I'm sure Starmer and his colleagues are not all thick. But what I find completely staggering is just how completely inept they are at this politics lark. They are absolutely clueless at it.
They don't seem to have learned anything at all about the fact that in politics, appearances matter. The words you use, matter. It's not only about policies (although I disagree with pretty much all of them), it's how it's presented.
If Starmer or Rayner had given so much as a passing thought about this, neither of them would be in the dire trouble they've found themselves these last 2 weeks.
And it's not just those two, it's all of them. 150,000+ people turned up to that rally in London yesterday, and there was a golden opportunity for Mahmood to say, "we hear you", but what does she say? In terms, "far right thugs will feel the full force of the law". Well that's going to get them all voting for her isn't it. Not. They (Labour ministers) are completely incapable of reading any room