Oops! Sir Keir drops a massive 45 points in the opinion polls.

Mollygo

^ We all know that means nothing in the UK democracy though Mollygo, don’t we?
You can’t blame Labour for being in power when that’s how our democracy works. Governments virtually never govern with a majority of of over 50% do they?^

Absolutely!
I don’t blame Labour for being in power, any more than I blamed Conservatives for being in power.
Labour got into power because we weren’t happy with Conservatives.
Conservatives got back into power because we weren’t happy with Labour.
Now Labour are back in power because we weren’t happy with the Conservatives.

The main difference now is that Governments aren’t happy because we know so much more quickly about what they get wrong. We know about behaviour that is excused by it’s in the rules that will give them extra benefits
and maybe even allow the donors extra benefits.
Add to that the implementation of actions a government condemned when it was proposed by the government they replaced, with the evidence still clearly there on the internet or saved on people’s devices.

And while I dislike percentages being used to prove things like pay rises, a vast majority 1 in 5 or 20% is funny.

I don’t think labour will get in 5 years the way the are behaving at the moment.

TakeThat7

I've just spend hours today tying to get home from Blackpool on the train Yet again train after train being cancelled Pretty routine these days and very dangerous part of the journey spent on the one train ruñning a bit of the way and so overcrowded but mums and babies and toddlers risking being crushed Apparently drivers don't want to do overtime When are labour going to do something useful like get new drivers to work weekends

Oh yes indeed, that is all the fault of Labour.

( irony)

There was no milk this morning and I can still smell last night's tea in the house. My sandals are worn out, I can't decide if it's boot weather yet.

I blame Labour.

Thought he had sorted a pay deal with the train drivers?

A pay deal does not ever mean that drivers can exceed the maximum number of hours they can drive per week, or that they can be forced to work above their contracted hours. Hands up who thinks the Labour government, if any government, could have trained and put in place additional drivers across the rail network in two months?

Nobody could think that Casdon but what Labour could have done when deciding to pay massive increases in salary to train drivers was to insist they alter some working conditions.
More weekend trains being put on as one of them.To be brought in over the next few months.

When is Keir Starmer going to put his new glasses on ?As necessary item for MP requiring a donation I'm still waiting to see them The ones he's wearing haven't made me feel at all like voting labour Then Angela Raynor spending so much on personal photographer couldn't she give that to the black hole

Oreo

Nobody could think that Casdon but what Labour could have done when deciding to pay massive increases in salary to train drivers was to insist they alter some working conditions.
More weekend trains being put on as one of them.To be brought in over the next few months.

Absolutely, it's a public service, as much as the buses are. Drivers on buses are not allowed to work over so many hours, per day, doesn't mean they can't do overtime on another day. Flexible rostering, to include weekend work, for all not just a few, should have been a condition. No they just threw in the massive pay rise, no conditions.

And I'm still stuck on the stats! On none of the country comparisons for debt from the link Casdon provided could I find the UK.

Train drivers for weekends need providing now before people die What was happening yesterday at Preston was unbelievable It was terrifying people fighting to get on trains The drivers don't want to do overtime train some drivers who do

When it's engineering works to blame they provide alternative rail busses What about health and safety There was no where to get help Can't blame the other rail employees for that they wanted to survive Hundreds got off oñe train after all getting on the one train running via Preston Then hundreds of Liverpool supporters barged on

Defence Secretary s a good speaker I didn't even notice his glasses when he was on the news or what he was wearing Didn't think any labour MP was that good

If the workhouses are ever reinstated then we should toss Starmer and all those like him in there!

They scrapped the winter fuel payment for us pensioners and then accept all of these freebies. I blooming well voted for them. More fool me!!!!!

Freya5

Oreo

Nobody could think that Casdon but what Labour could have done when deciding to pay massive increases in salary to train drivers was to insist they alter some working conditions.
More weekend trains being put on as one of them.To be brought in over the next few months.

