00:00Well, it is the speculation that is not going away. Andy Burnham, it seems, being urged
00:06by some allies to go for an early general election. And that despite the fact that when
00:13you look at the boat crossings, this is still completely and utterly out of control. You
00:19can see what's transpired under Labour. And you can also see in recent days, the shocking
00:25amount of crossings that have been allowed. It remains totally out of control, including
00:31you can see there a day recently, 781 people allowed to cross in a single day. And yet
00:39we see reports that Burnham is being urged to go early, that it won't get any better for
00:46Labour than this. At the moment, with YouGov's MRP, Labour would win the most seats, 241
00:54Conservatives, 130. Reform, 123. Now, remember, it does seem that the Burnham position is in
01:04favour of changing the electoral system to a system where coalitions are more likely anyway,
01:10making governing coalitions more likely anyway. And we know that some have actually urged Burnham
01:15to change the voting system before the next general election. But look, bear this in mind,
01:22even with that YouGov poll, that even on that one, Reform are ahead of the Conservatives on
01:28vote share, and Labour have a two-point lead only over Reform, with Reform second on vote share.
01:36And when you look at Servation's poll, you can see just how volatile this is. They've got a pretty
01:41different outcome there. Labour still, the largest party, 272, with Servation. But Reform there,
01:50153 seats, close to double the level of seats for the Conservatives, who are just ahead of the Liberal
01:55Democrats in that MRP poll. And you can see there, most top two races, according to Servation's MRP,
02:04would be between Labour and Reform. But look, the argument goes, it ain't going to get any better
02:10for Burnham than this, that he can cling on till the bitter end, but that he could also gamble,
02:17go early and try and secure a mandate. And this Telegraph report that Downing Street advisors are
02:24pushing for an early election next year, that that would give Burnham the best chance of an election
02:30victory, of an actual mandate. And that there, according to a government source there, there is a
02:36diverse opinion across government over the timing of the next election. They're contemplating all
02:41scenarios. I still think it's going to be early. I know many of you disagree, but please do let me
02:45know your thoughts on all this in the comments below. One thing is for sure, folks, speculation
02:51as to an early general election, it isn't going away. And I think there are far too many briefings
02:57going on for this to come to nothing. I think we are headed for an early election at some point.
