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'd like to ask a question to politicians who say they'd never use private health care. 'Do you realise that some drugs are only available if you go private and are not available on the NHS?'

Starmer can be annoying and evasive, but it’s pretty irelevent in the scheme of things. The only question that matters is: Who’s going to prioritise the interests of 65 million normal Brits? Keir Starmer, the non-career politician who has spent his working life in a demanding job often defending normal people against corporate might? Or the Tory’s latest puppet who will always prioritise the few over the many, as the current state of the country is testament to.

To be honest Bluey for PM could be a vote winner - but only if we can make Muffin Home Secretary

That's not strictly true. Rich people may pay more tax in absolute terms, but they pay considerably less tax as a proportion of their income than everyone else. Sunak pays considerably less tax as a proportion of his income than I do, because most of his income comes through capital gains and he's taxed accordingly, instead of paying income tax as a high earner. Most rich people find ways of hiding their assets from the tax man via investments, philanthropy etc, which is a luxury us plebs can't afford. I actually think they should have to pay the same rate of tax as the rest of us, and not given a pass to pay less tax simply because, well, they're rich.

The UK is more or less a tax haven for the rich, which is why we have a higher concentration of millionaires than almost any other country (I believe Uruguay has the highest).

Out of his depth? Are you serious? He might be many things but I don’t think that.

He served as a legal officer for the campaign group Liberty until 1990.[10] He was a member of Doughty Street Chambers from 1990 onwards, primarily working on human rights issues.[8][10] He has been called to the bar in several Caribbean countries,[21] where he has defended convicts sentenced to the death penalty.[6] He assisted Helen Steel and David Morris in the McLibel case, in the trial and appeal in English courts, also represented them at the European court.[22] The case was seen as a David and Goliath case; a large team of leading lawyers represented McDonald's and the legal bills were estimated at £10m. By contrast Steel and Morris were denied legal aid; they acted on their own with help from lawyers including Starmer.

Starmer was appointed Queen's Counsel on 9 April 2002, aged 39.[24] In the same year, he became joint head of Doughty Street Chambers. Starmer served as a human rights adviser to the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Association of Chief Police Officers, and was also a member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's death penalty advisory panel from 2002 to 2008.[2][10] He later cited his work on policing in Northern Ireland as being a key influence on his decision to pursue a political career: "Some of the things I thought that needed to change in police services we achieved more quickly than we achieved in strategic litigation ... I came better to understand how you can change by being inside and getting the trust of people". During this time he also marched and authored legal opinions against the Iraq War.[6] In 2007, he was named "QC of the Year" by Chambers and Partners.[10]

In July 2008, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, Attorney General for England and Wales, named Starmer as the new head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Director of Public Prosecutions. He took over from Ken Macdonald on 1 November 2008.[10]Macdonald, himself a former defence lawyer, publicly welcomed the appointment.[11] Starmer was considered to be bringing a focus on human rights into the legal system.[10] In 2011, he introduced reforms that included the "first test paperless hearing"

… I mean we’ve recently been led by Truss, May, and the crap journalist Johnson. I think Starmer will manage.

👏

Indeed. I was stunned BR harped on & on & on about it. Far more pertinent Qus left out / short on time. By contrast BR, with RS, skimmed past Covid breaches, furlough fraud, national service, tax figures - only the audience really took RS to task at all.

From the tv interview yesterday, my understanding is that the socialist will review council tax banding and hit hard, very hard property owners who are already suffering especially if their council has gone broke

So if labour gets in via the back door with a coalition partner - and you own your home through very hard work and sacrifices, then be prepared for this as he did not rule it out

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/11/welsh-labour-to-hike-council-tax-by-spying-on-homeowners/#:~:text=The%20Labour%2Drun%20Welsh%20Government,government%20will%20not%20raise%20taxes.

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator 😂

It's hard to take anyone who refers to Keir Starmer as 'the socialist' seriously about anything. Are you Nigel Farage?

