Speaker 1The Telegraph It's a bingo.
Speaker 2Gaff-laden and long-winded, it seems that Andy Burnham forgot to have his second coffee before today's PMQs in which he made a series of clunky mistakes.
Speaker 1He doubled down on his Russian interference claims and stumbled through his anti-Greens deal stance. So are we about to see about-turn Burnham strike again?
Speaker 2The Andy Burnham style is parish council. And what you do, it's as if an angry resident had shown up and has started mouthing off about their mother and the parking. Yes. And so you begin by saying, I hear your complaint and that's happened to me too. And I want to reassure you that we're going to look into it. What it does not have is the cut and thrust of parliamentary questions.
Speaker 1Tim, you're back with a flourish and an exceptionally nice tie. Do you know ties are back in? Are they? We did a piece on the Telegraph. Right. My son. My son is loving wearing ties now. He's a sixth former.
Speaker 2I've decided now it's autumn. I'm going to go preppy.
Speaker 1Which we're going to go preppy.
Speaker 2I've just been looking at the Ralph Lauren catalogue and drooling.
Speaker 1I love the idea that you don't think you were preppy before autumn. You've always been preppy since I first knew you were preppy and you continue to be preppy.
Speaker 2Today for PMQs, I brought a friend along. Yes. Father Chris Morris, who's watching us right now. He is a Catholic priest. I'm going to genuflect. When we were in the- I know, I thought it might have an effect.
Speaker 1We'll see. Well, we had the late night with Jacob Rees-Mogg conversion. to Rome Attempt 1. Oh, really? Okay, he had a go. We've got you just in general in the background. You've got my father, who's constantly trying to pull the strings.
Speaker 2Well, whenever I travel, I try and bring a priest with me just in case I need one. While we were in the queue for PMQs, a lady standing behind said, are you a journalist? And I said, yes, it's Muggins here. And she said, is your name Robert? Oh, no. And I said, do you think I'm Rob Peston? Yes. I said, I'm considerably better looking than that, madam.
Speaker 1Also, you don't- You don't punctuate all of your sentences with I'm
Speaker 2dressed, I think,
Speaker 1like a cross between Dr. No and Spotty, super head sidekick. This collar- My children looked at me this morning and went, what are you doing? But we're going to start a little fashion sideline on our YouTube membership where we're just going to celebrate the fashion of each other. Yes. Because sometimes it's spectacular, sometimes less so, but also our team, by the way.
Speaker 2I love this. It's as if Bowdoin did- Straight jackets. That's it. That's what it is.
Speaker 1By the way, we need one because joining you in the annals of hard right history as a wet liberal, simply because you're not a racist, is now me and Jacob for also expressing that we weren't racist either. So as somebody did point out, and I did send this to you, soon we'll be having people trying to persuade us that Hitler was actually a wet liberal because he didn't support Rupert Lowe. So there you have it. That's what you've missed. Oh, and you've missed. Can we just- Let's briefly discuss this. You know, the girl that's covering or has replaced Caroline Leavitt in the White House has had a shocker, not quite CJ from West Wing. Yes. It's all gone wrong. At the same time that Trump has done this really with the tiger. It's not right, is it? It's not right that a poor chap who is clearly not of his right mind going into that tiger enclosure to then have the U.S. president-
Speaker 2Trump made a video in which he goes into the enclosure and he wrestles with the tiger. And then tickles it. And wins. It's incredibly tasteless. But as for the new press secretary, I don't think Miss Alabama will last very long. No. She does look as though she's won a prize. I'm surprised she doesn't come out in a tiara with a bunch of flowers.
Speaker 1Well, she's won something from Trump. I can't think why Trump chose her.
Speaker 2She took three questions, all from friendly outlets. I mean, it's just embarrassing. And you do wonder, Trump himself must be embarrassed by this. We know that in the past he has got angry with how people have let him down. So why does he keep making the appointments?
Speaker 1I'm not sure. I can't think why. Talking about heavily mascarade people at lecterns, PMQs, how was it for you? Because it was so plodding at one point the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, had to say, can you get on with it? Yes. We've got to get through all the questions.
Speaker 2Yes. Well, the Andy Burnham style is parish council. And what you do, it's as if an angry resident had shown up and has started mouthing off about their mother and the park Yes. And so you begin by saying, I hear your complaint. And that's happened to me too.
