Sir Keir Starmer's speech has just given me a lot of hope...

[fishywaters]

Just that. There seems to be some hope for the future given the current Brexit/Corona mess. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keir_Starmer
He seems intelligent, aware, fairer, musical (aka creative thinker), more of a family man, mum was a nurse. More able to see what will be important for the many in our society. I am a Centrist by the way, but I have more faith in this man. He seems professional and ready to do the right thing.

He makes me feel hopeful too. I'm a socialist at heart but there is not enough support in this country for a full on socialist labour party. Having a more centre left approach will appeal to more people.

He seems articulate and level headed. I'd much rather he was in charge than Johnson.

Labour are full on woke and until they drop the TWAW they have lost my vote

I hoped so but he is not living up to any expectations yet.

It takes something when the government's major opposition comes from their own back benches rather than the official opposition.

Laws being passed on the whim of an advisor is not democratic government

@Cabinfever10

Labour are full on woke and until they drop the TWAW they have lost my vote

And this

I’m a centrist and like Keir Starmer, but like other posters have said, until they lose the identity politics wokefest I wouldn’t be voting for them.

Gives me hope too.

I’m not going to dismiss the whole party over Twaw myself, and I don’t think Keir Starmer or those who are currently coming to the fore are as woke as all that.

Labour are full on woke and until they drop the TWAW they have lost my vote

Starmer isn't, he's far too clever and relatively normal for a politician. He's the son of a toolmaker who managed to get into the local Grammer and then Oxford. He became a QC back when most baristers were still public schoolboys. He made head of the CPS before he was 50 and was arguably the most effective they've ever had- certainly on rape convictions he was outstanding.

Most of the rank and file are not woke. The nutty student-politician types managed to completely take over the Lib-Dems but they haven't managed it with Labour. Starmer has been cowardly cautious about the woke stuff so far but I'm hopefull he will bring Labour back to reasonable place.

If he does I'll vote for them again. I'm desperate for the UK to have at least one credible party I can vote for.

Until I hear him acknowledge that a woman is an adult human female and gets the party to stop alienating women, I won't be voting for the LP.

I can't believe how many people are prepared to base an entire voting decision on the TWAW issue. Are you seriously saying that if that issue is to your satisfaction it simply doesn't matter how reprehensible the rest of a party's manifesto is?

No, that isn't what anybody has aid a far as I can see. What an odd way to look at it.

And yes. I'm a Labour voter and I want a viable alternative to this appalling government.

I thought at first but now not so
Convinced

I'd like to see a bigger socialist representation but I'm glad we have a contender at last.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn

No, that isn't what anybody has aid a far as I can see. What an odd way to look at it.

People are saying that unless a party accords with their viewpoint on TWAW they won't vote for them regardless of the value of their other policies.

Ilovesooty, any party prepared to put male rapists in women’s prisons, allow male boxers to fight in women’s competitions, and allow naked penises in teenage girls’ changing rooms and showers, will never get my vote. Nor should they get the vote of any sane woman. Whatever their other policies.

I have voted labour or lib dem my whole life, but the recent identity politics have just highlighted how ready both parties were to throw women under the bus.

Absolutely no way am I voting for them.

All those pesky Jews, just lying about their experiences eh? They’ve got it all wrong.

According to the real cult of Corbyn types on my FB feed - the people who were posting JC praise poems and memes of him as Neo from the Matrix - claims that Labour under Corbyn was a hotbed of antisemitism were all part of an international Zionist conspiracy. (Goes to show that they are, sadly. unable to grasp English irony, despite living here for a long time, maybe their whole lives). They were enraged by Ruth Smeeth introducing Starmer today, of course.

People are saying that unless a party accords with their viewpoint on TWAW they won't vote for them regardless of the value of their other policies.

Women are saying that.
Are women not permitted to have political bottom lines? Is a woman's vote public property to be used only for the many left, or are women allowed to vote in what they themselves deem their own best interests, you know, how men always have?

@iIovesooty yes, that's correct. I happen to think that women are very important especially as we make up more than half the population. Politics that endorse the detriment of women's rights is at the top of my list currently. We have a few years before we will need to vote again and so I'm hoping that they come to their senses on this. I've voted LP my entire adult life, including last December, because it's so ingrained in me, but I'm quite sick of them to be honest, the party has become a shambles full of religious bigotry and misogyny and it needs sorting out before they get my vote again.

I am concerned about the TWAW agenda, but there are many other things that I'm equally concerned about. Personally, I wouldn't base my vote on any one issue alone, it's about looking at the bigger picture and finding the best balance. I do understand though that it's a dealbreaker for some.

I am cautiously optimistic about Keir Starmer. His intelligence is refreshing and I like his measured approach. I am watching hopefully to see how he grows into his role.

I can't believe how many people are prepared to base an entire voting decision on the TWAW issue.

I think some people will be single issue voters but for the majority there are probably two things going on:

1. The TWAW issue is a symptom of a broader problem Labour have with a certain chunk of their very active members and a number of MPs- namely losing touch with working class, lower middle class and rural voters and focusing too much on issues which achieve very little practical improvement to people's lives.

1. That many of are sick of holding our noses and voting for the least bad option. I never voted for Blair because of some policies I disagreeed with, but in the Blair era I always had at least two viable options I wouldn't be unhappy to support. At the last election it got to the point where antisemitism and TWAW meant I just couldn't bring myself to vote for Corbyn and there were no better options- so I spoilt my ballot for the first time in my life.