Never here Keir?

Labour could’ve done so much with their majority.
Maybe …
However their own MPs on the back benchers didn’t agree with welfare cuts (for example) and voted them down.

KS is in a bit of a bind now.
The knives are definitely out and there’s very little support for him - from anywhere, really.

I can’t see him lasting past May next year (as the annihilation will be massive).

MayBee70

But wouldn’t they then be accused of not sticking to the manifesto that they were elected on?

I.m sure that a political party could write a manifesto which says enough to be achievable but leaves room for doing more over and above what is in it.

But really the biggest problem any party has is this slavish adherence to the economic theory which is destroying countries all over the world.
The US is suffering from it, Europe is suffering, third world countries are suffering when they are driven into cutting state spending as a condition of loans from the IMF or the World bank.

Populism is gaining ground because people are poor and without hope for the future. the difference between now and 1100 years or so ago is that now they have a vote, In the past they endured what governments threw at them. They're rejecting the regimes which have done very little for them for decades and trying new alternatives. Though, sadly, the alternatives really don't follow any different economic practice. So aren't any better.

Um…. Does anyone know what the election promises were by now? Clearly 1.5 million houses, 6,500 more teachers. Still not happening? Childcare has improved but that was a Sunak initiative and very welcome it is too.
I don’t remember any manifesto promises to smash the middle classes but if the rumours are true, council tax for bands F to H are set to double. Maybe hospital waiting lists have improved but the new round of strikes by doctors and consultants is not going to help. Etc

But wouldn’t they then be accused of not sticking to the manifesto that they were elected on?

MayBee70

MaizieD

I think that is where a good many of the current Cabinet would feel more at home, GG13. There is very little that is ‘Labour’ about them.

Isn’t it a reaction to the way the electorate soundly refused to vote for anything even remotely socialist over the past few elections?

Well. In 2010 the tories managed to blame Labour for the Global Financial Crisis, even though without Brown bailing out the banks the country would have been considerably worse off. In 2025 Ed Milliband didn't convince the electorate that he was competent to lead the country. In 2017 Corbyn seriously upset the apple cart by causing May to lose the tory majority so the media went for him in a BIG way and convinced the electorate that he was a closet communist. In 2019 everyone was fed up with Brexit lingering on. I don't think that socialism really came into the picture then at these, though it ran the tories close in 2017.

Las t year everyone was totally sick of the tories and I don't think Labour's policies, such as they were, were a deciding factor. But once Labour got their huge majority they could have done anything they wanted with it and I think that implementing more socialist type policies would have stood a good chance.

Although kier may not be here as much as you would like, he is working, l bet he is more than Boris was in his last 6 months.

If I believe anything about him it is that he has no ideology but that of self-advancement.. Of such stuff were Hitler's subordinates made

Quite a stretch.

“Every single government since Thatcher has run just about the same economic policy; maybe with a little tinkering at the edges from Labour, such as introducing the minimum wage, and where are we now as a result of it?”

Agreed, they have all neglected investment in growth, this government will end up doing the same because despite a massive majority Starmer cannot put his policy into action.

…especially the ones that really needed a more socialist government? The ones who are now turning to Reform .

MaizieD

I think that is where a good many of the current Cabinet would feel more at home, GG13. There is very little that is ‘Labour’ about them.

Isn’t it a reaction to the way the electorate soundly refused to vote for anything even remotely socialist over the past few elections?

Sarnia

And he goes to Brazil to lecture the world on climate change!

Where the Amazon Rainforest was cleared of 100,000 trees to handle the influx of 50,000 delegates.

I don't think he does.

Wyllow3

Andy B.
Steady hand on ship.

Slight problem, Andy Burnham isn’t an MP.

No guarantee he would be elected in a by-election, even in a safe seat.

Does he want to be PM anymore?

Excellent post eazybee

GrannyGravy13

I have googled Wes Streeting’s backers/donaters.

Makes interesting reading especially as he is Health Secretary…

goodlawproject.org/how-private-health-has-invested-in-wes-streeting/#:~:text=According%20to%20EveryDoctor%2C%20Hearn's%20companies,a%20series%20of%20difficult%20questions.

And he goes to Brazil to lecture the world on climate change!