Speaker 1No, it's got review being carried out by Louise Casey all over it, hasn't it? Yes. Push that forward. We'll get back to you in a couple of months, maybe years about that. Thank you so much for your question.
Speaker 2Yes. Well, he made the tough choices at conference. You remember that? Yes, he did. When he promised to spend more, regulate more and nationalise things and go, go back into the EU, he finally said what needs to be said at great personal risk to himself.
Speaker 1Yes, indeed. As far as his backbenchers are concerned, she was absolutely right to be laser focused on this bizarre about turn over Russian interference. Let's just hear her put that to the prime minister.
Speaker 3Mr Speaker, the prime minister has had a busy few weeks, tying himself in knots, explaining why national security shouldn't come at the expense of social security, bumbling into a row. He's been in the same position for a long time, and he's been in the same position for a long time. I don't think his carefully worded answer to my honourable friend is going to suffice. It doesn't sound like that one's going away. And he spent the last 48 hours trying to unsay that Russia influenced the 2016 referendum when we all heard him say it. Does he ever get tired of putting his foot in his mouth?
Speaker 4Prime
Speaker 3Minister.
Speaker 4Mr. Speaker, I am glad that she's raised my comments because it gives me an opportunity to say to the whole House how I intend to lead this country. We have lived through a decade of division. And we know that hostile actors have been seeking to interfere in our democratic process. That is a matter of fact. We need to call that out and look straight at it in a way that the party opposite didn't do. I have a quote here from the right honourable lady when she stood at this dispatch box when she was responsible for steering through the elections bill and she said this right here. I have not read the Russia report. It's because they didn't want to see it. They wanted to look. In the other direction. I won't do that, Mr. Speaker. I will draw a line.
Speaker 2I've seen you and Jacob talk about this. I do find it really offensive. The idea that my vote was changed by a Russian bot in 2016. That I'm so simplistic that I couldn't understand the complex issues of sovereignty or free movement. That's right. But the moment that a big chested Russian woman popped up on my computer and said, Vote leave! Vote it now! My mind was made up.
Speaker 1So I love this idea that were the Russians involved in the Maastricht Rebellion of 1992 before the advent, I think, of the internet or indeed even Tim Berners-Lee contemplating that there could be such a thing as the World Wide Web.
Speaker 2But there were rumours that they were involved in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Now, it makes perfect sense that they should wish to get involved in every election because that's what Russia does. It spreads disinformation. It's up to the voters to sift through it. But if you had said to any, any nationalist in Scotland you voted because the Russians were in favour of it for whatever complex reasons they might have, I just think that's nonsense, isn't it?
Speaker 1Well, also, how can Andy Burnham do the whole kind of flat cap stroke bucket hat wearing Man of the People Act and turn around to his constituents in Makerfield who voted 65% leave and said they only did it because, you know, a Russian told them to do it? It's hardly down with the kids, isn't it?
Speaker 2The implication is they are stupid. And if we learnt one thing since Brexit, which the Labour Party has done, which the Labour Party has not learnt, it's that if you try and persuade people that they made a mistake, they double down. Rightly or wrongly. It's the same with the Trump effect in 2016. If you spend the next four years trying to impeach him, I mean, of course, he then did lose 2020, but he came back because if you try and tell people you should never have voted for this man, it was an accident, it was a mistake, and you weren't thinking right, maybe you were drunk or maybe you're just moronic, that actually makes them double down on their first choice. So I think it's politically stupid as well.
Speaker 1Well, he doubled down on that.
Speaker 2But the key thing is he hadn't thought it through. No. The key thing is he said something without thinking it through. And this is the pattern of Andy Burnham, because we'll come back to Kimmy in a moment, but he did it again, twice in this PMQs. Yes. Once when talking about the murder of Anne Widdicombe, in which he phrased it so as to imply, as we're not allowed to do, that the person being investigated is definitely the culprit.
Speaker 1Yeah. He might be covered. He might be covered by a degree of parliamentary privilege on that. He can probably get away with that. But it's still technically contempt.
Speaker 2Yes. But the more significant political one was when he was asked directly by Tory MP Harriet Baldwin about the Greens' Zionism motion at their conference, where the conference voted to say that Zionism is racism. And he was asked, would you rule out having the Greens in your coalition? And he appeared to say yes.
