Could Labour adopt Green policies in response to their growing popularity?

What environmental policies? I’m struggling to remember when I last heard any Green rep talk seriously about environmental policies. Its become the party of choice for those kicked out of Labour for antisemitism.

Its not the first time this has happened - the old Ecology party is the only other political party I’ve ever joined (apart from Labour). I joined when Militant held an iron grip on Labour. Then Kinnock kicked out Militant and they all trooped across to take over the Eco party which subsequently rebranded as Green to align with other European Greens.

Plus ca change eh?

As for the difference between anti semitism and anti Zionism - you might want to explain the difference to Polanski who couldn’t even bring himself to use the words “Jewish” or “Anti semitism” over the recent attacks but did find time to criticise the police for being insufficiently gentle with a murdering knife attacker.

They need to stop feeding the rhetoric that immigration is the cause of all our problems - it isn't, and pursuing that line won't fix anything for anyone. They do need to tackle the issues around irregular migration but that alone is not actually going to make any real difference to the lives of ordinary British people, for all that Reform would have you believe.

What would happen if the Greens were elected? I don't actually know tbh but I imagine that total chaos would ensue. I have a strong suspicion that they might realise once in power that most of their policies are wildly unworkable, so I suspect that what we'd actually get would be a version of what Labour is already trying to do. Perhaps with a wealth tax thrown in to make it sound better, and maybe some pro-trans legislation to satisfy their base. I think it would even more chaotic than the current Labour government, less competent (yes, that is possible!) and there would probably be even more in-fighting.

What would happen if Reform were elected? Well, I guess some of the clues can be found in Trump's America. I would expect to see a systematic dismantling of people's rights. The gradual erosion of our democratic institutions. Massive cuts to public services. Very aggressive immigration policies that would deeply divide the nation. The politicisation of the civil service. The privatisation of the NHS. Liz Truss style economic chaos. Isolationist policies. Zero action to tackle climate change. Wide scale corruption without accountability. Billionaires getting richer while the rest of the country suffers.

That is, of course, if Reform can get its act together sufficiently to actually deliver any of its policies. It seems that our local Reform-led council is too shambolic to be able to actually do anything, so we are simply stuck in a state of paralysis without anything moving forward. Oh, I think they did manage to take down a Pride flag somewhere, or something, but that seems to be the extent of their local achievements.

I think either of them would cling on to power for grim death and monetise it in much the same way that Trump has done. They both use the same approach to claiming any challenge as “fake news” or a personal attack. The short term attention economy is much more powerful than it was in previous generations.

I feel very sorry for a lot of the councillors (from any of the main parties) who have worked hard over years to improve their areas within incredibly tight spending parameters but will see their seats going to ranting idiots with no real interest in local people.

I don't know one single person who wants the return of capital punishment and I know a lot of people ! Where did you get this information from ?

I can’t see either Reform or the Green Party remaining in power for five years. We had two general elections in the same year in the 70s - we might see it again.

What a load of shite.

show me, specifically, the front benchers being made wealthy by any of the policies being put through now?

I will wait.

💯

Polanski is no more honest or trustworthy than Farage - they are different generations of the same snake oil salesman. Both are extremely good snake oil salesmen. Both trade in hate, both have made ludicrous promises which are undeliverable (aka they will be paid for by “someone else”).

Its not an accident that both parties are busily throwing out dead cats rather than see their fairy tale policies examined more closely. Both have retained candidates which would not pass the sniff test for either of the other parties.

OTOH if voters en masse vote for them we will get the results the electorate has chosen - five years of shit show.

I wish Labour had been clearer from the outset that there were no easy answers to the mess we were in economically, I wish they had been vaguely competent in managing their comms and messaging and party discipline instead of letting good news be buried under a constant drip of mismessaging. However my biggest disappointment will be if this results in the Green/Reform take over of politics.

A lot of the privatisation was to get private equity to fund all the investments/improvements needed that simply couldn't have been financed by the taxpayer.

So what happened? That strategy worked really well, didn’t it? I disagree actually, it was part of Thatcher’s selling off the family silver. Pure ideology.

No. Aping the Green Party won't help Labour any more than trying to be Reform Lite helped them. They need to focus instead on serious strategies that will at least begin to address the many serious challenges that are facing the country right now. They need to stop squabbling amongst themselves and focus on running the country. And they need to get much, much better at communicating effectively about what they are actually doing.

The Greens and Reform are both popular because people are fed up with the traditional parties and want something different. They are not popular because they have credible policies that will actually fix anything - most people are not scrutinising them to that extent. Hence the bizarre scenario in which we have some voters wavering between Reform and Green. It is a style and a brand that people are choosing - not a serious agenda for change.

Polanski is just another populist like Farage, but just with a left wing flavour. Like Reform, the Greens are offering very simple solutions to very complex problems with very little serious thought about how they would actually implement any of their ideas. It's incredibly easy to promise the moon on a stick if you don't actually have to explain how you're going to deliver it.

