Well, here we are. 100 days of Labour tomorrow.

Doodledog

winterwhite

I'm not a Labour Party supporter and am disappointed in KS's leadership, but goodness I'm fed up with this relentless gleeful carping after only three months.

It was a serious reputational error to have announced two measures likely to hit the poorest hardest without parallel measures ensuring that the richest contribute fairly. We trust that these will come later.

It was a silly mistake not to realise how the freebies would look. Someone should have spotted this and stopped it before it happened. I don't think it was greed. Sorted out when realised.

I assume there is more to the Sue Gray episode than meets the eye and she doesn't come out of it well, but sorted out, we hope, when realised.

Do these early blunders shake my preference for a new Labour Government over more years of the Tories? Certainly not.

Well said, winterwhite, particularly as you’re not a Labour supporter.

I am a Labour supporter (although not a slavish one) and as someone who has spent most of my adult life with a government I didn’t want, and policies such as Brexit that I didn’t vote for, I am utterly fed up with the bitterness, hypocrisy and moaning from those who got used to things going their way for so long.

There have been mistakes and miscalculations, but these have been around public relations, rather than corruption and dishonesty, and there has not been time for the new government to get everyone on board - policies need time to bed in.

It’s good to see that at least some who didn’t vote Labour are able to stand back a bit and give them a chance. Thank you.

****************************************************
Doodledog, you ( and winterwhite) have summed up perfectly how I feel. For once in my life, I| have got what I wanted with my vote ie to get the Tories out. I have had to suffer the effects of other people's short sighted acts such as Brexit, and although disappointed with some of the actions of the new government, so far, I am (1) prepared to give them a fair chance and (2) consider every report on the basis of who is reporting it ie most newspaper owners who have 'skin in the game' and will certainly not benefit from a Labour administration. My mild disappointment has been tempered by seeing that chancer Johnson touting his book, I felt such relief that we have finally got rid of him, it is like having flashbacks to a bad dream seeing him and hearing his bluster and lies.

Well, if Starmer didn't realise how hard the job would be, he didn't have much of a grasp of its requirements then!

Initially I see Starmer as a fairly level-headed and self-composed man, but whether that is enough to be a great Prime minister or leader, I'm not convinced. My opinion is that he probably won't reach his full potential because he changes his mind and makes too many feeble excuses.

Boris, as we know, was bipolar and exhibited reckless behaviour, but he went head first into things and grabbed at challenges. What with Covid and Brexit, I think he'd be justified in saying the job was the most arduous thing he'd ever done.

Wyllow3

Thanks for that, Maisie, it does make understanding it easier. It's all in the regulations/controls applied, isnt it?
I'm glad its become a source of disagreements at a high level as to what the guidelines should be - think its healthy.

So DP World will be attending the summit after all. I agree with you that it's healthy that any deal involving them should be scrutinised. Hopefully, they will tow the line and the country will benefit from the investment.

However, I wonder if people have really thought through what would happen, if things don't work out and people end up being sacked and/or foreign agency workers employed for a pittance (or something else). People would be up in arms that the Labour government turned a blind eye to the problems involved in giving a contract to an employer with a history of 'sharp' employment practices. They would be accused of not listening.

From today’s Guardian:

“By the time of the next election, they believe, the country will be back on its feet, and voters who put their faith in Labour last time round reassured. Another insider is more succinct: “It’s all about delivery now. And if we don’t deliver, we’re fucked.”

5/6 April 2020 Covid/intensive care

20th May 2020 He chose -clearly well enough! to Partygate

I'm as annoyed as anyone about Padtygate but those who disbelieve the fact that Johnson was very ill and in ICU are disbelieving the wonderful medical staff at St Thomas's too.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

So, Starmer says that being PM is the hardest thing he has ever had to do.

He should try doing it straight after coming out of intensive care, surrounded by snakes, with the Civil Service undermining him; politicised Judiciary against him, MSM gunning for him, and a a lot of the MPs in his party desperate to reverse the decision of the electorate.....

You have an interesting take on the time line "straight after coming out of intensive care"

28th August 2019 before Covid
the Parliament of the United Kingdom was ordered to be prorogued by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of the Conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson—advice which was later ruled unlawful by judiciary.

5/6 April 2020 Covid/intensive care

20th May 2020 He chose -clearly well enough! to Partygate

9th June 2023 - 3 years later Resigned

And look what a pigs ear he made of it too!

So, Starmer says that being PM is the hardest thing he has ever had to do.

He should try doing it straight after coming out of intensive care, surrounded by snakes, with the Civil Service undermining him; politicised Judiciary against him, MSM gunning for him, and a a lot of the MPs in his party desperate to reverse the decision of the electorate.....

Thanks for that, Maisie, it does make understanding it easier. It's all in the regulations/controls applied, isnt it?
I'm glad its become a source of disagreements at a high level as to what the guidelines should be - think its healthy.

