As someone who hoped that we could give the shitgibbon some nice crayons and let him sit in the corner colouring-in until the bell rang, I have had some sympathy with Starmer's position. However, that isn't going to work and in light of Carney's speech I think Starmer might need to reconsider his messaging and possibly his strategy (if that's not already a WIP in the background, which I'd hope it is).
The reality is we're out of the EU for the foreseeable but instead of viewing ourselves as a hapless/friendless nation caught between a rock and a hard place, Starmer needs to lead and lean into our role as a very significant player in this nascent web/coalition of "mid-powers" that will stand up to the bigger powers. The existential threat on the doorstep has prompted Carney to take a lead that it seems possible even the inherently disjointed EU will mostly take up too, we can and should be a major player in this and I don't think we can afford as a country to hedge our bets any longer.
In signalling this Starmer will no doubt alienate some of the electorate but I don't think he's getting them back anyway. It'll likely lead to even more challenging times than we're in now but as well as being the right/only thing to do imo, there is a clear defendable political narrative in it - something which Starmer has lacked almost from the get go. The nutters who would welcome an amphibian faced Trump capo as their overlord are still a minority, a noisy one but nonetheless a minority and Starmer needs to wrestle the narrative back from them and if he shows some leadership this could be that opportunity.