Speaker 5The leader of the opposition has made it crystal clear about doing deals with other parties. Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah. a yw'r Prif Weinidog yn gwneud hynny'n unig yn glir, ar ôl i'r cwrdd rhwng y rhan fwyaf y partid gwyddon nhw i'r antisemiteg mwyaf effeithiol, y byddwn yn rheoli rhag cydweithio â nhw? Brif Weinidog, a
Speaker 4allaf i ddychmygu'r cyflwyniad sydd wedi cael ei gyflwyno? Mae'n wahanol. Mae'n antisemiteg, ac mae'r rhan hon o'r Gwasanaeth ddim yn gysylltiedig â hynny. Byddwn bob amser yn cymryd ymateb iawn pan fydd yn ymwneud â phartneriaethau sydd gennym gyda phartneriaethau eraill. Nid ydym yn gallu cefnogi partneriaeth gyda phartner sy'n cynnwys sefyllfa sydd wedi cael ei gyflawni yn ddiweddar.
Speaker 2Byddwn i'n dychmygu, yn ystod 24 awr, Camilla, y bydd yn mynd yn ôl.
Speaker 1Ie, wrth gwrs, bydd yn mynd yn ôl.
Speaker 2A'r hyn y bydd yn ei ddweud yw, roeddwn i'n dweud y byddwn i ddim yn byw mewn cydweithredaeth gyda phobl sy'n dweud bod Zionism yn rhacysm, ac roedd hynny'n cael ei ddweud gan gyfarfod Gwrthweithiol Y Llywodraeth. Ie. Nid gan ei gyfarfodau, sydd wedi ysgrifennu llythyr o ddim yn ymwneud â'r llywodraeth.
Speaker 1Wel, maen nhw'n ei wneud nawr, er bod nhw'n debyg wedi ymgysylltu'r llywodraeth am lawer, lawer o flynyddoedd mewn ceisio gofyn i'r ystremwyr yn eu cyfnod, ac nawr maen nhw'n ymwneud â'r ffwrdd hwnnw. Felly, er bod gen i ryw fath o symthydd gyda Caroline Lucas, sydd nawr yn cael ei ddiffryddu gan ei bod yn cael ei ddysgu o'r rhan y mae hi wedi helpu i gyflawni ac i ddod i ble mae hi yma heddiw, mae llawer wedi nodi bod yr holl hyn hwnnw wedi digwydd ar ei wylio, ac nid oedd hi wedi nodi'r hynod o lwnau o, er enghraifft, cydweithio â Motyn Alley fel gyfarfod, ar ôl ei fod wedi'i gysylltiedig â llythyr o Leeds ac wedi cydnabod 7 Oct, ac wedyn wedi cyflawni hynny'n gyflym yn gyflym.
Speaker 2Ychydig â Labour, roeddech chi wedi cael cyfle i ddweud rhywbeth ac nid ydych chi wedi'i wneud hynny.
Speaker 1Felly rydych chi wedi cael eich patard eich hun yno, yn anffodus. Yn ymlaen â'r holl cyflawni, mae'n anhygoel gan Burnham, yn ymlaen â'r holl sefyllfa yn Rwydwaith, i fod yn cyflawni o ran ei bwrw hynny, ei bwrw diogelwyr ei hun, a Ken McCullum, y gwrthwyneb anodd o MI5. Ie. Mae Harry
Speaker 2Potter wedi tyfu i fyny a wedi dod yn gwrthwyneb MI5.
Speaker 1Neu, a yw'n gwrthwyneb gwaith o Gareth Malone, y dyn
Speaker 2sy'n gwneud y gwrthwyneb hynny? Mae'n anhygoel iawn, oherwydd byddai'n credu y byddai'n edrych fel "M".
Speaker 1Ie, byddai'n edrych fel "M", oherwydd, wrth gwrs, mae "Dear Love" a phobl fel hyn, oherwydd eu bod wedi bod yn fawr a phethau. Yn ogystal â hynny, rydw i'n gwrando ar Bond o Horowitz, sy'n cael ei drafod gan Matthew Goode yn fy môr nawr ar Audible, ac felly rwy'n edrych ar Ken ac rwy'n meddwl. Ie. Mae'n enw Ken.
Speaker 2Ie. Rwy'n gwybod.
