Keir Starmer

[hilts]

I believe his dad was a toolmaker?

Starmer not Blackadder

 

[Don Karleone]

I believe his dad was a toolmaker?

Starmer not Blackadder

The Dave Whelan of politics.

 

[SkyBlueFlux]

Like him or loathe him he’s taking an approach that is provably successful when it comes to electability. Conservatives have made a habit in the last decade of parking their tanks on the lawn of Labour to get elected with their talks of “levelling up” and “northern power house”.

Then as soon as they get in power they’ve tacked much further to the right, to an extreme degree. Their manifestos might as well be considered a work of fiction. Levelling up is a fantasy as many northern towns are finding out.

The problem is that only the right can do this. It’s in the psychology of their supporters to ignore this kind of thing because all they really care about is power and winning.

Labour don’t have that luxury, the paradox of the left is they hold themselves to higher ideological standards and those standards make it much harder for them to win elections. Which is why the left always fragments into a million pieces.

There really is only one answer to a mess like this, and that is PR. If we had the great statesmen of years gone by, I would have some hope they would sacrifice the FPTP system that serves their interests in favour of a more equitable system. I had some naive hope that Starmer, given his human rights background, might be the kind of person who would make this happen. Unfortunately, those hopes are fading fast.

Which is a shame because Labour would get five years in government at a canter if they put PR on the menu. It would change the country for the better overnight.

 

[Gabriel]

 

[hilts]

Like him or loathe him he’s taking an approach that is provably successful when it comes to electability. Conservatives have made a habit in the last decade of parking their tanks on the lawn of Labour to get elected with their talks of “levelling up” and “northern power house”.

Then as soon as they get in power they’ve tacked much further to the right, to an extreme degree. Their manifestos might as well be considered a work of fiction. Levelling up is a fantasy as many northern towns are finding out.

The problem is that only the right can do this. It’s in the psychology of their supporters to ignore this kind of thing because all they really care about is power and winning.

Labour don’t have that luxury, the paradox of the left is they hold themselves to higher ideological standards and those standards make it much harder for them to win elections. Which is why the left always fragments into a million pieces.

There really is only one answer to a mess like this, and that is PR. If we had the great statesmen of years gone by, I would have some hope they would sacrifice the FPTP system that serves their interests in favour of a more equitable system. I had some naive hope that Starmer, given his human rights background, might be the kind of person who would make this happen. Unfortunately, those hopes are fading fast.

Which is a shame because Labour would get five years in government at a canter if they put PR on the menu. It would change the country for the better overnight.

When he gets in he will make life a little bit better and fairer for those in need and also spend an inordinate amount of time fighting those in his own ranks who want to make real change and sucking up to business and middle England to get in again.

 

[Rascal]

Like him or loathe him he’s taking an approach that is provably successful when it comes to electability.

The polls say different, he is not popular at all. He has a similar rating to Sunak.

Conservatives have made a habit in the last decade of parking their tanks on the lawn of Labour to get elected with their talks of “levelling up” and “northern power house”.

Which have been hot air, Starmer has not said he will do anything different.

Then as soon as they get in power they’ve tacked much further to the right, to an extreme degree. Their manifestos might as well be considered a work of fiction. Levelling up is a fantasy as many northern towns are finding out.

The problem is that only the right can do this. It’s in the psychology of their supporters to ignore this kind of thing because all they really care about is power and winning.

Labour don’t have that luxury, the paradox of the left is they hold themselves to higher ideological standards and those standards make it much harder for them to win elections. Which is why the left always fragments into a million pieces.

There is truth in what you say, the Tories only care about power, the Left do care about ideology. What is more honest, a belief in power for powers sake or a belief in power for ideological reasons

There really is only one answer to a mess like this, and that is PR. If we had the great statesmen of years gone by, I would have some hope they would sacrifice the FPTP system that serves their interests in favour of a more equitable system. I had some naive hope that Starmer, given his human rights background, might be the kind of person who would make this happen. Unfortunately, those hopes are fading fast.

The only way i can see this happening is a coalition with the Fib Dems. Our electoral system is broken, the Tories will not want to change it as it suits them as they continually get into power with a minority of the electorate voting for them. I think the last time any party won near 50% of the votes cast was in 1955 when the Tories won 49% of the vote,

Which is a shame because Labour would get five years in government at a canter if they put PR on the menu. It would change the country for the better overnight.

If PR came into being then I expect UK politics to fragment, Labour should never contemplate a coalition with the Lib Dems because on economic issues they are miles apart and it is the Economy Stupid. The plus is parties of the true left may gain influence, i live in hope.

 

[blueinsa]

When he gets in he will make life a little bit better and fairer for those in need and also spend an inordinate amount of time fighting those in his own ranks who want to make real change and sucking up to business and middle England to get in again.

Trouble we have is we live in a world where business and the City decide.

Just ask Truss.

Politicians are puppets.

 

[Postman Pep]

 

[hilts]

Trouble we have is we live in a world where business and the City decide.

Just ask Truss.

Politicians are puppets.

Complicit ones

 

[blueinsa]

Complicit ones

Indeed but I’d wager anyone voted in who wasn’t wouldn’t last 6 months.