Thread 19 Starmer - A Coalition of the Willing

[DuncinToffee]

.https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5276594-thread-18-starmer-all-sides-of-the-house-agree-apart-from-the-trump-bootlickers?page=40&reply=142583752

previous thread

With Lowe and Habib?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14480049/Couple-2bn-pandemic-PPE-binned-evidence-Covid-inquiry.html

Money well spent (not)!

I have read about them before

One of Gove's vip lane contracts?

Well there's plenty of clamour today. Even the Guardian saying that Labour is mollifying the rich, targeting disabled people, and claiming moral justification! (France's Ryan). She right, too.

I don't know if it was but the equestrian centre purchased is local and she has a very high opinion of herself. Likes to publicly slag off anyone who disagrees with her or objects to her planning applications.

The difference is that people think of the Guardian and Mirror as left wing papers so won't take any notice. They don't think the papers they read, whether Express, Mail, Times or Telegraph, are particularly right wing so they don't hesitate to accept all the anti Labour spin as fact.

NEW: Trump admin to lift pause on intelligence sharing with Ukraine and will resume security assistance.

So what was the week where Ukrainian civilians were left to suffer the full force of Russian ballistics for exactly?

It is at best, unclear.

Ukraine has agreed to a US proposal for an immediate 30 day ceasefire. Ball is now in Russia’s court. Trump is likely about to discover how uninterested in real peace Putin is, unless it’s entirely on his terms.

https://bsky.app/profile/lewisgoodall.com/post/3lk4o2qeykk2y

So now we know why Ukraine hacked Twitter 😀

The US had Ukraine over a barrel didn't they. I presume Russia are thrilled with the opportunity to rearm and get some more Koreans over.

I've largely avoided MN of late whilst posters are salivating at 'welfare cuts'. They really should just own it as cuts to disabled people.

Am I understanding this right? Ukraine get military aid and intelligence sharing back without signing up to the minerals deal, there’s a complete air, sea and ground ceasefire for 30 days and the ball is left in the Russians court to agree to it. Which they would have to break their red lines to do.

Can’t help feeling like somebody has been played here and it isn’t Ukraine.

US steel and aluminium 25% tariffs come into force today, they don't only apply to those metals themselves but products containing those metals - everything from sports equipment to frying pans - so will hit a much wider range of exporters to the US than assumed when initially announced.

Calculations by Global Trade Alert suggest UK exposed exports sum to around $2.9bn/year

https://bsky.app/profile/benchu.bsky.social/post/3lk65oa64ok2m

EU has announced €26 billion of countermeasures, UK can't really do much

The captain of a cargo ship arrested after a collision with a tanker in the North Sea is a Russian national, the ship's owner has told the Reuters news agency.

Humberside Police said the 59-year-old man remained in custody after being arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter on Tuesday.

And me as well. I see in meetings some views expressed that would sit well with Reform types now. It's utterly disheartening.

The communications from Labour are just dreadful

Hello all. The disability benefit bashing seems to have died down a bit. Sorry if I got a bit huffy the other day.

I am just so pissed off with Labour now. I read this in the Guardian about Labour's plans to slash Quangos and the Civil Service.

"Labour Together said it hopes to channel “[Javier] Milei’s energy but with a radical centre-left purpose” with project chainsaw, a reference to the libertarian agenda of the Argentinian president who gifted Musk the chainsaw"

Project chainsaw? I mean WTF? I might as well have voted Tory.

The TUC chair has released a statement on cuts to disability benefits, and it seems a lot of backbenchers aren't happy either.

If Labour says the same things there will be much, much less of this clamour

Doesn't seem that way, Rummly. There is a lot of "clamour" about cutting disability benefits. See the TUC statement, for example. I know you think all Labour voters support everything that Labour does but it is not the case.

Worrying times indeed.
@DuncinToffee What do you feel the Labour comms should be communicating?

Basically not the stuff Pandora just posted that seems to appeal to Reform and right wingers.

Boring factual stuff would do, even if it doesn't make the headlines.

You weren’t huffy @PandoraSox, you were upset. This is all pretty depressing, isn’t it? I wasn’t expecting miracles but I was expecting better than this.

The Employment Rights Bill will be voted on today.

So, Starmer’s charm offensive, clutching the royal invitation, have failed to persuade Trump to treat the UK differently.

I don’t blame Starmer for Trump’s stupidity and spite, obviously, and no other UK politician would have done any better. But I do think the gushing praise for Starmer’s achievement in Washington looks misplaced now. Reality bites.

I said at the time that I thought a feeling was growing that that trip and its royal bauble made Starmer look weak. That feeling will get stronger now.

I saw Starmer's visit more as standing up for Ukraine than about trade deals

The UK has been working behind the scenes with Ukraine about the cease fire and proposed peace deal.

I posted this thread on the Ukraine thread

Bloomberg: “The UK was heavily involved behind the scenes ahead of the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi, British sources say.
Jonathan Powell worked with Mike Waltz and French and German counterparts on a plan for a truce to begin a peace process.” 1/

https://bsky.app/profile/lauraphillips.bsky.social/post/3lk4ykpylwc2w

I'd really like to know what the alternative option was for Starmer. If he hadn't have tried he would have been accused of souring the US relationship from the outset.
And fuck knows there are still some people out there that believe a US FTA would be worth the paper it's scribbled in Sharpie on.

There wasn’t an alternative. Any PM would have had to do the same.

My point isn’t that Starmer blew it or that he was treated worse than some other PM would have been. It’s that it wasn’t the triumph that many trumpeted.