Thread 8 Starmer : Cat fur on new clothes

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5157500-thread-7-starmer-cats-and-conferences?page=40&reply=138415767

I think their Renters Bill is awful.

It will drive costs up and these will be passed on to private LLs, who can still evict to sell or move in.

Councils don't have the funds to enforce either.

... renters don't have an alternative, so until there is, limiting supply is fucking stupid.

I can see the UK falling head first in to some horrendous faragian nightmare if it’s not careful. Can only hope that the Tories move more to the centre with a sensible moderate centre right leader so if labour do make a hash of things we at least have some choice (LDs included).

The support for Labour has not lasted very long on here has it?
11 weeks in Government and people are being shaped yet again by the mostly right wing press.
What would you like to happen next then?
How short the collective memories are .
Remember the riots ?
I really do despair.

All self inflicted...

If Starmer et al hadn't been taking gifts and Reeves hadn't done the WFA, then the spot light might have been on different things..... like actual policy?

Given that we have also been accused of being blinkered supporters of Labour, I think that means we are pretty balanced!

These threads are about politics. So we discuss the good and the bad about every party. To say we are being led by the right wing press is an insult to the collective intelligence of posters on this thread!

No-one has forgotten the riots. I mentioned them a few posts ago and how well Stamer dealt with them.

What I would like to happen next is for Labour to get a firmer grip of its comms, deliver a decent budget and rethink the WFA decision.

They could go a long way towards mitigating the WFA decision by just increasing the PC threshold a few pounds, even just for single households.
That would take the wind out of the tabloids' sails, as the sadfaces they'll have lined up are close to the current threshold.

Same. I’m a lifelong Labour voter and I really hate feeling the way I do now. When you’ve looked forward to something for 14 years it’s a bitter blow to feel so disappointed so quickly. I’m hopeful that what we’re seeing is teething troubles and they’ll get their act together soon. It’s been heartening to see interviews with Rayner and Reeves with Laura K and Nick Robinson failing to land a punch. Long may it continue.

I'm still, overall pleased with what Labour are doing, even if I don't think they've got everything right.

They are making changes, handling difficult decisions and planning ahead, something the previous government refused to do. I dread to think what would have happened through the riots had the last lot been in place, as they were indecisive,and unable to deal with a changing situation.

Just because a few new people on this long running thread seem to be trying to cause division (I've noticed a distinct lack of evidence), it doesn't mean that we all feel like this, or think they are right.

I feel similarly to @Llttledrummergirl I am pleased about some elements (domestic abuse specialists in call rooms for one) and less than enthusiastic about others.
I don wonder how the riots would have been handled by a party keen to keep onside certain voting groups (not that the Labour party handled the riots - that was down to policing). i think certain politicians would have hugged a hoodie. And we would still be circling the drain on Rwanda.

I think much of the nitty gritty of policy has yet to be unveiled - largely because it will be linked to the budget. So I am reserving judgement.

An interesting thread 🧵

Reeves is looking at moving the National Wealth Fund and GB Energy off the govt balance sheet in a move that could free up £15bn for additional investment. That would be on top of the £16bn she would get by changing the debt rule to PSND.

x.com/philaldrick/status/1838247379775992290?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

So far, the direction of travel is fine by me. Not taking freebie glasses, tapering the WFA so marginal pensioners aren’t so badly affected and sacking whoever advised Rachel Reeves to smile like Wednesday Addams at Summer Camp would be good. But overall….yeah, let’s see what they do with the budget first of all.

"and sacking whoever advised Rachel Reeves to smile like Wednesday Addams at Summer Camp would be good"
yes! 😁

@pandorasox No need to overreact , I said people are being shaped by the right wing press. People.
I said the support for Labour has not lasted long on here , has it?

Two separate statements.
Why you would conflate this to say I am insulting the collective intelligence I do not know and am very offended by this.