Speaker 1Byth, beth bynnag. Rwy'n gwybod. Rwy'n gwybod. Felly mae'n dda bod Ken wedi dod ymlaen a dweud, "Dyma beth fyddwch chi'n siarad amdanyn nhw?" Ac wrth gwrs, mae Ken yn ymddangos i fod yn gwybod ei bwydau. Ie. Ac nid yw'r cynllun diweddaraf. Rwy'n gobeithio. byddai'n gobeithio, fel Gweinidog o MI5. Rwy'n gwybod. Rwy'n gobeithio. Rwy'n gobeithio. Rwy'n gobeithio. Rwy'n gobeithio. Rwy'n gobeithio. Rwy'n credu. Rwy'n cofio. Rwy'n cofio. Rwy'n cofio. Rwy'n cofio. Rwy'n credu bod llawer o bleidleinwyr cyffredin iawn sydd wedi cymryd y canlyniad a fydd yn meddwl yw ei fod yn ysgrifennu o, i ddweud y llyfr ffraith gwell, ddemocratiaeth, os ydyn nhw'n ymddiriedol yn y ffordd hwnnw, os ydyn nhw'n ysgrifennu ac ydy'n meddwl ei fod yn fynd yn anghywir i gyflawni mandat demograffol o gyfnod sydd wedi'i gynnwys yn fawr gan 1.3 miliwn o bobl yng Nghymru. Rwy'n gofio y gall rhai pobl ddweud, "Beth, dim ond yn sôn amdano, efallai y bydd y problem sydd gennym ni'n ei gael yn ystod hyn gyda llwyth o ddwyloedd yn gwleidyddion, oherwydd rydych chi'n dod allan gyda'r ystafell gwrth-gwrth sydd ddim yn cael ei ddod o'r llaw. Ac, wrth gwrs, gyda'r hyn sy'n ymwneud â chyflawni manifestoedd, iawn, llwyddiant gyda hynny, ond y tro diwethaf roeddwn i'n cwrdd â'r un yn y Llywodraeth sydd wedi cael Keir Starmer yn y ffwrdd bwysig ar y ffwrdd, mae'n dweud yn glir iawn bod y Parti Llywodraeth hwnnw ddim yn cyfuno'r farchnad unigol neu'r Uniwn Cwestiwn. O, wrth fy modd, dweud wrth bobl yn blŵ, rhŵan a rŵan, byddwn ni'n hoffi. byddwn ni'n rhoi'r ffigurau ymwneud â'r ffwrdd bwysig i lawr, byddwn ni'n gofalu, fel y dywedodd Andy Burnham heddiw, bod cwrsingau bwyllgor bach yn lawr a dydyn ni ddim yn gorfod i ni i gyd ychwanegu'n gyda'n glir, ac yna roeddwn i'n rhoi llwyddiant gwyrdd i ffwrdd bwysig o bobl Ewropeaidd eto. O, ac wrth fy modd, gadewch i ni ailgylchu Cymru, oherwydd roedd hynna'n hynod o hwyl, y fframwaith Windsor. Gadewch i ni fynd trwy'r ffwrdd bwysig yna eto. Ie, ie. Yn wir, pwy sy'n hoffi unrhyw un o hyn?
Speaker 2Ond ar yr un pryd, wrth i ni groesawu'r rubicwn y byddwch chi'n gallu ddweud pethau, rwy'n credu ein bod hefyd wedi mynd i'r politigiaeth o'r 20au cyntaf, gan y byddwn i'n gofyn i'r holl wleidyddion gwleidyddol, sy'n cymryd rhan o ddod o hyd i bas sydd o'n rhannu 20-25%. Ie. Nid yw un yn hoffi siarad am gyfnod cymdeithasol, fel ein bod wedi tyfu i fyny mewn byd o Blairs a Cameron, lle roedd popeth yn ymwneud â thryangu a chyfrifo am beth mae'r hynny'n ei ofyn i'r hynod sy'n ddweud yw'r ffwrdd. Maen nhw eisiau i mi fod yn, maen nhw eisiau i mi fathu'r GIG, byddaf i'n tyfu i fathu'r GIG yn y canol Cameron, maen nhw eisiau i mi fod yn anodd ar gyfrif, byddaf i'n tyfu i'n anodd ar gyfrif yn y canol Blair. Y cyfnodau hyn rydyn ni wedi eu trafod yn ddiweddar, maen nhw i gyd wedi siarad i'w bas. Roedd Burnham yn ymwneud â chyfrif gwaith, Cymru, Cemi yn ymwneud â'r clasau cymdeithasol, cyfrifiad, dyddiadau, ac ati, ac ati, ac ati, ac ati. Roedd y cyfrifiad wedi dod o hyd i ryw fwrdd anhygoel am a ydych chi'n gallu bod yn Saesneg. Dyna sgwrs bas, os oeddwn i wedi clywed hynny. Felly, wrth gwrs, mae Zia Yousaf yn disgwyl â hyn hefyd.
