Zhivago wrote:Puja wrote:Sandydragon wrote:
Corbyn was directly responsible to a large degree. Short of Dianne Abbott, I can’t think of a worse leader. The problem is that many of the Labour left aren’t that different in mindset. They may not have the years of cosying up to the IRA etc but it wouldn’t take long for their personal opinions to be just as obvious.
As for policies, are you suggesting free broadband was ever a good idea? Nationalisation may poll well with some people, it also sends many running for the hills. If Labour can recapture the sense of aspiration that new Labour had, pro business but also on the side of the little guy. Then they have a constituent base to work with. I still think that Starmer is trusted more than his party and a good way to move on is to completely refresh his front bench with some heavy hitters who get some visibility. Starmer would make a good PM but he need some of the shadow cabinet to be carrying the load.
While I wouldn't've put free broadband front and centre, it's hard to argue after the lockdown that it's not a utility rather than a luxury.
I'm not sure Starmer is more trusted - no-one knows what he stands for, what he believes in, what his Labour party means. Until he finds a policy to stand behind, he's nothing but a cipher in a suit.
Which heavy hitters would you bring in?
Puja
I think the main problem was that it made Labour look uncredible. They need to focus on a few main goals and push those.
-Making the super rich (note not just 'rich' because affluent people might see themselves as targetted) pay their fair share of tax should be one.
-Fixing Britain's infrastructure (NHS/Rail/etc)
-Giving employees more of a say (Worker representation in companies etc)
Stick to a few key messages with detail backing them up and repeat the headlines.
This "crisis" is overblown. One by-election result under freakishly unusual national circumstances. This is the constituency who were happy to vote for a corrupt New Labour politician, so what if they now vote for a Tory?
No doubt the right-wing press are over the moon about this as it takes headlines away from the Tory corruption stories. And plenty of the left can snipe at Starmer with their pre-prepared articles.
There's a lot that Starmer can do better, but he's clearly electable, a potential PM, and Labour have considerably improved in the polls under him.
IMO this is what he should do:
Stop making a point of agreeing with or supporting the government. No one can seriously accuse him of making political mileage out of the pandemic. He does look like the grown-up in the room, but enough is enough. Trying to look helpful just looks weak. Therefore...
He needs to look strong, so he needs to attack (eg on corruption, on the massive Covid-19 deathtoll due to delayed lockdowns). Maybe he needs to find someone like Alastair Campbell (but not Alastair Campbell) to help him with this.
On policy, still well away from the next general election, too much clarity is a problem: the Tories will simply re-brand their policies with the name of any novel Labour idea which seems popular; and obviously unpopular policies should be avoided. (NB that arsehole Blair was successful by having no policies, beyond crushing the left of his party, until just before the 1997 election when his policy was "change nothing".)
At this stage it would make sense to stand for general principles which are (a) self-evidently good, and (b) which do not sit easily with the Conservative party. I suggest the Labour party should set out to make the UK an
Honest, Kind and Fair place to live. Then all issues and developing policies can be fitted into the framework.
I'm not a Labour person. They were slaughtered in 2019, but are you actually telling me that was because of the policies or because Corbyn was a Remainer/Leaver (delete as appropriate depending on constituency) IRA-supporting Britain-hating Marxist traitor? The policies, stripped of their provenance, polled well.
