Friday, June 12, 2009

Not a Good Day for Andy Burnham

Nick Robinson tied Andy Burnham up in knots last night about spending cuts according to the transcript of the Ten O'Clock News.

Nick Robinson: When the Government says that spending will increase between 2010 and 2014 they’re using cash figures, but if you take in to account expected inflation spending is due to be cut in real terms.
What’s more if you take off the interest we’re all paying on the country’s debt, the rise in cost of benefits and other costs they can’t control, that leads to an estimated seven per cent cut.
Ring fence health spending and the figure leaps to the ten per cent cut for all other departments that the Tories blurted out today.
Gordon Brown thinks the phrase Tory cuts is a proven election winner, a phrase which leads though to an inevitable question, what about Labour cuts?
Andy Burnham: Mr Cameron has the ten per cent, the ten per cent hung round his neck now and he has to, will have to explain to, to public servants what precisely that ten per cent cut will mean.
NR: What precisely will the Government cut?
AB: Well we’ve made our, we’ve made our plans.
NR: What precisely will you cut?
AB: We’ve, we’ve made our plans clear. We’ve spending …
NR: What are they, what will you cut?
AB: … we’ve spending plans that add up for this spending review period … and next.
NR: On your list what will you cut? Police, Army, will you cut those?
AB: I, it’s Alistair Darling’s judgement about the next spending review.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

The man is out of his depth. There must be someone better that could be enobled and brought into the cabinet.

J M said...

The problems Burnham had are because his dear leader is too dishonest to face up to the truth of the situation. There is no money. They've spent it all and some. They know they won't have to make the cuts. (They've put them off until after the election, which they do not expect to win.) So having buggered it up on their watch they've poisoned the well for the next watch. Meanwhile they hope that we will not notice that they are lying when they pretend that it is only the Tories who will make cuts not them. Their problem is that we can all see through them. The sooner they go the better.

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous

June 12, 2009 3:00 PM

The man is out of his depth. There must be someone better that could be enobled and brought into the cabinet."

Be careful what you say - Neil Kinnock is waiting in the wings....conal

Bugsmalone said...

Tory spending cuts
Labour hard choices

Marian said...

Quite sad really that this person is in the government when he cannot even grasp the question let alone answer it.

Anonymous said...

3.00pm - No there isn't unless you want more of type Kinnock/Sugar or some simpering celebrity with all the political acumen of Neil Razor Ruddock.

Cjamesk said...

Wow didn`t expect that from "Toenails" Robinson, maybe the "impartial" beeb are now getting twitchy about their own expenses.

I hope DC if and when elected will purge the BBC of the Labour Trolls and finally get rid of the BBC Tax.

Iain Dal said...

Boom boom boom, let me hear ya say Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.....................

Tom said...

It was actually Wednesday night's edition. And, ironically, that interview had a few cuts of its own (as if there were either more questions or long pauses between each Q&A). Regardless, it was abominable. Obviously Peter Mandelson didn't write up a clear enough cheat sheet for him that day.

Bardirect said...

I wasn't going to make a comment but seeing the wv I had no choice.

wv:minga

SteveH103 said...

Iain, the Tories had better come up with a better defence and fast. Because everyone now is talking about the Tories 10 per cent cuts. Harriet Harnham was at it on Sky News at lunchtime. As always if they can say it often enough they will get it in to the mindset, and get the media repeating it.
We have a Prime Minister who refuses to answer questions at PMQs and is comfortable lying. Cameron has got to start hitting them back and calling their bluff. Anything. Incredibly after a terrible week its Gordon Brown who looks to be more stronger.

Sen. C.R.O'Blene said...

Listening to that prat Andy Burnham recently, (four months 'work experience' with the NHS Federation when he was 27, and now Minister for Health), it isn't difficult to understand why the NHS suffers from the utter waste dumped on them by politicians with their incompetence in dealing with the business of making people better.

Because most politicians have never been inserted into the real commercial world, it's not surprising that they spotted long ago, that the NHS was a breeding ground for the very types who should be kept away from it - i.e. themselves.

Simon The Bluesman said...

It's pathetic, Andy Burnham is pathetic. It’s all political semantics. The real problem facing this country is how to reduce our national debt that our "prudent" Chancellor has racked up over the past twelve years. We know that who ever wins the next General Election huge cuts across the board will have to be made. On a lighter note it’s great to read that Nick Robinson has found his b***s.

Obnoxio The Clown said...

