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Grimmer and grimmer

Could we be facing a year of Corvid crisis with all its implications for social and business disruption? That’s the fear that Jim expresses this week as he sees few lights at the end of the tunnel. He also speculates what might have happened if David Miliband had become Prime Minister 10 years ago.

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A Long Way Back

The government is unable to give business a clear back to work strategy because of the lack of testing, Jim claims in his latest blog. He also takes a close look at the North West Labour MPs in Keir Starmer’s new team.

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Need for clarity

This week Jim fears the lock down is here to stay,and calls for proper rules to be in place when the Prime Minister is ill. He also looks at Labour’s new team.

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Starmer: Sherpa or Prime Minister?

Keir Starmer is the hot favourite to win the Labour leadership race on what should have been Grand National day. Jim asks whether the new leader will be competitive in 2024 because of the changed world we are all facing.

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18 moths of virus suppression?

Jim argues that there is some wishful thinking about how long this virus emergency is going to last.He argues that firms and workers should be given cash not loans to avoid a spiral into a serious recesssion.

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There is a magic money tree after all

The Tories have found the magic money tree that Theresa May said didn’t exist. But in his Budget review, Jim asks if there is underlying unease in the Tory Party about this dramatic switch from austerity to a bonanza of spending.

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Budget might get the virus

Will “events” prevent the Chancellor from launching an ambitious Budget next week at the start of the Johnson era? Jim also reports on how the towns are fighting back.

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Nandy triumph in Manchester

Jim was at the Labour leadership hustings in Manchester this week and saw a strong performance by Wigan’s Lisa Nandy. He feels it may not be enough to stop Keir Starmer but she is a woman to watch as Labour tries to rebuild as a credible electoral force.

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Solution to BBC funding

Jim’s been talking to the BBC Director General about the future funding of the corporation.He outlines his idea in this blog and defends one of the few remaining British institutions respected around the world.

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Cummings the sacker of Chancellors

This week Jim comments on the shock sacking of the Chancellor, believes we need to look carefully at the government’s rail plans for the North, and urges Andy Burnham to get behind Lisa Nandy in the Labour leadership election.

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