Absolutely, it's a public service, as much as the buses are. Drivers on buses are not allowed to work over so many hours, per day, doesn't mean they can't do overtime on another day. Flexible rostering, to include weekend work, for all not just a few, should have been a condition. No they just threw in the massive pay rise, no conditions.

The joy of government, damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It was a backdated settlement aimed at getting train drivers back to work as quickly as possible, after months on end of strikes which the last government failed to resolve, because they were wanting changes which would never be accepted because they eroded workers rights too far, The aim to get them back to work was achieved very quickly so the strokes have ended. Great. . Negotiations have already started for reform, but there is no magic wand - I can tell from some of the comments that not everybody has managed staff, because if you had you would know that goodwill and strong working relationships are what achieve change, not threats and big sticks.

It said on the news that the unions are asking Starmer to reject his plans to stop the WFA. let’s see what happens.

I do agree with you Casdon about the train drivers and working relationships. I don't understand why there is so much antipathy towards skilled working people doing responsible jobs having a good standard of living. It is hardly the Governments fault that the train companies did not employ enough drivers. The previous Government wanted to impose driver only trains as a condition of negotiation, I don't think anyone sensible would see that as a good idea for the passengers or the staff.
I have not a lot of time for Starmer and the way he has changed the Labour party, but on this issue I think Wes Streeting has done a good job.

I could see that Starmer was never interested in a more equal society, but I didn't suspect that he was in it for the freebies.

Lisaangel10

It said on the news that the unions are asking Starmer to reject his plans to stop the WFA. let’s see what happens.

I don't think they will change their minds because Starmer and Reeves would see that as a weakness, whereas it is blindly carrying on with this unpopular and unnecessary policy which is the real weakness. This is all anyone is going to associate with Rachel Reeves in the future. It is her version of "milk snatcher".

Shame he does not try to deal with benefit fraud and start charging corporate tax on massive companies who trade here but avoid paying as they are listed in another country

It's interesting how people who support Side A, think the press is on the side of Side B, and those who believe it are 'gullible'! Then Side B says the same about Side A. In that way falsehoods are perpetuated and those who 'call them out' reviled. Newsflash, the media cannot be trusted at all, and are in the pay of vested interests. However, I suspect they could not make up those facts in quite so much detail if they were not true. There's plenty of other information around Keir Stalin (not a typo!) on the alternative media, and I suspect the truth is rather worse, in many respects. I agree, Karmalady, 20% is not a 'massive majority' and certainly not a mandate for the swingeing plans he appears to have. I think we are all going to have some nasty shocks, those who voted for him will regret it and we shall see that this is NOT Labour as Michael Foot would have defined it! And yes, Karmalady, along will come another robot - people, wake up before it is too late and we lose so many of our freedoms.

I would be interested to know where the freebie figures have come from. £300,000 is a huge amount of frocks and sunglasses!

Mumsmum2

Shame he does not try to deal with benefit fraud and start charging corporate tax on massive companies who trade here but avoid paying as they are listed in another country

That is so true! Benefit fraud could bring in lots of money but I doubt if they have the staff to sort it.

He won a massive majority of seats on a greatly reduced share of the vote (the Labour vote share was down even from 2019, the Brexit election, and still more from 2017) because the Tory vote collapsed. Reform, in its previous incarnation of the Brexit Party, had not stood in Tory-held seats in 2019.

I cried tears of joy when KS gave that speech outside Number 10. Initially I was prepared to lose my heating allowance if it helped the country get back on its feet.
Since then I have had second thoughts. I am always behind with my gas and electricity bills ,I am cold a lot of the time after having a bad go with covid. The more I thought about it
the angrier I have become. I am a lifelong Labour voter, but when they start grabbing for money from elderly folk like this, it's the last straw.

Benefit fraud is very small beer compared with tax evasion.

Does that make benefit fraud acceptable?