Rooney

On a different note - I'm surprised by Streeting's response. I'm not sure he could beat Burnham in a leadership content, as not sure which way Starmer's allies would go. Maybe he sees it as shoring up his own position in a future cabinet and MP in is constituency. Don't think Burnham could afford to fill his cabinet with which faction he seems to have allied himself with for the time being.

Well that's the gamble isn't it. It will be majorly embarrassing for Labour and Burnham if this happens. I'm not sure the Lib Dems or the Greens have the resources or reach to compete in the seat, but you can be sure as anything Reform will throw everything behind it.

We're basically in our Joe Biden era. Doing pretty well through difficult times, but ultimately pretty boring. So people get attracted to populism and sexy slogans and we'll be exactly where we are in 5 years time, but most likely even worse off.

Yep, the potential for this to be a huge own goal and give up the Mayor of Manchester as well. All for a bloke who had no idea he wanted to an MP 2 years ago.

I don’t think she’d support Streeting, think she’s far more likely to support Burnham. I’m not sure there’s really a unity candidate, I suppose Burnham is the most likely, but I have the feeling it’s a disaster in waiting and he’ll likely pull a ‘Starmer’.

I personally don’t think he has the numbers. Seems a bold move, he’s been a pretty good Health Secretary though, but I just can’t see him getting the numbers needed.

This is why I think we need to air with caution, it’s likely this is already out spreading and the likelihood is it will mutate in to a less mild version. The incubation period of 42 days is just not going to be followed and we’ve sent it all over the world. The one that’s concerning is the woman in France who left the cruise early.

You need a balance - right now there is nothing to worry about, but viruses exist to mutate. If they lose track of it, then the virus could become less lethal but more spreadable. Right now it seems you need to be in very close contact for a good amount of time, but symptoms can show like 40 days after exposure. So there's absolutely zero chance of any lockdown or guidance likely to be followed by the geenral public if it did become a pandemic. But I think a balance needs to be struck as they are telling us it's not very transmissable, Yet there's a lot of people who have caught it who were not in "close contact". Personally, the more I've read aboit it the more concerned I am and the messaging to this is erily similar to how covid started. Definitely not covid levels yet, but I think it certainly has the potential. The good news is it seems everyone is working together and they ahve some exisiting data, whereas with covid China were hiding a lot publicly.

Which is basically why we are pretty knackered and you have these great "tax" policies which the wealthiest can just bypass. Likewise, Labour trying to get rid of the Pensioners winter fuel allowance was suicidal for them, just imagine what it would be like if they got rid of the triple lock which has to happen, but nobody has the balls to do it yet. Seen a great quote from someone supporting Burnham today saying "the bond markets will have to get in line with Andy Burnham's agenda". Just absolute lunacy. The irony being as a country we are on an okay path, but it will take 10-15 years, but politicians can't be honest and understandably people want results quicker.

It’s the self centred nature of politics, people see a weakness and they exploit it. I think Starmer is toast here. The wider problem is I don’t believe any of the solutions fix the problems. The markets believe in Starmer and Reeves and if you do something more radical then we basically end up just like Trump saying short term pain is worth long term pain? Which sounds remarkably like Brexit.

I think Streeting would be a good choice. But not a good choice to keep a happy Party. But the whole thing is just a massive trap at the moment imo. The public hate parties flip flopping and changing leaders and I don’t think whoever the leader is will help. I also find it funny that Burnham is seen as the saviour! Higher vote share in metropolitan areas but losing in other key battlegrounds.

Friday 15th May Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool (20:00) Sunday 17th May Manchester United 1-1 Nottingham Forest (12:30) Brentford 2-1 Crystal Palace Everton 2-0 Sunderland Leeds United 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Fulham Newcastle United 1-2 West Ham (17:30) Monday 18th May Arsenal 2-0 Burnley (20:00) Tuesday 19th May AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City (19:30) Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (20:15)

Wonder if this actually deserves a topic. At first I figured the disease would be too deadly and would all blow over. But looks like this strain might actually be fairly transmissible and there are asymptomatic cases. Seems everyone is pinky promising to self isolate at this stage.

I think this is what gets me too, I think it probably is a foul, but there have been countless goals conceded this season similar to this one that refs just let go. |Just because a player lets go of the keeper, it doesn't mean it won't have affected them. The Premier League wants to see this product and ultimately they've got their wish. Been a really bad week for referees.