Wow thanks for that. Anyone one still on the fence should watch that, at least from 5 minute mark or so. Starmer deminstrating to the shameless clown Johnson what a PM ought to look like and behave like. People should be rejoicing that we will soon have a person of decency and principle back in No 10. Apart from all the domestic benefits he will bring, our international standing will improve dramatically with Starmer at the helm.

We need a DSC bingo card:

Deliberate typos.
Back door
Coalition
Socialist
Various pain in the fucking jacksie posts.

Exactly. Tory HQ need to get their hoppos to sort out their continuity posts right.

Why is the label “socialist Starmer” being put on here as a slur?

This country needs a change from the capitalism of the last 14 years which has done nothing except allow the elite to buy even more yachts while the majority are struggling, including people who probably would have classed themselves as comfortable if not wealthy in 2010

I had a Tory knock on our door a few nights ago and he was very perplexed when I said “that’s ok” when he kept going on about the £2000 tax increase. He obviously had a script and I wasn’t following so he didn’t know where to go except “but higher tax, but you will pay more”. He ended up getting very frustrated as he didn’t know what else to say and I wasnt playing along with his game, which showed me that the Tories have nothing to offer

I know I am in a fortunate position that I could absorb an increase while others are not but if it makes me a socialist to pay more to support those that can’t then I am happy to support “socialist Starmer”

Same. I'd be happy to pay £2K more in taxes (especially over four years) if it meant public services that actually worked, rivers we can swim in without getting amoebic dysentry etc. That would actually save me money over time anyway, as well as helping my own children. Money well spent.

As it is, we've got the highest tax burden since WW2 under the Tories and where is all the money going?! Not to public services, that's for sure. More likely lining their own and their mates' pockets with various dodgy 'contracts' and servicing the enormous debts they've run up. Oh and paying for bloody Brexit.

Oh bless.

I can't read the full article as it is behind a pay wall. But it and you are out of date.

Senedd has kicked council tax reform into the long grass and now won't revisit the issue until 2028.

Exactly.

And let’s remember both Sunak and Beth Rigby were fined for breaking lockdown rules! Rigby was suspended for 3 months.

He did answer the question, you must have been watching a different channel to me! Did they have another debate at a different time yesterday- we are discussing the Sky Q&A aren’t we?

Why do you keep saying "socialist" like it's a dirty word? Capitalism hasn't exactly been a roaring success for our rivers, our railways, postal service and energy.

One of the things about the '£2000' was that it was talked about for days after but I didn't hear anyone say whether it was per hour, week, month, year. I think it was over more than one year. The journalists -tv and papers-take hold of these words and bang them out all the time, and members of the public echo them and they turn into boring, useless cliches, because they are not examined.

Pratting cliches so far in the last 3 weeks:-

'Time for a change' I went round like a Monty Python live parrot, saying it over and over again. Change to what, by whom, please.

Last week's sound-bite wasn't really political. It was 'gra'itude to the vet'rans'.

The LP manifesto is about to be launched so let’s see what’s in it!

Yes but then what?

It was costed over four years, so it was in fact a tax increase of £500 per family per year. Not even individuals.

This is what is annoying me about the Labour campaign. They really should be taking on the Tories far more strongly. £500 per family to insulate homes, give us a long-term energy strategy, train up more people to fit insulation, and give us renewable cheap energy in the future is fine by me. We're paying £100 a head at the moment every time we go to the dentist! They should be talking about the need for long-term investment and not capitulating on tax cuts, when they will mean an absolute collapse in infrastructure and services.

..........self claimed socialist Starmer was not coming clean

Calling Sir Keir Starmer a socialist is not the insult you seem to imagine it is, and it's risible that you believe it is.
The whole point of the Labour Party is to promote socialism.

I'm a socialist. I'd rather be a socialist than a right-wing bigot.

@DistinguishedSocialCommentator