Keir Starmer at it again..

[Templeton Peck]

Poor Owen. Someone took his favourite teddy bear away and there he is still screaming from the sidelines.

Play the ball

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

????
I think you might have to explain that

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

????
I think you might have to explain that

Well:

Bloke tells us that Labour have dumped another policy.

Your response: criticise bloke.

 

[Sniffer]

Starmer's manifesto may well end up as one sheet handout saying, "Trust us as not being as bad as the current lot".

I can see what he's doing in basically ruling out a costed tax bombshell advert from the Conservatives but at some point you have to offer a vision of what you will do differently and to hell with any criticism from them. The Government's unpopularity is so baked in that Labour can offer policies with a degree of vagueness of where the funds will come from to pay for them.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

But you do this when we're actually near an election, surely.

Not sure Blair was putting out many definitive positions in say, October 1995.

 

[prawnking]

at some point you have to offer a vision of what you will do differently and to hell with any criticism from them

Yep, I (personally) don't think it's as simple as 'they're red Tories', it strikes me more as fear of setting off the same high profile 'lefty red flags' with the electorate and media that the previous leadership was prone to (rightly or wrongly).

It's not particularly inspiring, but I get it. I'd hope for a more confident and distinctive set of positions as we get closer to an election though...

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

But you do this when we're actually near an election, surely.

Not sure Blair was putting out many definitive positions in say, October 1995.

Then why make the pledges he did just 4 months ago?

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

After 44 years, Labour moves to expel me. And my MP and activist friends are asking: who will be next? | Neal Lawson

There seem to be bullies at the top who don’t understand pluralism. They see only true believers and sworn enemies, says Neal Lawson, director of the cross-party campaign organisation Compass

www.theguardian.com

 

[Templeton Peck]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1675971678143127552

 

[Templeton Peck]

Labour would keep two-child benefit cap, says Keir Starmer

Leader says party in power will stick with Tory policy seen as driving low-income families into deeper poverty

www.theguardian.com

 

[YoungWolf]

Labour would keep two-child benefit cap, says Keir Starmer

Leader says party in power will stick with Tory policy seen as driving low-income families into deeper poverty

www.theguardian.com

Grim

 

[Templeton Peck]

Grim

Backing austerity too. They're to the right of Cameron now given their stance on Brexit.

 

[Tredman]

I thought Jez showed that the left can be brexiters too?

 

[Templeton Peck]

I thought Jez showed that the left can be brexiters too?

Anti austerity though

 

[YoungWolf]

Where does continuing to let children starve fit on the political spectrum?

 

[The Bear]

I agree with the cap, but 2 children isn't enough. It should be 4.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Genuine question, what happens if you have triplets?

 

[Del Woppio]

Yeah that's shit. I kind of get the thinking that the economic picture means they can't undo everything straight away, but this is a mistake. It's literally the cheapest way to bring hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty, and there are plenty of places to raise that money.

I'm still naively hoping that they're coming out with all the economic stability/conservative soundbites as an electability strategy and will actually be more progressive when their feet are under the table

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Starmer isn’t particularly endearing himself to me at the moment but I’ve always said I’ll judge him if/when he becomes PM. He needs to spend less time worrying about trying to appeal to Tory voters though.

Most of the public probably agree with the cap, ‘if you can’t afford all those kids then don’t have them’ kind of thing.

 

[Sniffer]

I had this debate/fall out with my better half last night. My hope is that he is trying to strip away any possible attack line that will be thrown at them before an election. Once in power, you will have to judge them on that record and not on hypothetical announcements 18 months away from an election. If the reality of a term of Labour is that its as bad as this lot then I'll be in the camp to chuck them out and bin my membership.