I think it probably was the right decision, but ultimately this nonense on corners needs to be looked at next season.

Are Labour's policies really terrible? I agree they could have been slightly bolder, but for the most part things are functioning very well. Yes, it is missing a signature sexy policy. The truth is people just want a populist or a headline grabber, look at how well Boris did here or Trump is doing in America. It's part of the appeal of Farage too to some level.

Do people hate Labour or do they hatre Starmer? People are making all sorts of assumptions. I'm not sure you can blame the defeat on centrism - there's been a good core 4-5m plus voters who have been lurched to the likes of UKIP for as long as I have been following politics. Now you've got Reform who have taken over some of the traditional working class areas alonside some of the old Tory vote too. Local elections always take a hammering for the current government. The problem we have is people want change, no immigration and to feel richer but absolutely nobody can deliver that. Ultimately I agree, I don't think Starmer can lead Labour in to the next election. He's made a few forced and unforced errors domestically, but he's really not been that bad.

I dunno about that one. The top level data at the moment seems to be linked to Brexit where the Tory voters are shifting to Reform and only a small minority of Labour voters are shifting to Reform (10-15%). Where Green is doing well, its meaning Reform are picking up seats. People want Labour to do a 360 spin on everything which would be an absolute disaster. I agree whatever they do on some issues they can never outflank Reform. We’re in a period of populism (from the left and right) and quick fixes and people who want change. Unfortunately, you can’t have change without breaking the system. And if you break the system, more people will lose out than gain.

Probably because on local issues they can be fairly useless, I will say this as someone who had the fortune of them running my local council a few years ago. Much like Reform likely will be too. From some of the patterns emerging it looks like voting for Green is enabling Reform. There’s probably a lot of people voting tactically too.

It's how they've marketed their whole campaign isn't it? Expecting a bad night for Labour and the Tories. Always find with council elections a lot of it is fuk about and find out. All very low impact stuff. Unfortunately people just always want more. Labour have made some gaffs and had some unfortunate events, but on the balance of things they're doing a pretty good job. Yet of course everyone thinks they can do better from both ends of the spectrum.

I always think in a one off game anything can happen, I suspect loads of people will point to Chelsea beating PSG last summer, but completely different circumstances. Arsenal will start off as underdogs and rightly so. Arsenal will have to play the perfect game to beat them, whereas I think PSG could be slightly below bar and bear Arsenal - think that will ultimately be the difference.

Fair play to Arsenal. Whoever comes through out of Bayern and PSG will rightly be favourites. Arsenal probably fancy themselves against Bayern, I think PSG would have them on toast. The key to Arsenal will be to whether they can keep Saka fit. They can defend very well, but ultimately I also think what might let them down is they haven’t been in a final for so long (2006 the last one?) that the build up will be so much it will get in their heads.

Saturday 9th May Liverpool 3-1 Chelsea (12:30) Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Fulham 2-2 AFC Bournemouth Sunderland 1-1 Manchester United Manchester City 2-1 Brentford (17:30) Sunday 10th May Burnley 1-2 Aston Villa (14:00) Crystal Palace 2-3 Everton (14:00) Nottingham Forest 1-2 Newcastle United (14:00) West Ham United 2-1 Arsenal (16:30) Monday 11th May Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Leeds United (20:00) Wednesday 13th May Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace (20:00)

Friday 1st May Leeds United 2-0 Burnley (20:00) Saturday 2nd May Brentford 2-2 West Ham United Newcastle United 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Sunderland Arsenal 1-1 Fulham (17:30) Sunday 3rd May AFC Bournemouth 3-1 Crystal Palace (14:00) Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool (15:30) Aston Villa 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (19:00) Monday 4th May Chelsea 2-1 Nottingham Forest Everton 0-2 Manchester City (20:00)

Friday 24th April Sunderland 1-1 Nottingham Forest (20:00) Saturday 25th April Fulham 2-2 Aston Villa (12;30) Liverpool 2-1 Crystal Palace West Ham United 1-0 Everton Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur Arsenal 3-1 Newcastle United (17:30) Monday 27th April Manchester United 2-1 Brentford (20:00)