Puja wrote:Digby wrote:Sandydragon wrote:
Yes to all that and also the hangover from Corbyn. Labour hasn’t rebuilt trust yet.
Labour has though got the government putting in place a number of Labour policies to try and ensure the government stay ahead in the polls. Labour might well deem them Labour Lite and think anyway they'd be more competent, but it's not nothing as an opposition to have the government trying to take your space, it's just boring and gains little traction given the mix of people voting their party and/or simply not paying any attention
Getting some Labour-esque policies in is nice, but it's a condemnation of the opposition that the Government are widely acknowledged to be a collection of corrupt, useless, hoof-wanking bunglecunts, but are still favourites for the next election. No-one has an idea of what a Labour government would mean and what it would stand for - it's notable that the narrowing of the opinion polls is Conservative losing favour without Labour actually gaining it.
I'm hoping Starmer is keeping his powder dry and plans an all-out assault on the public consciousness close to the next election, but if that's the case, then this feels like a selection of open goals that he's looking at and saying, "Nah, there'll be a better one later."
Puja
If the public want the incompetent and the venal that's their choice. And okay it's a FPP system, but incompetent and venal does seem to be a preference
Starmer does have some problems, the loss of some traditional labour voters (who the party have ignored for too long, maybe since Kinnock, certainly since Smith) to the easier trappings of nationalism, and the damage done by Corbyn, and that to address either of those problems without compounding the other is difficult, both to address within the party and to the public
Also Starmer still seems to think being factual and honest have more merit than they do and he needs to overcome that court style delivery, one might think it a shame but that's where the voters are.
I don't feel sorry for Starmer, he asked for the job and part of the reason he's struggling is him. He'll either get it done or get fired, which is really how it should be