18 June 2026 - Makerfield Battle for Britain?

Makerfield By-Election: All political forces will be there?

Labour is reportedly asking the Green Party not to stand, but Green Party supporters have stated that they will stand. The fear is that the Green Party will take away valuable votes that will make it more difficult for Labour to win. A win in Makerfield is important for a myriad of reasons. For the Labour Party it is about survival. Losing both Makerfield and Manchester, after two series of disastrous local elections is too much to bare. 

For the Green Party it is a test of its newly found popularity that led the Green Party to take control or almost all control of what used to be Labour Party strongholds. How safe are Labour MP seats? Recently, the Green Party got an MP elected in a by-election called because of the resignation of a Labour MP.

For Reform, it is the challenge of winning a Labour Party seat, on top of the many council seats taken away from both Labour and Conservatives. And what about the Conservative Party? Standing to lose to Reform? Making it easy for Labour or Green to take the seat?  Friends or Foes?

For the country, it is the possibility of getting, yet again, a non elected Prime Minister. People will soon start asking about mandates. Nigel Farage predicted that in 2026 there was going to be a General Election. Could Andy Burnham, if chosen as Prime Minister, call a General Election? Would he be willing to risk the more than 400 seats that Labour has now in Parliament?

The election is just weeks away, and what happens in Makerfield does matter.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer promises to campaign for Andy Burnham in Makerfield By-Election

 

Just recently, apparently, Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood on the way and reportedly prevented Andy Burnham from standing as a Labour Candidate that Labour lost to the Green Party. 

Since then, Labour nost just lost one by-election. Labour had a catastrophic performance in local elections, performace that reinforce a trend of people who want him to stand down as Labour Party Leader and therefore as British Prime Minister.

Wes Streeting, a now former Health Secretary, has stated that if there is a leadership challenge he would be standing in the Leadership Campaign.

Now, today, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised that he will campaign for Andy Burnham. This is a peculiar position to be in for, if Andy Burnham wins the by-election then he as newly elected MP would be in a position to challenge Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.

Lets not forget that the fact that Andy Burnham will be standing in the by-election means that the post of Manchester Mayor is vacant and this means having to have an additional by-election.

This is a crucial moment. Labour must win both by-election. Losing Makerfield, means the end of Andy Burnham´s chances of becoming Prime Minister without a General Election. It is a mixed baggage for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party. 

(Pending updates)

Keir Starmer will say whatever he thinks you want to hear without actually meaning what he says

 

Keir Starmer's turnaround regarding ULEZ, about tuition fees and about two-children welfare payments tell you everything you want to know. He made promises to Stop Oil to get their financial support and to show certain factions of his own political party that he is truthful about environmental goals, but this is about it.

Keir Starmer is the kind of politician that will make meaningless promises. He will kneel down and tell you that he believes that women have penises and whatever else he thinks is popular only to turn against what he says if he senses that such statements will not bring him votes and his is oblivious to the feelings of segments of his own party that go against his declared official policies. If you need somebody that will take into account the entire country, Keir Starmer is not the man for the job.

As the budget to deal with illegal immigrants rises and rises, he will continue talking about open floodgates because segments of his own party have been indoctrinated to accept what is illegal and pretend that breaking laws and entering the country illegally for the benefit of criminal gangs is perfectly legal and normal. Such lack of consistency is dangerous as it is criminal. If you are a man in charge of enforcing laws and make a political career based on ignoring laws, then you are no different from a career criminal.

The Labour Party has quality politicians like Andy Burham. What the heck is the Labour Party thinking about when it chooses people like Keir Starmer. Things have got to the point when long term Labour supports are being preventing from standing and such is the case of Mayoral Candidate that chose to abandon the Labour Party to stand as independent because the London clique does not want to stand to represent its own constituents.

Andy Burham is consistent and experienced and it has proved it as Mayor of Manchester. Unfortunately, according to the Labour Party rules, Andy Burham cannot stand for Leader because he is not a member of Parliament. 

And what example is Keir Starmer giving to Londoners, when he turned around and accused Sadiq Khan saying that Sadiq Khan's policies lost the Labour Party the election in Uxbridge? Next year, there will be elections for Mayor of London and the London Assembly. Keir Starmer is dividing his own political party, having more political turnarounds than a merry-go-round, making statements about things he does not really believe, and failing to listen to Labour Party supporters. 

 

Kim Leadbeater: In a first past the post election, we should think more about the qualities of the candidate than about the qualities of the leader of a political party

 

Whether Kim Leadbeater is or isn't the sister of Jo Cox that used to represent Batley and Spen - there will be a by-election next July - is for some people a relevant issue and some think that she was selected to stand because she is the sister of Jo Cox.

