To believe that we now have a real Leader of the Opposition

[LaureBerthaud]

Who will hold the Tories to account.

Listened to Sir Keir Starmer on the Today programme. He was articulate, direct and reasonable. I'm hopeful he'll sort the Labour party out and hold the Prime Minister to account.

Phew - what a relief!

It would be nice to have a functional opposition. But it isn't anywhere near enough to just be a decent and clever person, and sit across the floor asking pertinent questions about detail.

Labour are a total shambles and I just don't think he's going to be able to change the game. I really hope he proves me wrong though.

'he needs to get behind the efforts of the government'

Umm, the whole point of having an opposition is NOT to have everyone obliged to get behind the government. Obviously, I don't mean that one should oppose everything that the government does just because it's the government; but criticizing it when appropriate, questioning it, suggesting alternatives that might work better, is just what people should be doing in a democracy. This isn't North Korea, where you have to worship the Dear Leader!

I was not a Corbyn fan at all; but Starmer so far seems like a breath of fresh air.

He’s giving me Blair vibes - and I fell for that once and would not again.

He seems a bit toothless to me, not 100% where he stands on issues apart from Brexit so not sure he'll really hold government to account, not even sure he's that good an orator. A bit meh. Probably more competant than Boris though, might get a slightly easier time in the press than Corbyn.

That's about it, would like to be pleasantly surprised by him, prefer Rayner, at least she's a bit more outspoken.

YABU.
We've already been told why there's no definite exit strategy yet.
It would have been more reasonable for Starmer to ask for a private meeting with senior govt ministers to review all the available information and possible options.
Of course we all want certainty but it's not possible in a pandemic.

Completely insipid, uninspiring man. Joined the party because of Corbyn. Will give Starmer a few months to show us what he’s made of before deciding whether to leave or not...I believe in giving everyone a fair chance.

I hope Sir Keir can be an effective Opposition leader and I will be watching with interest.

In the meantime anyone who thinks he is to the centre would be wise to check his policies which are identical to Corbyn's thus making the party unelectable so he will have a long time to practice his leader of the Opposition skills.