@Jamesara
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Partner at 5654 & Co. Ex govt advisor. Campaigning for better access to mental health services with #NoTimeToWait. https://nitter.cf/t.co/VfGfjOJXAW
Blackheath, England
Joined March 2012
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Mental health can affect any one of us and asking for help is often the hardest part.
No one should have to wait for support when they need it most.
This is why I’m working with @telegraph to improve access to counselling.
Article 👇#NoTimeToWait
telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/02… – at Greenwich, London
I personally think if you were gonna have an early election that window is closing, and closing fast 👇
EXC - Bleak new forecasts from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation suggest soaring energy and housing costs mean Labour could be set to preside over the worst parliament for living standards in modern history
theguardian.com/business/202…
Coming up on @SkyNewsPolitics after @KemiBadenoch speech with the fantastic @SophyRidgeSky and @SamCoatesSky
James Starkie retweeted
Asking Jews to pass a purity test and renounce self-determination according to a perverse interpretation arbitrarily applied, isn't just an extreme position, it’s a racist one.
That’s before we consider the Green party is now backing violent dismantling of Israel.
The PM doesn’t even seem sure what he is proposing, or what he said only a few weeks ago.
Quite incredible and a sign of the chaos to come.
Barnier confirms UK must allow freedom of movement to rejoin the EU.
Something that sees support for rejoining plummet in indicative opinion polls.
The case for rejoining falling apart in realtime.
"No cherry picking."
Michel Barnier, the man who negotiated Brexit for the EU, welcomes Andy Burnham weighing up whether the UK should rejoin the EU.
But he has a familiar warning about the possible terms. #R4Today
James Starkie retweeted
Former Tory adviser @Jamesara tells HuffPost UK that Andy Burnham has raised the bar for Kemi Badenoch’s speech to Tory conference next week.
“Burnham’s gone out there and planted a flag in the ground and said I’ll make some bold changes, which has left the Tories and Reform looking like they’re now defending the status quo, which in this case is the triple lock, the voting system and being outside the EU.
“Kemi can absolutely criticise what he’s announced, but she can’t only do that because then it sounds like she just wants things to stay the same. She needs to come up with her own big ideas to change the country, otherwise she’ll get left behind.”
huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/a…
Pro EU Twitter in total meltdown today about UK having to join the Euro and Schengen.
Assume the EU will soon confirm this is the basis for renegotiation imminently…unless then not being honest about the trade offs.
If the arguments are so good, why did you lose in 2016…?
The idea any public debate around rejoining the EU can avoid the single currency and freedom of movement is for the birds.
In fact, it would dominate any general election campaign.
On rejoining the EU
Support: 55%
Oppose: 34%
... but on the conditions of single currency and Schengen membership
Support: 35%
Oppose: 43%
via YouGov, Jun 2026
britainelects.substack.com/p…
James Starkie retweeted
Thank god, some signs of a more realistic conversation. The last thing the EU wants is more psychodrama. So, as well as passing several national referendums (like the French referendum on letting us in in 1972) there is no way we would be let back in without joining the euro and Schengen to show commitment. We would not get our rebate back. Super pro EU people hate hearing this but if they really want to campaign to rejoin they should do so on a realistic basis
A requirement of joining the EU would be joining the EURO, has anyone asked the Treasury what work has yet been done on the economic impact of this and if it hasn’t then when will it be done?
If he says the manifesto pledge is enough to rejoin the EU, without a referendum, will the same apply to the SNP and Scottish independence?
And ditto for any other devolved nation’s nationalist manifestos.
A massive can of worms.
Breaking:
Andy Burnham has said that Labour's next election manifesto could include a commitment to hold an in-out referendum or an outright pledge to rejoin the EU
The prime minister said he is not "leaping to a referendum" but said that if public opinion is "pointing towards" rejoining the EU he could commit to a vote
He also declined to rule out skipping a referendum entirely and fighting the next general election on a promise to rejoin the EU
He insisted that he was not "leaping towards" any one option such as a referendum, telling the BBC: "I think we'd have to see where the options fell out, what people feel about them, and then, depending on what people seem to be pointing towards, what we then do."
But pressed on whether he could promise an in-out referendum after the next election, he said: "Yeah, things are possible."
Andy Burnham yesterday essentially agreed a coalition agreement with the Lib Dem’s, all of his major measures would be their redlines:
➡️ social care ✅
➡️ electoral reform ✅
➡️ rejoin EU ✅
Make of that what you will…
Whatever you think of the individual policies & lack of detail around Burnham’s speech, it will likely appear radical to members of the public who believe radical change is needed.
The challenge for the opposition parties is now to meet that desire for radical change themselves
Labour Soars To 6-Point Poll Lead Over Reform UK In Major Boost For Burnham
huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/l…
James Starkie retweeted
If you move to PR and a form of list system, you lose the ability to get rid of politicians at the ballot box.
You also effectively end the role of the constituency MP…
And you also get nearly permanent coalition governments, whereby politicians cut deals to decide who governs without the public having a say.
NEW: Burnham announces that Labour will have electoral reform in its next manifesto
There will be in the meantime a new national commission on electoral reform
"We will contest the next election with a manifesto commitment to change the electoral system so that every vote counts and everyone's voices are heard"
If Reform back joining the EU that would be one helluva plot twist.
Andy Burnham has fired the starting gun on the next general election. Triple lock gone for double lock. Ditch first past the post. Big step towards the EU. New expensive free social care plan. He explicitly said these would be in the next Labour manifesto (albeit details to come). Big questions now for Tories and Reform on what positions they’ll adopt on those.
Apparently, if the state doesn’t pay people they may become terrorists…
Andy Burnham on @LBC expanding on his theme that you can’t prioritise national security over social security. He seems to suggest young people could be drawn into anti-state violence if they have their benefits cut…
Peak Burnham
On the immigration row between Shabana Mahmood and Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham tells @LBC: "I'm both on Team Angela and Team Shabana".