For me, personally, it is about the qualities of the candidate and it should not matter who is the Leader of the Labour Party. It is a first-past-the-post election. We should focus on the candidate and not on who is the Leader of the party.

By the same token, people in Manchester voted for Andy Burnham because Andy Burnham was the man standing, I am sure that many of those voting for Andy Burnham do not agree with the way Keir Starmer is leading the Labour Party, but they still voted for Andy Burnham because they like the way he runs Manchester as Mayor of Manchester. The same should apply to Batley and Spen.

Some Labour MPs have publicly said that if the Labour Party loses the by-election in a seat that they have held since 1997 (the year when Tony Blair came to power as Prime Minister), it will be curtains for Keir Starmer's leadership. For some, this is about the Labour Party. I think this is about the person that the people of Batley and Spen want to represent them in Westminster.

Trying to equate Hartlepool with Batley and Spen is wrong for various reasons. Firstly, the by-election in Hartlepool was called because the local Labour MP resigned because of an ongoing investigation into sexual abuses. The situation is Batley and Spen is radically different. The by-election in Batley and Spen was called because Tracy Brabin - the local Labour MP - was elected Mayor of West Yorkshire. 

There is a significant factor. In the EU Membership Referendum, 60 per cent of those who voted voted for Brexit. Therefore, some in the Labour Party should tone down their anti-Brexit rhetoric and at least try to respect the will of the voters of Batley and Spen.

Kim Leadbeater has spoken with wisdom. She has reminded the official Labour Party that far too many Labour MPs have no experience of the real world and that this contributes to their detachment from ordinary voters. 

In politics, the issue is to have candidates that can perform

In politics, the issue is to have candidates that can perform

A politician is a salesman that sells ideas and strive to meet up expectations. Voters look at the salesman. Is he a credible salesman? They listen to what that the salesman says and ponder about how likely the salesman is to deliver what he promises to deliver. They might like or dislike what is on offer. If they dislike what is on offer, they might go against it and if they like what is on offer they might even disregard their first impression about the salesman (or salewoman).

The Liberal Democrats had been all over the place and in the spate of a few years have had more leaders that there were General Elections. Correct me if I forget all the names. After Paddy Ashdown came Charles Kennedy, Sir Menzies Campbell, Vince Cable, Nick Clegg, Tim Farron, Sir Vince Cable, Jo Swinson, Baroness Sal Brighton, Sir Ed Davey, and Mark Pack? For the duration of one Parliament they were in power in coalition with the Conservatives under David Cameron.

The Liberal Democrats - with a few exceptions - defined themselves as pro-EU. After the 2016 Referendum, the made themselves one of the stumbling blocks in the quest for Brexit. They desperately pursued the possibility of a Second Referendum with the hope of keeping Britain in the European Union. When that failed to cristalize, they went for a General Election that they strongly believed would give them what they wanted but from the start the struggle to reach an agreement with other political forces to overcome party political differences. They divided the Remain Camp because they couldn't possibly reach an agreement with Jeremy Corbyn. The fact that several Labour MPs and several Conservative MPs decided to join them was not an incentive to reach such agreement. She went as a far as saying that she would go against Article 50 and de-facto keep Britain in the European Union despite the outcome of the 2016 Referendum on EU Membership. This last act signalled the beginning of the end for Jo Swinson's leadership. The British Electorate could possibly stomach the idea of a Second Referendum. They couldn't possibly support somebody that talked about getting rid of the Article 50 straight away.

The issue for Scottish voters - Jo Swinson was at the time a Scottish MP - was to decide between an SNP that openly stood for Remain and also for Scottish Independence and a Liberal Democrat MP that stood for Remain but against Scottish Independence. The political fate of Jo Swinson was sealed. She lost her seat and as a direct consequence of losing her seat she could not continue as Lib Dem leader.

Voters didn't like the saleswoman, didn't believe that the saleswoman could deliver what she was offering and many even didn't like what she was offering. In the process, every single Labour MP and every single Conservative MP that defected to Lib Dems lost their seats. Even the possibility of a hang Parliament eluded them. 

The agony for both Lib Dems and Labour is self-evident. For Labour, as some Labour representatives have publicly stated, the aim is to restore public faith. The party is a divided as before. It is difficult to find a unity candidate. London set itself apart from the rest of the Labour movement when Labour voters outside London decided that the only possible choice was to support the Conservative Party.