The really big danger for Labour governments is always communication because of media hostility. Always. And a nice simplistic cut through story line designer glasses or cutting pensioner hearing is making it really easy.

It is not fair. But it should have been thought about because look at the awful and simple narrative that can be run instead of complex messages and missions on growth. I want Labour to deliver their agenda but imagining the general public’s attention will be grasped by vague missions in an age of social media where messaging comes a very long time before delivery is wrong.

Yes do the planning and the tough stuff. Deliver. But if you don’t shape the agenda of how you are talked about it can be crippling. They must get that sorted.

I’m not sure they can do much about that. Yes the comms could be better but whatever they do they are having to do with the majority of the British media against them. They are fighting an uphill battle and if it isn’t this it will be some other perceived mistake.

I’d love to see what the list of who’s spent most would look like if the cabinet/PM had to declare the things the shadow cabinet or Leader of the opposition did. Be interesting to see if Starmer was still top of that.

I didn't take it in anyway as an insult.... more an observation.

I'm sure no offense was intended.

Elodie, I don't want to get into an argument. You said

"The support for Labour has not lasted very long on here has it?

11 weeks in Government and people are being shaped yet again by the mostly right wing press."

I took that "people" to include people posting on this thread. If that is not what you meant, thank you for clarifying and I am glad you don't think we (posters on this thread) are being shaped by the right wing press.

It was painful to watch!

I never took that rumour seriously but it’s good to have it confirmed. That would have hit single parents hard.

Also single pensioners who get £200 WFA which isn't half of a couple. There home isn't half as cheap to heat.

Although people may think single pensioner is in a 1 bed flat many aren't nowadays because of house prices and availability of ground floor flats. And a couple in a 1 bed flat/ house don't pay more to heat it than a single person. None of the flats in our road have lifts. Most new builds don't.

Ds has to hop up ours on crutches 🤦🏼‍♀️

That might involve not ignoring the huge elephant in the room though. You can’t have a coherent plan for growth in this country with the elephant still there.

WFA is the right policy but the wrong threshold. I think Martin Lewis has probably got the right idea about how to raise the threshold. Hopefully someone will listen. Although I am a little confused because I thought killing the elderly was fine as a policy. Have I been misled?

Well I do think it’s a teeny bit better to have a comms strategy that explains what is likely to be done to address additional needs etc rather than the inevitable which will doubtless be dribbled out as pressure is exerted. It all goes to another old Labour attack line - who is in charge etc etc is it the unions etc

Btw I don’t think the vast majority of pensioners should get WFA. Most do not need it. And most pensioners do not vote Labour. And getting tough decisions in early is also good. But since most newspaper readers in the UK are older and righter wing it seems terribly naive to imagine that this would not be a kind of stick to beat them with until the budget (which will also have some bad news for less beloved groups such as landlords and holiday home owners)

If you mean this thread it's because we aren't all die hard Labour supporters ad aren't all fans of Starmer.

We discuss politics and the good and bad of current decisions.

Yes, some here are lifelong Labour supporters. Yes, some like me voted for Labour this time round. Many who didn't also wished this government to do well.

It's quite amusing that when we were dissecting the Tory party we were lefties.
Now we are dissecting the Labour Party we aren't loyal!!!

Not saying that's what you're saying elodie but this isn't a thread full of die hard Labour supporters but o agree with you that people - as in general public - are too easily swayed by the media.

But Labour have handed them too much fodder on a plate and have made the RW press job easier. They would have gone for the jugular without having the knife handed to them.

What I really love about these threads is that they comfortably encompass a range of opinions. They’re not an echo chamber but we discuss courteously and respectfully and sometimes agree to disagree. They’ve created a safe environment which has developed into a community. This is an example of just how well the internet can work and I really enjoy being part of it.

Hear hear, @BIossomtoes ! It’s much more like real life discussions I have with family, friends and colleagues and I just don’t experience that anywhere else on MN threads about politics.

Yep, me too.