The Labour Party's brand is now toxic, as is the Tory brand. I don't think they can easily overcome this simply by presenting a few populist policies. I think their only real hope of not being slaughtered at the next election is to actually find a way of delivering meaningful improvements in people's lives. A growing economy. A functioning NHS. Effective public services. Investment in defence. Opportunities for young people. A solution for social care. People feeling better off etc.

Given the challenges presented by Brexit, the Trump administration and the changing global order; our low productivity and the cost of government debt; our ageing population; the mental health crisis; the polarisation of public debate; and the looming threats from climate change, as well as the myriad other problems which we face as a nation, I don't rate their chances much. But I remain in hope because the alternatives are even worse than what we've got.

Once again I can only say how remarkable it is that ‘the taxpayer’ could afford such things as building the NHS in the first place in a much poorer economy post War. Yet we can’t now.

We are being lied to all the time by those in power, and we all know it. This is no democracy.

You haven’t seen the polls then, or the petitions? Polls are in favour of nationalisation, of trains, utilities and particularly water right now. I don’t really know how anyone can claim that people are not interested.

Privatisation of anything has never, never, been popular, and people have not hesitated to say that at any opportunity - education and housing are other areas. The trouble is we don’t get much opportunity to really express ourselves, and in a country controlled by the rich for the rich, what you mean is that not enough rich people want it. They would of course lose their easy incomes.

A lot of the privatisation was to get private equity to fund all the investments/improvements needed that simply couldn't have been financed by the taxpayer.

Look at the railways. It cost tens of billions for the new rolling stock (compliant coaches) alone due to nearly everything in use in the 80s being non compliant with environmental laws, health & safety laws, disability discrimination laws etc. The taxpayer was already on the hook for tens of billions for infrastructure improvements, i.e. signalling, bridges, plus disability access at stations requiring ramps and lifts to be installed etc.

It's why Brown/Blair had to use PFI to build new schools and hospitals - again, the taxpayer couldn't buy them, so they needed external funding.

That would just polarise the Labour vote - half would want back in, half would want to stay out. Meaning Labour would be out of power for another generation. Again!

A big yes. If we had growth and people started to feel a bit better off again, people wouldn't be turning to the dangerous alternative parties. It's because we've had 3 decades of crap politicians from the two main parties and most people feel worse off that they're looking for alternatives. That's what caused Brexit and it's what WILL cause a Reform win next time. Unless Labour and the Tories wake up, smell the coffee, and start growing the economy.

Labour could nick the idea of rejoining the EU ....

I hate it when political parties suddenly change (or starting to have!) policies when they are in trouble . What the electorate deserves is value, principles, policies and strategy, right from the start, and well explained. And anyway, people aren’t voting for the Greens only over their environmental policies-they attracted by the very left politics that the Labour Party has abandoned. People also like that they support Palestine and don’t think that Israel is doing the right thing, and that they can see the difference between antisemitism and Zionism.

The cost would be considerably lower without dividend payments and telephone number salaries. Nationalisation of water should be a top priority.

The main reason the Green Party is so popular among young people is that it brings a message of hope. I certainly find it appealing for exactly that reason.

I think people are dissatisfied with labour so are finding any parties to counter them and green is better than reform in thier view.

I dont think Its a love of green policies as such.

Im also suspicious that foreign interference realises either reform or green would destabilise the country and so is pushing both (not at a local level). I think it was proven brexit was influenced from abroad..

I am moving from Labour to Green. A signal to Labour that they need to move left not right if they want my vote again. I live in a big uni city in the North and the predictions are that many of these cities will turn green this week.

I have actively listened to Zack Polanski’s podcast and agree with many of his ideas. Have a scan of the Spotify list and you will get a headline of what they stand for outside of Gaza and the Environment. Better funding for education and protecting the NHS are a good start!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7z7ddmd5eo

Who do you think is going to have to pay for this… we are ultimately! This is why public opinion is in favour of nationalisation!

It’s about to go bankrupt and tax payers are already bank rolling it so might as well own it!

Protecting things like the water systems is part of our defence imagine what would happen if enemy of the state decided to destroy that or take it out! We’ve all be screwed. Water and utilities shouldn’t be owned by foreign investors it you’re concerned about defence.

@thedramaQueenAnd who can afford the investment needed? Not the government! It’s waaaaay too much money. Look at the issues! Then look at the cost. Public ownership is still going to cost us - people don’t work for nothing and the infrastructure repair costs are staggeringly high. We need defence spending so that will come first.

Majority of customers want Thames Water to be nationalised

You're wrong about nationalisation - ask anyone who lives with sh*tty Thames Water - most people would welcome renationalisation of water - last I heard it was about 80% support bringing water companies back into public ownership.