fear their whip more than their members and voters. Clive Lewis, in an article entitled, ‘After Burnham’s Win in Makerfield, the Answer Cannot be Managerial Politics with a Different Accent’, speaks for me, when he says, “Climate breakdown, war, energy insecurity, financial shocks, technological upheaval, and democratic decay are here. They will not wait for Labour to finish its management seminar.”
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ep-windowcleaner-w200-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ep-windowcleaner-w200-150x150.jpg 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ep-windowcleaner-w200.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />The ECI “Stop killing video games” was accepted as having reached its one million signature threshold earlier this year. The initiative seeks to prevent the remote disabling of videogames by their publishers. They also say, this prohibition can be met
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ep-windowcleaner-w200-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ep-windowcleaner-w200-150x150.jpg 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ep-windowcleaner-w200.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> The ECI “Stop killing video games” was accepted as having reached its one million signature threshold earlier this year. The initiative seeks to prevent the remote disabling of videogames by their publishers. They also say, this prohibition can be met by providing means for the game to continue functioning independent of publisher. This article looks at the Commission response, the campaign’s next steps and questions the Commission’s strategy in responding to ECIs. The Commission and Parliament’s engagement with the campaign is reported on their web site. EU law requires that the Commission react to successfully ECIs. This Commission have decided that the goals of the ECI cannot be legislated for but propose to develop a code of conduct in conjunction with the industry. They also seem to think that current consumer rights are helpful; personally I don’t see it. How has this response been received, in the words of Captain Rum, “Opinion be divided”. This seems disappointing for those for whom the central claim for justice is that people think they have bought the game just to find that it can be taken away. Some in the campaign argue that this response is better than might have been expected. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="576" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PjUS4Biv.jpg" alt="a box of CD/DVD's with a target on them, made by AI" class="wp-image-13867" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PjUS4Biv.jpg 768w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/PjUS4Biv-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /> The campaign also documents the Commission’s consultation with the industry including senior officers of Ubisoft leading to the following story at Yahoo. The campaign argues that the timing suggests a causality. Ubisoft is a French company. Despite the commission response, the campaign plans to get amendments to the “Digital Fairness Act” tabled in the European Parliament. Good luck to them. On an adjacent issue, campaigning comrades in CTOE have noticed an increasing reticence of the Commission to react to successful ECIs which is one of the few radical democracy measures available within the European Union. CTOEs attention since the start of the Commission’s mandate has been focused on the petitions to develop human rights law but the precedent is the “End the Cage Age” petition which has been buried by the Commission arguably at the behest of industrial farming industry. Taken together with the aggressive use of Article 122 emergency powers and “Omnibus” bills which minimise citizen consultation and row back on anti-climate change regulation and privacy rights. I wish the campaign well and will continue to work with Citizens Takeover to build a stronger and more accountable democracy within the European Union.
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />Here is Sky’s video copy of Healey and Cairns’ resignation speeches. My comments at the time, is that Healey is focusing on financial targets, while Cairns focuses on capability. I am convinced that focusing on finance is foolish; we need
<img width="150" height="150" src="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-150x150.png 150w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-270x270.png 270w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-230x230.png 230w, https://davelevy.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parliamnent-hansardsociety-w750-50x50.png 50w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /> Here is Sky’s video copy of Healey and Cairns’ resignation speeches. My comments at the time, is that Healey is focusing on financial targets, while Cairns focuses on capability. I am convinced that focusing on finance is foolish; we need to say what we need and who we think the threats are. They both avoid the threats and Healey even what we need. In On defence sovereignty I explained why I think they’re both wrong. The quiet part is that they want to buy some more warplanes from the USA together with nuclear bombs.