Jennifer Williams
@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
Northern correspondent, Financial Times Experimental cook, purveyor of Andy Burnham content “Cynical” - Boris Johnson 📍Manchester
‘Tice said, however, that it was “not surprising no one reads the FT”, adding: “it’s so boring”.’ www.ft.com/content/4abf...
Reform repaid Tice loan on same day £1mn donated by mother of Farage aide Cottrell
Transactions fuel criticism of the party’s lack of transparency over its financing
ft.com
Great piece by Jen. The Alfred Waterhouse piece is a must read! And thanks for the reference to my @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk piece on public corporation debt.
Jennifer Williams@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 18h agoA bit from me on devo max and the outlines of an emerging question: what will councils be for? as.ft.com/r/731ed47f-f...
A bit from me on devo max and the outlines of an emerging question: what will councils be for? as.ft.com/r/731ed47f-f...
Andy Burnham rewires the ‘unaccountable’ state
Prime minister’s opening devolution gambit does not lack ambition
as.ft.com
Personally, I don’t know how you define this as Burnham’s first mistake. It’s been 2 weeks. Social care could be his big mistake. So could devolution (my head is spinning at the permutations of what the govt announced on Friday). The Mbacc is definitely untried, but let’s not have to have an opinion
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 5d agoNew post just out: "Burnham's first mistake" Splitting 14 year olds into academic and vocational paths seems intuitive. But it's a terrible idea that risks increasing inequality, and closing down options for the young people that need them most. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...
One of the joys of Number 10 north is I guess more people will get to experience Piccadilly Gardens. All human life is here. Today we have this guy drumming to System* *not everything about Piccadilly Gardens is this good
Pro tip: engage with local press. Takes 2 mins and it: • shows you care about a local issue • signifies that whatever town you're visiting isn't just the next input into the rolling PR machine (even if it is) • prevents being called out like this 👇 www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-n...
Derbyshire Live denied chance to ask new PM Andy Burnham questions during visit
Mr Burnham visited rail manufacturer Alstom to launch a new education policy
derbytelegraph.co.uk
Bluesky catnip: written constitution talk plus detailed devolution things as.ft.com/r/a78e8a40-2...
Burnham says devolution plan paves the way for a written UK constitution
Prime Minister’s sweeping powers for local mayors could lead to ‘new principles’ for running England
as.ft.com
Currently surveying the wreckage of my life - nails need doing, piles of washing, empty fridge - after the latest Andy Burnham related news marathon. I should get some kind of government compensation
Labour had been confident since near the beginning of the mayoral election here but *not* at the point Burnham stood in Makerfield. There were genuine fears Reform could take it. I did wonder whether an AB in number 10 would shift the dial automatically but my word did it.
Very much agree with much of this. As local news ecosystems have been hollowed out, there's little capacity for serious scrutiny at the scale required. We do what we can here in Kent, but I can't confidently say we have the resources to do what needs to be done under more powerful mayoralties.
Jennifer Williams@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 6d agoA bit on something that’s worrying me as.ft.com/r/9fe0cfe2-f...
I’d actually say this is in a grand tradition. Osborne was especially good at them: turn up in a hard hat by a northern railway line, hammer home the message to voters that things are happening, even if the press already knew
Not surprised Burnham’s ed policy has prompted a backlash but…he’s not creating secondary moderns. Or suggesting that people don’t or shouldn’t go to university. Or that people don’t and shouldn’t want to move away from home.
The big Burnham tech ed drive, as first reported by Chris Smyth and I earlier today: as.ft.com/r/5a30779d-b...
