Andy Burnham fares well at Glastonbury — but winter is coming for PM

Times

16 hours ago

Andy Burnham may not have made the most headlines from Glastonbury, but many in Westminster will have found his performance there the most interesting. The mayor of Greater Manchester told the famously sober music festival about his opposition to the welfare bill and his hope that Labour MPs 'think carefully before they vote'. This blatant challenge to Keir Starmer has been noticed in London, as rumours swirl about Burnham's Westminster ambitions and, as ever with him, there's a flavour of Game of Thrones. Wagging tongues say that the so-called King in the North will be looking to speed up his march south this autumn. Starmer may feel that winter is coming.
David Cameron was among partiers at the 60th birthday weekend of David Ross, co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse and Tory donor, who had guests wear lederhosen for an Austrian night and then black tie for a dinner the following evening. However, the jollity was added to when another ex-PM got the evenings mixed up and consequently looked like the lonely goatherd in a sea of dinner jackets. No prizes for guessing which ex-PM this was, but he of all people knows that when the goatherd moves, it moves.
Glyndebourne couldn't give a Figaro on Sunday as the opera house's revolve broke, delaying the performance beyond the last train and leaving the audience stranded in the wilds of Sussex. It capped off a difficult weekend for the festival as Saturday night's Saul was abandoned after multiple power cuts. Some patrons took grim satisfaction as they have never warmed to the wind turbine which has been on site for 13 years. Annually, it generates the equivalent of 105 per cent of Glyndebourne's electricity but, sadly for a summer festival, is not much help on a still June night. Perhaps the soprano can blow on it.
It's easy to forget that those great chums George Osborne and Ed Balls used to be chalk and cheese, but differences remain between the former chancellor and his shadow. After a mention of Mr Kipling cakes on their Political Currency podcast garnered a free sample, Balls started extolling Domino's in the hope of free pizza. Osborne cottoned on to this game, but rather more ambitiously. 'I quite like driving a Ferrari,' he said. 'And I'm a big fan of Bordeaux wine.' It is yet to be seen if there will be free claret for this former blue.
• 'Suella's almost proposing marriage': Nigel Farage eyes the dispatch box
Back on the subject of politicians' dress, Nigel Farage has been sporting what some thought to be a new Reform tie, but the dash of turquoise is actually a way of sucking up to his constituents at the Frinton Cricket Club. I'm told by denizens of East Anglia that Farage may have been drawn to the FCC for its 'well-appointed clubhouse bar and convivial atmosphere'. They also hope his fame may give the town a different reputation, admitting that it is best known for its 1970s appearance in signage for North Sea Ferries. On the sign which read 'Harwich for the continent', someone added 'Frinton for the incontinent'.