The Burnham Years - Can the new(ish) broom sweep clean?

[badgerx16]

54 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

We could have also had a national sovereign wealth fund, re-investing the profits from our oil and gas industry like Norway. 

True, and I think we should have done, but Maggie needed the tax revenues to fund tax cuts.

[Weston Super Saint]

7 hours ago, The Kraken said:

To take that away or reduce it / diminish it goes back on a a decades long agreement. It would be a horrendous move IMO, one of massive betrayal. 

 

Will never happen.  Pensioners = votes.

I can see reform of the system happening, but will only affect those of school age now and how their future will look, but will be something they 'grow up' with.

[Weston Super Saint]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpd76e737ljo

Quote

People in England needing immediate care for mental health problems will be able to access specialist walk-in hubs close to their home, the government is promising.

The aim is to give those experiencing a mental health crisis or significant distress somewhere to go to get help when they need it - with plans to open dozens of the hubs in high street locations like banks and libraries.

Whilst we no doubt need more mental health treatment centres, has this really been thought through?  Essentially you can get help from 9 to 5 Monday to Friday (maybe, unless your bank is only open 10-4!), but is that really when most mental health crises happen?  I assume they are more likely to happen outside of those hours?

Besides, do we really want someone suffering from a mental health crisis in the same place where large amounts of money are kept?  

[AlexLaw76]

This is awkward

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/08/05/wes-streeting-donations-linked-to-crypto-king-fraudster/

[egg]

11 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

This is awkward

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/08/05/wes-streeting-donations-linked-to-crypto-king-fraudster/

There's a paywall... headline doesn't look great though! 

[benjii]

50 minutes ago, egg said:

There's a paywall... headline doesn't look great though! 

Basically Sam Bankman-Fried (crypto billionaire subsequently done for fraud) donated 500k to a think tank. The think tank later gave 35k to Streeting. Apparently some other Labour figures declined gifts as they weren't sure where the money came from. 

I don't think SBF had been found guilty at the time though.

It's not really in the same league as being in direct cahoots with a money launderer and taking 5m quid and pretending it's not a political donation. 

[egg]

14 minutes ago, benjii said:

Basically Sam Bankman-Fried (crypto billionaire subsequently done for fraud) donated 500k to a think tank. The think tank later gave 35k to Streeting. Apparently some other Labour figures declined gifts as they weren't sure where the money came from. 

I don't think SBF had been found guilty at the time though.

It's not really in the same league as being in direct cahoots with a money launderer and taking 5m quid and pretending it's not a political donation. 

Thanks for that. So trying to compare an apple to an orchard. Still shows poor judgement, at best, though. 

[rallyboy]

Look, a dead cat!

[badgerx16]

1 hour ago, benjii said:

Basically Sam Bankman-Fried (crypto billionaire subsequently done for fraud) donated 500k to a think tank. The think tank later gave 35k to Streeting. Apparently some other Labour figures declined gifts as they weren't sure where the money came from. 

I don't think SBF had been found guilty at the time though.

It's not really in the same league as being in direct cahoots with a money launderer and taking 5m quid and pretending it's not a political donation. 

So, a desperate attempt at deflection and construction of an extremely flimsy false equivalence.