To say that the Labour Party has a mountain to climb would be a historic understatement. As long as whoever replaces Jeremy Corbyn is seen as a representative of the Jeremy Corbyn lobby, the Labour Party will struggle to recover.

Now, all eyes look towards the 2020 May Elections and in particular towards the London Mayoral Election in which an opponent of Jeremy Corbyn - Sadiq Khan - is likely to win a second mandate. Given the absence of candidates visibly able to unseat Sadiq Khan, the London Mayoral Election could serve to unite a very divided Labour Party.

Do you see Sadiq Khan as potential Labour Party leader? Nobody mentions Andy Burnham - present Mayor of Greater Manchester. Former Member of Parliament and former Cabinet Minister and a likeable individual far detached from Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and one of the centre-left politicians born in Liverpool - a northerner. If the Labour Party has any hope of bringing back traditional labour voters into the fold, choosing a man from Liverpool with proven political record would not be a bad choice. Sadiq Kahn would appeal to London. Andy Burham would appeal to the country as a whole. 

Whoever is chosen now as leader could end up being the leader of a party forever in opposition but if the struggle ends up being a war between London and the rest of the country the Labour Party will have to decide between being a political party for London or being a political party for Britain. 

 

Politics in Britain: When Politics is War

Politics in Britain: When Politics is War I have been following politics from a very early age. I have been in politics for more than half a century. I have in politics in the most extreme of circumstances. I have seen dirty tricks of all kinds and what happens in Britain today goes beyond dirty tricks. This is crowd manipulation when different standards are applied to every situation  If one side is harassed to the point of reacting it is said to be normal or even desirable. If those on the receiving end justifiably react when faced with harassment they are depicted as the aggressors.

Ezra Levant describes to perfection what is going on: Dear Karl, I hate watching the mainstream media cover Tommy Robinson’s election campaign to be the next Member of the European Parliament. The media is working hand-in-hand with Antifa rioters. Their street gangs attack Tommy when he’s out campaigning, but the media portray it as if Tommy’s the one causing trouble. Even worse, the police just stand back and let it all happen. They’d never let that happen to, say, Jeremy Corbyn. Those involved in demonising need to stop and think because their demonising campaign show very little respect or care for human life. There is a point when those in the mass media need to understand that as direct consequence of their kind of reporting people will get killed. Replace milkshakes with something else and you will see the picture. As we see people carrying knives and killing other people, it is also easy to imagine a disturbed individual knifing to death a candidate or a political activist or a journalist. A Journalist carries with him or her an enormous responsibility. A Police officer carries with him or her an enormous responsibility. When a Police officer stands aside, doing nothing for political reasons, a Police officer is failing in his or her duty of care. With every new incident, danger levels rise. We can continue passing legislation to presumably prevent Extremism but politicians and mass media are fomenting Extremism by promoting messages that exclude people simply because they - politicians and mass media - have a political agenda. The more we exclude people, the more disenfranchised people become, the more Extremism there will be. There is a point when frustration leads to anger and anger leads to violence. And this is exactly what is happening right now. The more repressive legislation becomes the more the potential for violence grows. You might not agree with a man like Tommy Robinson. You are duly entitled to disagree with anybody. You are not entitled to harass, attack or demonise anybody simply because you don't agree. Harassment, demonising, discrimination and even violence perpetrated against people the Political Establishment and the Mass Media that follow the Political Establishment don't like have become acceptable. This is not an environment for peaceful coexistence.

National Action: Over-generalisation leading to gross injustices

National Action: Over-generalisation leading to gross injustices

Whether National Action has been banned or proscribed for whatever reasons that the British government hasn't fully justified with facts, we need to focus on the rights of individuals and on how those rights are being eroded.

We have seen demonstrations carried out by Islamic organisations in the United Kingdom that have publicly and very loudly talked saying that their fundamental aim is the destruction of the British Way of Life. They have not only burnt Poppies or insulted British Soldiers that were returning from the battlefields. They have actually engaged in the promotion of terrorism against Britain.

I don't see National Action doing anything of the sort. They are not going around detonating bombs in Manchester and London. They are not driving vehicles and killing people on the streets. They are not going around chasing girls and boys to rape them or to ply them with alcohol and drugs as some Muslim groups in the United Kingdom have done.

The British Government is using Anti-Terror Legislation to persecute people who are not involved in acts of terrorism and the definition of what constitutes Terrorism and what doesn't constitute Terrorism is open to abuse by British Authorities.

I happen to personally know individuals who are now facing the courts falsely accused of being involved in acts of terrorism. I did know Paul Hickman who took his own life facing the threat of a  court using kangaroo charges that are a total fabrication. I happen to personally know Jack Renshaw and Jack Renshaw is not the kind of person that would possible be what the British Authorities seem to believe that he is.