Andy Burnham aims to cut welfare bill by getting young people into work
UK premier draws on experience as Greater Manchester mayor with move to link up schools and employers
as.ft.com
Well ok now I get the Odysseus chat. That was amazing
If I was an agency wanting to be disbanded, I would choose the moment just after a new man of the ppl PM from the NW arrived - with a defining mission to rebalance the country and make agencies accountable - to pull £ from the world renowned telescope visited by generation upon generation of NW kids
I mean GCHQ was already in there so I think that answers a number of these questions. There is an element of we need to grow up a bit, plus an inevitable “stop treating Manchester like it’s the moon”
Jonn Elledge@jonnelledge.bsky.social · last wk.I note with interest that Britain now has the level of state capacity at which "actually doing something" is seen as inherently suspicious.
This is a continuation of what Manchester had negotiated with HMT at the end of last year. It’s a real thing, but worth noting that it’s not new. It was already on the cards www.thetimes.com/article/5f0e...
Andy Burnham will give mayors income tax cash for cities
The PM’s devolution agenda accompanies plans for defence, social care and jobs for the young
thetimes.com
He is totally transformed in terms of confidence and style. As a human he’s still fundamentally the same person but confidence and style can get you a long way in politics
Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 2w agothink this is a point that is both correct and makes me want to give Burnham the benefit of the doubt more - I don't believe the MP I witnessed in Parliament in the mid-2010's would be a good PM but.....maybe he genuinely isn't that person anymore? guess we're about to find out
a dispatch from yesterday’s slightly bizarre day in Albert sq as.ft.com/r/39686fc3-0...
Number 10 North is no ‘gimmick’, says Andy Burnham
Prime minister remains insistent that new Manchester office sends a more important signal to rest of the country
as.ft.com
As a politics junkie, a journalist trained in Lancashire by a true blood trade unionist (RIP Mike Nally) and a former resident of Manchester, this here is the thread of the week 👇
Jennifer Williams@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 3w agoAB, a 🧵
Late to posting this as today has been…a day. But here I am trying to reconcile the Burnham story of Manchester with a national governing platform as.ft.com/r/9cab97e6-0...
What Manchester can’t tell you about Burnhamism
His governing record in the city tells us what he would like to do but how it scales nationally remains uncertain
as.ft.com
I’m sure I said a version of this to someone on here. Don’t get too haunted by the Keir years. Burnham has instincts on what feels morally right, as well as specific go to concerns such as care. This feels entirely in line
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2w agoThe PM may exempt care workers from settlement rules. Tbc in Oct? Would make a big difference I do worry that No 10 & the media just have not grasped that many legal migrants outside the care sector would lose legal status + be forced to go/become undocumented www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
The crowds are still outside cheering anyone at all, maybe spies (? don’t know how spies go in and out) leaving the building Andy B there is none
Jennifer Williams@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 2w agoThis is all so weird in Manchester today, crowds of people stood round looking at a generic 1980s office block, Slug and Lettuce doing a roaring trade, plus a fake No 10 door, what a time to be alive
This is all so weird in Manchester today, crowds of people stood round looking at a generic 1980s office block, Slug and Lettuce doing a roaring trade, plus a fake No 10 door, what a time to be alive
Could be going for an early election but I imagine he was always going to do this. He did two separate free/capped bus fare policies in Manc, it’s retail, he believes it will increases patronage and Lou H fought tooth and nail to keep it while in the DfT
Will Cooling@willcooling.bsky.social · 2w agoGonna say this whilst he's hopefully to busy on holiday to mock me, but announcements like this sure do chime with @samfr.bsky.social's reporting that the team around Burnham are tempted by the idea of an early election. Still think its a bad idea that won't happen, but less sure about the 2nd point
A bit on AB the brand, and how he’s playing it in Downing St with @lucyfisher.ft.com as.ft.com/r/0316e353-f...
Can ‘Brand Burnham’ survive the move to Number 10?
The new prime minister looks to be continuing the everyman style cultivated as mayor of Greater Manchester
as.ft.com
I’ve been Burnhamed. My mum used to do the pools round and take me with her when I was little, so I guessed v quickly and then it made me misty eyed. dammit pull yourself together, you’re a cynical hack, you’re a cynical hack
