Anyone else watching Keir Starmer being savaged by Beth Rigby`/

[Netaporter]

Blimey, She’s not letting him off the hook at all. Cut above the rest of the interviewers IMO.

I haven’t declared JC not fit to stand. Labour has.

A lot of people aren't seeking even basic dental check-ups because they can't afford it, so if the NHS terms were improved and those patients returned in their droves, dentists wouldn't need to charge such extortionate fees for private treatment to make up their losses. So no, Labour doesn't have to match private fees, they just need to improve the NHS contract. Although the issue is, there's no money for that as it stands.

This is not a 'gotcha.'

I don't have private healthcare but I, like the 90% of people I know living in London, HAVE to go to a private dentist, it is nearly impossible to get an NHS dentist.

@Netaporter well maybe visit one. And see the absolute sh*t show up here.
I visited relatives in the Home Counties over the weekend. Gobsmacked at the level of affluence, the superior facilities, the general pleasantnesses of life down there.
You need to see how this lot of vultures have treated the country and not fulfilled any of their ‘promises.

I've just joined the thread, so maybe this has already been discussed, but I agree that the response to questions about support for Corbyn in 2019 was poor and, well, robotic. Imo Keir Starmer can defend his decision to stay under Corbyn (vs resign in protest) in terms of commitment to public service and commitment to Labour. It's ridiculous that politicians can't give more nuanced, human answers to such questions because everything has to be a one sentence soundbite with a view to how clips will be used later. Did Angela Rayner get questioned about this when interviewed? She was much more enthusiastic in her support of Corbyn at the time. It was always clear to me that Keir Starmer didn't support Corbyn, but when put on the spot during the 2019 election campaign he could hardly say so openly. It was inevitable that he would be asked about his apparent support for Corbyn so I'm disappointed that he hasn't formulated a better response than the one he gave (and that Pat McFadden repeated this morning).

Why didn’t Beth ask Sunak about his support of Johnson, the thieving, lying, corrupt PM ? Funny that.

If you were asked in public if you thought the head of the company you work for is a good boss and a capable manager, what would you say? Especially if you wanted to stay in the job long enough to have a shot at being manager yourself?

If Keir Starmer had said Jeremy Corbyn was shite and they'd never win the election, he would have been out of the party. You have to be professional and pragmatic. It was a daft question - of course he bloody lied in that situation. You would too. It's the reality of getting ahead in politics.

Because Corbyn is/always was treated as the devil incarnate by the media.

Corbyn was a bad leader but his policies were all designed to make the country fairer. Johnson was forced to respond in kind with things like levelling up.

Boris Johnson was much more unsuitable for office, yet the media cheered him to the rafters.

Partygate and the linked lies were the beginning of the end for Johnson. But everyone seems to have forgotten that Sunak was also fined over the Downing Street parties.

Oh ffs. Sunak supported Johnson. He was in Loony Liz's cabinet. It's called parliamentary politics.

Wtf is KS meant to do about Brexit now? Get a Tardis to 2015 maybe. Classic ' have you stopped beating your wife ' bollix.

Can we move this to GE board @mumsnet

And just to clarify - I'm not a Starmer fan. Andy Burnham would be preferable imo.

He did not - I replayed it twice and this is why the host repeated the question several times and the socialist, self claimed socialist Starmer was not coming clean

Quite -but why was he not clear that he said "corbyn would a good PM"?? The socialist Starmer was asked repeatedly if he thought Corbyn would have made a good leader and why he said it. Credit to the socialist, he danced around the question like most polticians

What an excellent and facutal post!!

This is why Rigsy had to ask the socialist Starmer, the same man that supported Corbyn has to be asked several times and IMO was let off lightly

Some weird posts about the 'socialist Starmer' above, not sure what that's about but anywayyyyyy, I thought Beth Rigby came across as snippy and trying to score points rather than seriously trying to get answers from KS. Of course he supported Corbyn while he was Labour leader - that's what you do in politics. He was hardly going to tell the electorate 'actually we're a bit shit and our leader's a bit of an idiot, don't vote for us.' The problem with KS is that he's not good at thinking on his feet and doesn't really trust himself not to say the wrong thing, so sticks to pre-planned lines and never goes off-script, which doesn't work in his favour in live interviews, and makes him seem robotic. He could have answered the 'what makes you not a robot' question with literally anything other than 'I've always wanted to be a public servant' - which sounded robotic. He is passionate about football so why on earth didn't he mention that! It's an obvious way of connecting with the audience/electorate. But that's not who he is. It doesn't make him a bad politician though.

She savaged them both, not just Starmer.

No, you don't. Labour may be in charge of the council but the Tories have been slashing budgets for the the last 14 years. Councils can't spend what they don't have.

Plus the Tory government deliberately gives less money to Labour-run councils.

I’m a typical left wing Labour voter. I’m not especially inspired by Starmer’s politics and I particularly dislike his treatment of Corbyn and some others on the left of the party. And it annoyed my that he would not answer the question about Corbyn, and how he is - at the moment anyway - carefully towing the centre ground and even trying to appeal to the Mail, the Sun etc, BUT ….

We all know how he really feels about Corbyn and that he isn’t as left wing as him. However, he almost certainly did wanted a Labour government to win over the Tories - and said what was necessary to help Labour achieve that. Did he reall thing Corbyn would be a great PM? Of course not. But Labour would have been better than Tories.

AND …

Regarldless of your view on evasive politicians - and Starmer certainly is one - there are rather bigger fish to fry at this election. We have two choices for government - Tory or Labour.

The Tories have given us:

falling living standards,
a calamitous Brexit,
higher net immigration than ever,
mass shortages across the NHS and schools,
terrible waiting times,
cuts to the police,
unaffordable homes for young people,
and cronyism and corruption.

Stamer’s personal thoughts about Corbyn are utterly irrelevant in this context. Anyone voting for another five years of the above needs a reality check! And despite my personal ambivalence to Starmer he’s clearly an extremely capable individual - not a career politician at all - and someone who rose to prominence without a particularly privileged background and on his own merits as a brilliant barrister - often fighting cases defending normal people. Probably worth a dice roll over the remaining dregs of the Tory party, wouldn’t you say?

I’m well aware of where I live thanks.

I don't get the faux outrage about this. Of course Starmer supported JC at the time. Otherwise, as pp said, he would have been booted put of the party.

Do people not understand how politics work?

This is just another desperate helping of But Jeremy Corbyn.

Purely here to see how DSC will spell Rigby next.

I don't get the faux outrage about this. Of course Starmer supported JC at the time. Otherwise, as pp said, he would have been booted put of the party.

Better to be inside shaping than outside with no voice at all.

So I am no fan of Starmer. He seems out of his depth but bearing in mind that 1% of people paying 30% of the tax - how much is enough. Too much and the really rich will disappear out of the UK. I would...and go to a less tax grabbing country. We also then lose all their spending at upmarket restaurants, hotels etc