Speaker 1Ie, mae wedi mynd yn ôl ar hynny, ar Sky News, ond mae'n dweud.
Speaker 2Gwych iawn, ac mae'n ddiddorol sut.
Speaker 1Roedd yn dda'r analogi Ashley Cole, mewn gwirionedd. Rwy'n fan o Chelsea mawr ac os bydd unrhyw un yn dweud i mi nad yw Ashley Cole ychydig yn ddefnyddiol iaith Saesneg. Ie. If it's ever lived, then I don't want to carry on. All right, Zia.
Speaker 2But either way, whatever you thought of the rights and wrongs of that particular debate, it was base talk. It's grassroots talk. It's talk in the pub with your mates. What it's not is general election reach out to the middle. So I think it's a combination of no one needs to be accurate anymore. And no one needs to reach out to a median voter anymore. So they're all just talking to their bases. And in the case of Greens, that means having wild motions about anti-Semitism. And in the case of Labour, because what matters in his, what's going through his head, is I've got to do a deal with Ed Davey, who stood up at this PMQs and said, may I just say how much I admire the Prime Minister's position on this? And he could have added, and the Prime Minister. And what a handsome, gorgeous man he is.
Speaker 1Could we meet later? Maybe for a drink? Because it's kind of out of our hands now. But then, say if the Greens continue to tank, then of course that only really benefits Burnham. And maybe this whole Brexit question is central to, which side? Which side the Lib Dems pivot towards? I mean, I think we both know that if it was Tinder dating in the House of Commons, right now, Ed Davey would be swiping right for Andy Burnham and left for Kemi Badenog, which is ironic because it's kind of anti-ideological. Yes. But you catch my drift. But at the same time, it does depend on how many moderates think that reversing the referendum result is an aberration or not, regardless of how they voted in that. Yes. Well, put it this way.
Speaker 2If there is going to be a Lib Lab coalition after the next election, because we're always debating how can you bring the right together? Well, if you're debating how can we bring the centre-left together, there is one really easy way to do it. Second referendum. You've instantly got them on board, and you just frame it as a democratic choice. We're not saying go into it. We're just going to. And if you put that out as your offer to the Lib Dems, they will vote through. They'll support you on everything else you do.
Speaker 1Okay, fine. But at the same time, if the so-called bad boys of Brexit got back together, and there was another vote-leave campaign, then I think it would overwhelmingly win because of the conditions that would now be attached to membership. So that was all a bit foggy, wasn't it, after the Cameron reform deal? Now it literally is, because we had a senior MEP confirming it at the weekend. Ditch the pound, pay that £350 million a week back, accept all this on aggregate goods and everything else. Well, the big one is immigration.
Speaker 2So. Mass migration. Emily Thornberry was on Newsnight and was saying, well, you wouldn't necessarily be a member of Schengen, and Nick Watt pointed out, no, but you would be a signatory to the Treaty of Rome, and one of the essential freedoms is freedom of movement. Yes. So you've got to have it. In other words, I just think it would be too controversial for most voters. But nonetheless, my point I come back to, I don't think the leaders of the parties right now are thinking about the voters. They're not thinking in terms of 52-48. They're thinking in terms of 25-25 candidates. 25. And what matters is I get my people out to support me at this next election. And then I do a deal with the person who's ideologically closest to me. And an obvious glue to that is a second referendum.
Speaker 1Should we just talk briefly about Nigel Farage's intervention? He did ask a question about Iran, but it did prompt a rare moment of conviviality from the prime minister.