This issue affects me personally because I strongly believe that these injustices are being committed on the name of Political Correctness going mad.

I have personally written to the Home Office Secretary Amber Rudd MP, as I have written to Helen Hayes MP, Jo Swinson MP, and to the Head of the North East Counter Terrorism Unit, alerting them that extremely serious injustices are being committed and all for the sake of Political Correctness.

Whether any of the aforementioned British Authorities wants to take any notice of what I have said remains to be seen but the point has to be made.

London Terror: The Consequences of Ghetto Realities

Civilians being driven out of a danger zone. 

London Terror: The Consequences of Ghetto Realities

While Police Forces including an SAS group continue search trying to secure Central London, civilians with hands on their heads are being driven out of a danger zone.

This happens not long after another terrorist attack in Manchester and not long after yet another terrorist attack in Westminster close to the Houses of Parliament.

The realities of failed integration and of ghetto realities that have existed for a very long time are haunting what accounts as the fifth biggest economy in the world.

Once again, Britain is on the spot. The country is now renowned because of the number of atrocities committed on its own soil.

Not long ago, during the electoral campaign for the 2017 General Election, political parties were discussing about the so called Nuclear Deterrent. The Nuclear Deterrent cannot protect Britain from the enemy within.

The fact remains that flood immigration, regional conflicts outside Britain and the easy of transit in and out of the country, combined with failed integration are all contributing factors for what is happening now on a regular basis.

Areas where immigrant communities are now majorities are hotbeds for extremists. Attacks like the ones carried out last night in London are not preventable. There is no advanced technology involved. There is no massive planning. They can be an impromptu attack launched by a small group of individuals using a vehicle, knives and hand guns.

Until now, apart from three of the individuals involved in the attack, there have been 7 fatalities and more than 40 casualties but there are still 21 people fighting for their lives and the number of fatal victims can still go up.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said not long ago referring to Germany: Multikulti ist tot (Multiculturalism is dead). We cannot have people many of whom not even speak the language of the country, who very much despise the country and its customs living side by side with people that they actually hate. Sooner than later - last night was one of those times - violence explodes.

Manchester attack was a masterpiece

Manchester attack was a masterpiece

The terrorist attack in Manchester was carefully planned and a true masterpiece. To begin with the choice of venue, the occasion and the political background - during a General Election Campaign - everything was done for maximum effect, ensuring that there would be massive repercussions and international mass media coverage.

Whoever organised it is a true genius and we should give him, her, them credit for that. It was a despicable murderous attack but it was carried out with absolute efficiency. We shouldn't underestimate the people we are standing against. They have the brainpower to organise this kinds of attacks for maximum effect.

It was a low-cost operation, requiring not so much technical expertise and requiring limited manpower that minimised loss of human resources, therefore making it practicably undetectable. The Security Services due to lack of manpower usually focus on operations requiring big amounts of money, technical expertise and manpower because this is what usually allows early detection. They Security Services are not equipped to deal with operations like the Manchester operation.

Islamic State quickly make sure that it quickly capitalise on the political repercussions and it must have been a huge morale boost for its embattled troops in Iraq and in Syria.

These people are not cowards, they are not crazy and they are extremely intelligent. They know exactly what they are doing. The aftermath of the Manchester attack and the fact that alert levels have now been raised to Critical with the deployment of the army is certainly a huge success for Islamic State.

Mass Murder in Manchester: 22 dead and more than 50 people injured

Mass Murder in Manchester: 22 dead and more than 50 people injured

Cobra meetings and political correctness will not stop killings that are now happening with terrifying regularity in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Just a few ago, it was Westminster, in Central London. Today, now it is Manchester's turn.

Katie Hopkins was reported to Police for asking for a 'final solution' but a solution to put an end to the series of killings is exactly what we need. Our lives have been turned upside down by religiously motivated violence and all the politically correct mass media and the politically correct establishment do is to continue to appease the followers of a cult that is causing mayhem across Europe. Entire areas of European cities are being turned into no go areas where people live in fear of attack perpetrated by extremists.

The paradox is that those who raised the alarm about the danger posed by religious extremists are themselves attacked for raising the alert. People like Tommy Robinson (former leader of the English Defence League), Paul Golding (leader of Britain First) and Nick Griffin (former leader of the British National Party) have been constantly and systematically attacked the political establishment and the mass for talking about the threat posed by religious extremists.

There are bans being implement against people who have committed no crime and whose only guilt is to have belonged to organisations that speak about the dangers of religious extremism.