Oh. Ok. A more balanced view

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/explainer/investment-zones

I’m not sure and to be honest, I haven’t thought to read it up since labour took office.

I got very annoyed when I first read of the Tory plans, particularly in relation to the anti-democratic aspect of the whole thing. Looking at the sort of power these Freeport’s will have filled me with horror.

Free ports have been in existence in the U.K. before, but never to the extent this current version allows.

I must apologise for bad misinformation. There aren't 70 SEZs. There are 12 . I am mortified...

Whitewavemark2

MaizieD

This is going to be a freeport, so will operate outside normal laws.

I don't think people realise the full significance of this. And by 'people' I include the Labour government. For a start, all their workers rights legislation won't apply inside a freeport.

Um 😄. I’m sure the government is more than aware if this. It is A level stuff.

It is now up to MPs, councillors etc to pressure the government into re-assessing where they want to go with this Tory s heme

If they are aware of this I really can't understand why they are letting it proceed. There are 70 of these 'special Economic Zones', instituted by the tories, which include freeports but cover an enormous amount of their hinterland.

Why would any government encourage the setting up of huge enclaves where the law of the land doesn't apply?

I agree - what a dismal start but they took on a poison chalice and it was never going to be good at the beginning. I am annoyed though that the pensioners seem to be a target. Start taxing big companies that don’t pay tax. Clamp down on the fat buggars who plague the NHS. Take money from over paid footballers and those who have 2/3 houses. NOT the pensioners. Leave us alone.

MaizieD

^This is going to be a freeport, so will operate outside normal laws.^

I don't think people realise the full significance of this. And by 'people' I include the Labour government. For a start, all their workers rights legislation won't apply inside a freeport.

Um 😄. I’m sure the government is more than aware if this. It is A level stuff.

It is now up to MPs, councillors etc to pressure the government into re-assessing where they want to go with this Tory s heme

The point is that no company will refuse to invest in a project which it knows to be to its profit advantage, and DP World is no different. A government minister, who voice an opinion that many of us feel, will make zero difference to this decision. Large Companies work in decades, and will invest where the economy is stable and profitable.

Once Labour’s bill goes through, P&O will have to comply with the rules, just like all other companies.

This is going to be a freeport, so will operate outside normal laws.

I don't think people realise the full significance of this. And by 'people' I include the Labour government. For a start, all their workers rights legislation won't apply inside a freeport.

I’m very happy having extra rights as a worker and also keeping my rights as a human instead of having them removed.

MayBee70

Wasn’t it the free port up north that resulted in a terrible loss of sea life, crabs etc although no one admitted to there being a link?

Yup. It was Teesside. There is definitely some very funny business going on there'

The enormous quantity of dead sealife happened after the dredging the Tees and dumping the dredged material out at sea. It is heavily contaminated with the results of 100+ years of intense industrial activity around the Tees.

A DEFRA report on the deaths seems to have been a whitewash; it claimed that it was an algae bloom that killed thousands of crab, lobster and shellfish.

There was also some very dodgy business involving the sale of the former steelworks site very, very cheaply to a pair of the Mayor's mates who have made huge profits selling off the scrap metal from the site. And there are questions over the sale of Teesside airport.

Wasn’t it the free port up north that resulted in a terrible loss of sea life, crabs etc although no one admitted to there being a link?

MaizieD

Aaah. The London Gateway is a Freeport. In other words, free of UK regulations and taxation. A haven for money launderers and smugglers. Where workers have no rights...

No wonder the Arab oil states are keen to invest. Suits them down to the ground...

Exactly! Starmer is probably annoyed at those two speaking in public (and maybe they should have towed the government line for the optics), but I defy anybody to claim they were wrong. Maybe people really do have sort memories and have forgotten the furore when P & O fired 800 British staff and hired replacement foreign agency workers.

This is going to be a freeport, so will operate outside normal laws. Is this what people really want? I thought the idea was to develop British jobs for British workers following British working practices. Isn't that why some people voted to leave the EU?

Haigh not high!

Whitewavemark2

This is another brouhaha that will come to nought - simply the desperation of the right wing press.

DP World have not said that it will not invest.

I want to see the end deal after speculation of the many factors, but glad that high has brought up workers rights.

I'd rather that - far healthier - than what others have said, that they "ought" to sing from the same hymn sheet.

KS will now be working frantically behind the scenes to get the owners of P&O to attend on Monday, he must be cussing Louise Haigh.

Angela Rayner and Louise Haigh singled out P &O for censure this week in a government press release, referring to 'unscrupulous and exploitative employers.'
Louise Haigh encouraged people to boycott P & O while speaking to ITV news, referring to it as' a rogue operator that needed cracking down on,' (her grammar, not mine.)
The words of two Labour ministers, not those of the right -wing press.
Kier Starmer has claimed that their words do not represent the opinion of the government.