Speaker 4Can I start by recognizing it's been a hard time for him and his family. There's a lot we disagree on, but I defend his right to say it. And I will work hard to secure his safety and every member of this house. And we will involve all sides in the Lovegrove review that my right honourable friend, the Home Secretary, has established.
Speaker 2That's lovely to listen to, but it's disingenuous. Yes, they hate each other. I know, but he had also previously congratulated Kemi on her stance against racism in her conference speech. And he said, by so doing, you drew a line between yourself and the Reform Party, the implication being that the Reform Party is racist. So he's switching from saying reform are a bunch of fascists to you have my sympathy because people have been calling you such nasty words. And on that subject, I have in front of me a new game, which we're going to make available to our listeners and viewers to play at home. It is Burnham Bingo.
Speaker 1Oh, wow. Okay, great. This is a shock to me.
Speaker 2And you can play this every week at PMQs. I'm holding it up. It's a big bingo card and it has phrases like the North, mentions the 80s, fair deal, the B network, less points scoring, more problem solving. Does he reference Thatcher? Does he mention Oasis? Two pounds bus fare and mentions the 70s. Your card's got different things on it. But so, for example, this week we could say he does indeed say less points scoring, more problem solving. So there you are. That's a tick. Great. Okay. I've got a tick there. Now he said Manchester came up and I think that might be on
Speaker 1your card. Look what we did in Manchester. Love that. There you are.
Speaker 2That gets a tick. Do you have any other ones from today?
Speaker 1I don't think he mentioned devolution, which is a rarity. Did he say fair deal in any capacity
Speaker 2whatsoever? I don't know.
Speaker 1And was there any Thatcher bashing?
Speaker 2There wasn't. Shame.
Speaker 1This week isn't a great.
Speaker 2So this week, neither of us scores bingo.
Speaker 1We'll post it in our communities. So that you can download, print out and play along. I mean, we can't say fairer than that. We might even get some customised daily tea bingo blobbing pens. Yes. And send them out to people who send us nice emails about your tie.
Speaker 2There is also, and I mean, it's in the nicest way. There is a touch of the clickety click 66 about Lindsay Hoyle, isn't there?
Speaker 1There is a little bit. Can I just say that you are a closet game show host wannabe, if ever there was one. Yeah. You do wish at some point in your life to be hosting some kind of game show. It's not a prime time show. I can just, I see it in you.
Speaker 2Yeah, I do. If it's up there, I'll give you the money myself. It's what I've always wanted to do.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think you'd be great at it.
Speaker 2You know, at Work Experience, did they make you do a career advisory service thing at 16?
Speaker 1Yes. Funny enough, I was told I should be a journalist. Can you believe it? Right. I've got that thing. And you know, it was a Morrisby test. That's right. I did the Morrisby. Yes. I was told I should be a journalist. I promptly forgot about it and did a law degree. Yeah. And then I discovered it about 10 years ago and went, oh. It was right all along.
Speaker 2Do you know, I did that test. What did it tell? It came out on one of those old printers that have perforated edges. Do you know what it had as top? Makeup artist. I'm not making that up. Makeup artist in a boys' school in the 1990s.
Speaker 1Well. What did I say? I hate to break it to you.
Speaker 2That got me makeup artist.
Speaker 1It's your delicate little fingers.
Speaker 2It's my delicate little fingers. But I went to see the careers advisory lady, a lovely lady called Mrs. Errol. And she said, what do you want to do? And everyone else, of course, said banker like daddy, accountant like daddy, MP like daddy. And I put down, I'm the only person in the school in history who put down red coat.
Speaker 1This doesn't surprise me either.
Speaker 2And she said, I'm really sorry. That's why I've called you in. We don't have any work placements at Butlins or Pontins that we can offer you. Yeah. So I was sent to the Observer newspaper instead.
Speaker 1Well, I tell you what.
Speaker 2Journalism was a second best.
Speaker 1Slightly less fun, I would imagine.
Speaker 2I could have been this generation's Joe Pasquale.
Speaker 1Well. There's still time. Just to conclude then. So do we think, I mean, how did Kemi actually do? I was watching it. I thought she landed some good blows. She's doing quite well on X, by the way. People are kind of putting together little compendiums of her best moments at PMQs. And she clips up well. We have discussed this before about the opposition leader. But if you were going to give it a kind of score out, say if you were a Man City fan, Tim. Yeah. As that did come up. And I think the prime minister does have questions. To answer about his beloved team and its funding and all the rest of it. But put that aside because we're not a football podcast. But in general, what was the score today? I think she was a five or a six.