"Nick Robinson tied a Labour Minister up in knots"

That's not a phrase you read every day. Burnham must be EVEN MORE useless than the average Labour lobby fodder.

Anonymous said...

Burnham used to be my MP. He was beyond useless. I had to write to him once to complain that the Post Office wanted to change our postcodes (that had been in place from the beginning) and that to do so would increase the cost of our insurance premiums by 30%. In Burnham's reply it was obvious that he didn't understand the nature of the problem. Hopelessly out of his depth.

Anonymous said...

If I was his wife, I'd divorce him.

Anonymous said...

Is it me or does Andy Burnham remind anyone else of the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz?

It's his eyebrows or nose or something. Possibly a lack brains... I don't know, but the resemblance is quite striking.

Iain Dale's Ravaged Anus said...

There's definitely something not quite right going on with Burnham's face.

All Scousers are in-bred rejects anyways, so that probably goes a long way to explaining it.

Lee H said...

This is what happens when you have politicians on the run. They don't know what is going on. The bunker haven't issued the diktat yet of how to answer the question so they are shown to be what they really are....drones....poor ones at that too

Anonymous said...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512017/The-new-Culture-Secretary-wife--strange-Blind-Date.html

Anonymous said...

Aha, all is explained as to why he was being threatened with divorce for not getting his expenses (sic) on time. His wife is Dutch. Nederlanders as the meanest race of people on earth. They have no equals where tightness is concerned. Truly awful people.

Annabel Herriott said...

You should pull the interview up in Ipod or whatever, Iain. Pity you missed it. After Nick R's last question, poor Andy was like a fish out of water, mouth hanging open, as he struggled to form a reply that didnt drop liebour in the clag. Eventually, he managed to get out his line re Darling being in charge of that bit. It would make a nice Utube with the script fiddled with a bit.

Brett Trevalyan said...

So WHY has Nick Robinson finally found his cajones?

I'll tell you why.

He was fed all of the lines about Alastair Drowning, believed them, issued his "scoop" on the BBC AND was then left looking like a prat. He was visibly cross with NuL in the conference to announce the reshuffle-that-never-was (following on from the election-that-never-was).

Look out. He may well have had a Damascene conversion. The scales have well and truly been pulled from his eyes and the true underlying awfulness of his ex-friends is now plain for him to see.

Expect a change in sympathies.

Oldrightie said...

The man is out of his depth. There must be someone better that could be enobled and brought into the cabinet.

How about a sugarplum fairy?

Anonymous said...

Utterly utterly pathetic.

God I hate that lot.

Anonymous said...

The problem with Andy Burnham is he can't take pressure, he's incapable of absorbing the briefings he clearly recieves and looks like a pissy middle manager.

Worst is, he thinks we're all as stupid as him!

Anonymous said...

Burnham should have jacked it all in when he stood at Arnfield and was rightly booed by the fans - taking the flak for his cowardly leader Brown,just as they all do to keep the b......d in power.

This Labour cabinet will self implode within months - this is an example of useless they are - as for Brown's constant lies - as the saying going,the louder they profess their purity,the more I check the spoons and silverware.

Hope you are enjoying Miami!

King Athelstan said...

Burnham is a jumped up, bug eyed, no talent, arse licker, thats why he is where he is. As to Gordon Brown, it is difficult to see in what way he had a good week, The country has just told him in no uncertain terms where to go, He has had to cut deals with his enemy to save his worthless backside, meanwhile selling his party down the river. If Brown is leader at the election the only issue will be the public desire to inflict the maximum punishment on him and Labour.( anyone catch the rabbit in the headlights expression on Hains face last night when the LDV bloke pointed out that they would remember at the general election?)Mentioning Cameron and Tory tax cuts is not exactly a great strategy, when those two things are shining a light on their own problems.

Dimoto said...

Brett Trevalyan said...
So WHY has Nick Robinson finally found his cajones?

I'll tell you why.

He was fed all of the lines about Alastair Drowning, believed them, issued his "scoop" on the BBC AND was then left looking like a prat. He was visibly cross with NuL in the conference to announce the reshuffle-that-never-was (following on from the election-that-never-was).

Look out. He may well have had a Damascene conversion. The scales have well and truly been pulled from his eyes and the true underlying awfulness of his ex-friends is now plain for him to see.

Expect a change in sympathies.

Errr, Nah !
The BBC also have a re-education camp. Robinson has probably already been asked to explain himself.

Anonymous said...

Just listened to this useless guy on Question Time. He really didn't have a clue. How the hell can he be in the role he is?! Says a lot for the current government.