Thread 20 Starmer - Spring Statement

[DuncinToffee]

Previous thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5286167-thread-19-starmer-a-coalition-of-the-willing?page=40&reply=142981585

That's nice dear

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/downing-street-hits-back-at-trump-envoy-who-criticised-starmers-ukraine-plan_uk_67e151a8e4b06dcbb25f584a

Witkoff - the billionaire property investor, close friend of Trump, who thinks Putin was straight with him. Because its not like Putin has ever lied before.

Putin gave Trump a portrait of himself, Starmer had a letter from the king that he struggled to read.....

I’m feeling pretty disillusioned today as a Civil Servant! Not about the potential redundancies I’d bite their hand off but honestly they talk about getting rid of ‘Back Office Bureaucracy’ while creating more & more of it! My job has been harder for the last 6 months than it has ever been!

Bit like Brexit's getting rid of red tape?

I don’t know anything about Witkoff. But I’ll assume he’s a Trumpian fool.

Even so, his public dismissal of the ‘coalition of the willing’ looks like a half-wit’s honest outburst: it’s saying out loud what most other politicians are saying in private. The ‘coalition’ is an empty gesture.

That HuffPost piece says absolutely nothing of substance. ‘Hits back’ is laughable.

I don’t blame Starmer for trying. Trump’s dumped Europe in it. But the grandiose label and ‘boots on the ground’ hard-man talk are making Starmer look silly.

Sorry for that dump! It’s been a very frustrating day! I know I’ll get over it & be pleased we have this Govt & not the last one but god! I really want to know who’s briefing them on what’s going on in Govt Departments! We seem to be lurching from one policy to the next! One knee jerk reaction to the next!

Yeah abit like that! but faster! 🤣

Sorry to hear about your frustrating day but at least you didn't accidentally add a journalist to your war plans group chat...

@Rummly Someone has to step forward and do something.
I did not see many volunteers when our PM put forward the idea of a willing coalition.
Any thoughts on what we should have done?
I would also dispute your claim that Witkoff's outburst is what most other politicians are saying in private.

‪.eta McCollough Seletzky‬ ‪@laseletzky.bsky.social‬

Txt STOP to opt out of updates on war plans

“Wait guys, P. Hegseth is typing…”

Yes, I agree that things need to be done. As I said, Starmer has to try - as does Macron and each of the other Euro leaders.

But the Alastair Campbell-style contrived ‘muscular’ buzz name and soundbites are just beginning to attract scorn. Unfortunately, I don’t think our nasal voiced lawyer of a PM does ‘action man’ very well.

I thought the same during the riots when Starmer started on about a ‘standing army’ of coppers. See also ‘smash the gangs’.

@Rummly We may differ in our opinions as I am so very glad Keir Starmer was our PM during those terrible riots.
We have collective short memories I am afraid.
The soundbites are just what happens in politics today, no odder than Johnson's 3 word slogans.
Hands Face Space.
Dear me.

I certainly think the riots were a disgrace that nobody should have condoned. But I don’t think Starmer was any better as PM when they happened than Cameron was in 2011. (There were plenty of calls from the left about over-harsh treatment of rioters after the 2011 riots, though.)

It’s not the stupidity of soundbites and slogans. I accept all governments are guilty of those. What jars is the peculiarly sorry spectacle of Starmer puffing out his metaphorical hard-man chest with these pompous names and aggressive phrases.

Oven Ready Deal Get Brexit Done Stop the Boats Brexit means Brexit Take Back Control
and something about Long Term Decisions blah blah.

Heaven preserve me from Tory voters complaining about pomposity. We’ve had to listen to nonsense from Johnson, Hancock, Zahawi, Williamson, Rees Mogg, Truss, Kwarteng, Sunak, Jenrick, Patel, Frost, Jenkyns, Baker, Francois, Geayling, Gove, Braverman, Gullis and all the other ERG numpties.
And thats an incomplete list that really only begins around 2019.

I suppose when you are being promised tax cuts and unicorns, the language/tone/pomposity isn't judged as critically.

Some people really do have selective memories.

🤣 True! A journalist from some old failing magazine that’s going bust anyway! No I don’t know anything about that! First time I’ve heard about it!

Ah, the MAGA gotcha. Shit journalist, shit magazine, doesn't count, nothing to see here, move along to the next fuckwit event and pretend this didn't happen.

Fuck. That. Shit.

Trump and his band of bullshitters are fuckwits and incompetents.

I hope that the Signal leak pushes the Government further towards the EU.

Vance is far more interested in cosying up to Middle Eastern leaders, Turkey etc and clearly has a strong antipathy towards Europe. All that money laundering and tax legislation getting in their way...

I imagine he also fancies himself as POTUS on the next ticket. So potentially this may signal(!) a long term break.

Any deal made with Trump - however unlikely that seems - would be undermined by Vance at every turn and he does appear to wield significantly more influence than Pence ever did.

I assume the Government is also re-evaluating what security information they can safely share with the US administration. They are chatting on unsecure networks. We must assume Russia is listening in.

I would hope that the Labour government also learnt from previous Conservative cockups regarding use of WAs (I bet they haven't).

Actually I shouldn't have described the Signal debacle as a leak.
They invited the journalist.
So not so much a leak as lazy inadequate security.

I hope that the Signal leak pushes the Government further towards the EU.👏

(Agree it is not a leak)

Why does the fact Starmer’s voice is a bit nasal upset you so much? You seem to feel having a nasal voice makes you weak. I couldn’t care less personally - what he looks like or what he sounds like.

I don’t get a sense of lurching. I think things seem to come ‘out of the blue’ because they aren’t constantly leaking and trailing stuff in the press, but are just doing things in their plan. I don’t like all of it but it doesn’t feel unplanned to me.