Speaker 2She was a little unfocused. What do you mean? Five nil? No, five or a six out of ten.
Speaker 1No, I want you to give it a football score like one nil to her. Oh, I see. Between them and him. Can I just point out that one thing that Tim Stanley was not told at school was to join the football team. Or indeed to become a professional sportsman and continue.
Speaker 2I think it's two all. Two all, is it? Yeah. I don't think anyone particularly won. Her questions weren't quite as laser-like as they normally are. But then there wasn't the issue. There wasn't an issue of the week for her to focus on. But also, he is like wrestling with mist. I come back to what we said at the very beginning. Lindsay Hoyle saying, you've got to keep it shorter. Please keep it shorter. It really is becoming a problem. He does drag things out. He doesn't speak in a parliamentary or a prime ministerial way. There's a lot of ummings and ahs in that strange way. Talks where he runs and goes back and forth over the course of the sentence. He also doesn't work with many notes. Sitting behind him is his PPS, Nick Dakin, a nice man who was in parliament, then got kicked out and came back for Scunthorpe. And he was in charge of sentencing. That's gone well. I know. And it's said he's being kicked upstairs to be Burnham's PPS. And he's a sort of sweet, slightly doddery old chap. And you can see him occasionally leaning over and whispering to Burnham, well done. I think you did well. What notes has he passed? I think the notes just. I think the notes just say things like, Kemi Badenoch is the leader of the British Conservative Party.
Speaker 1Smile. Mention £2 bus fare.
Speaker 2Yeah, because Burnham has stopped using the notes after a while and he just starts leaning on the desk and talking to you as though you're recently bereaved. And I think there's just a bit too much of that.
Speaker 1No, it's a bit schmaltzy. Final question. Is it a bit flirty?
Speaker 2Is it a bit flirty, you think, between Burnham and Kemi?
Speaker 1Well, I mean, the team had noticed a few kind of right honourables going in there. Yes. There was a bit. He's more respectful towards Badenoch than Starmer ever was.
Speaker 2Yes, it is.
Speaker 1I think. He's more of a charmer, isn't he?
Speaker 2Yeah, I think this is.
Speaker 1You can see him sidling up like if you're at perhaps a travelodge bar alone, you know.
Speaker 2Right. Well, I'm just
Speaker 1saying, if you were going to compare Starmer and him. Right. He might saunter over and have a chat with you over a little bowl of nuts.
Speaker 2Yes, yes. Wouldn't he?
Speaker 1Whereas Starmer would be like, I must strictly be in bed by eight. Yes. You know, he might. He might come and have a chat.
Speaker 2Yeah. Well, I'd find him boring because I don't like football and I don't remember the 90s. But I do think Badenoch has said he's very nice. And I think privately, he's just very, very nice. Whereas Starmer was a little more reserved and difficult to deal with. So it's easier to be cutthroat with someone who is reserved than someone who probably does make the effort to say good morning and ask how you are and how your family is. But while all this has been going on, I feel the cat has slipped out. I feel the cat has slipped out of the bag, which is Ed Miliband has signed off on drilling around the Falkland Islands. Oh. Now, all the fuss that's been made about drilling in the North Sea.
Speaker 1Yes, we've got to delay a decision. The optics, the optics.
Speaker 2We need to make the transition. Yes. Oil and gas are not the future. And in fact, we're destroying our children's and their children's children's futures by doing it. But it's been signed off in the Falklands.
Speaker 1Right. I don't.
Speaker 2I just don't. I just. Someone needs to. Someone needs to explain that to me. I don't. I don't understand why in the Northern Hemisphere it's bad. Right. But in the Southern Hemisphere, it's absolutely fine. And of course, it's caused a diplomatic row with Argentina, which doesn't want the Brits to be doing that. Yeah. I'm totally on our side on this. Don't get me wrong. Yeah. But I just find it very curious that.
Speaker 1Okay. Well, if anyone can see inside the mind of Ed Miliband, doesn't mind informing us of what he may or may not be thinking, then do send your theories in on the back of a £5 note. And Tim, we will be back tomorrow, 5pm. Bye.
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