Andy B.
Steady hand on ship.

ronib

WEF is a not for profit organisation. How will that sit with Starmer’s ambitions?

Who knows what Starmer's 'ambitions' are. He was already pretty wealthy before he became PM.

I actually still believe that he genuinely thought he could sort out the UK's problems, but he hasn't a political bone in his body, absolutely no instinct for what the 'left behind' need, and has been led by the nose by Blue Labour and his wealthy donors.

And the truly dreadful prospect of Rayner being supported by the Unions for the Leadership.

We have had four and a half decades of the economic experiment that was Thatcher's idea of how the country should be run. The 'markets' should be left to run everything that they could possibly make money from, the unions needed to be destroyed because their pay demands interfered with the prospect of good profits for the private sector. State spending had to be absolutely minimal and confined to areas that couldn't possibly be privatised, such as defence, justice and policing.

Every single government since Thatcher has run just about the same economic policy; maybe with a little tinkering at the edges from Labour, such as introducing the minimum wage, and where are we now as a result of it?

Public services are crumbling, some 20% of the UK population is living below the poverty line, young people can't afford housing because they can't save enough for deposits and are paying high rents. In many cases they are repaying university loan debts, too. The cost of living is high and, contrary to the belief that 'the rich' invest in new businesses and create jobs, unemployment is rising and there isn't much investment in new enterprises. Privatised water is dumping sewage into our rivers and seas, while failing to invest in much needed infrastructure renewal, their profits going to shareholders instead.

So really, I don't see that more of the same is going to help the UK. But that is all that Reeves and Starmer are offering.

Given the failure of Thatcher's economic theory I can't see that the prospect of a government with more progressive policies, and even, perhaps, a better understanding of what the economy might need in the way of state investment, is much to be worried about. Reform most certainly isn't the answer because they are even more bent on cutting state spending and extending privatisation.

Angela or Andy B would do me fine... Let 'the people' have a crack at running the economy, because letting the wealthy dominate it has done very little for the UK

ronib

WEF is a not for profit organisation. How will that sit with Starmer’s ambitions?

It is.

Have a look at who funds it, or better still look at the airport with all the private jets at its annual jolly

WEF is a not for profit organisation. How will that sit with Starmer’s ambitions?

ronib I am sure Sir,Starmer will be ok, he has pals in the WEF and ECHR

But eazybee after a moment of stunned silence at your expert and insightful analysis, exactly what or where can Starmer go? By the time Starmer ends his time in public office, he will be a tainted man. Unlike Sunak and Blair, he won’t have the same connections to mega wealth making opportunities. I guess!

I am not and never will be a Labour supporter but I heaved a sigh of relief when Jeremy Corbyn was finally dispatched, and in common with many others thought Starmer would prove a relatively safe pair of hands.Lacking in charisma, pedestrian in delivery, but an apparently well-respected lawyer achieved by his own endeavours. Slight concern about him having claimed to be a Marxist, but surely not relevant now.

Now, no idea what he stands or what his ideology is; it seems to change with the prevailing wind. Despite 14 years in opposition Labour now claims that the 'snap'election caught them unprepared; the absolute last date for the election was January 2025, Bad decisions made far too quickly without consultation, then too speedily reversed. Bad choices of an inexperienced and inept Cabinet; too much influence from his private 'chums', Hermer, Alli and Mandelson etc, but above all, a woeful lack of leadership.
A Lawyer not a Leader.
At the mercy of his backbenchers, whose only concern is losing their seats, not realising they were only elected because 'they can't be worse than the Tories.' And the truly dreadful prospect of Rayner being supported by the Unions for the Leadership.
Finally, far, far too much time spent out of the country toadying up to world leaders and desperately trying to re-connect with Europe, who see through him and use him for their own advantage, ie France.

Starmer has lost the confidence of his own party, as well as the country but I doubt very much that he will go. He will cling on for all he is worth until his term is completed then depart swiftly to his spiritual home, the ECHR, where he prosecute British Army veterans to his heart's content.

If I believe anything about him it is that he has no ideology but that of self-advancement.. Of such stuff were Hitler's subordinates made.

I think that is where a good many of the current Cabinet would feel more at home, GG13. There is very little that is ‘Labour’ about them.