To think Keir Starmer is looking more ridiculous by the day

[Viviennemary]

I've just seen an interview with Keir Starmer talking in riddles. If he knew then what he knew now then this mess wouldn't have happened. Three hour debate about it tomorrow in Parliament. Surely his time is up. But if a lefty takes over it might be worse.

They seem to be polling well in Wales too which is not typically conservative

They are polling well everywhere. They came second in many strong labour seats, and polling has improved massively since then.

That really depends on your definition of talent doesn't it?

They are incredibly talented at manipulating public opinion, but with the exception of Farage and Tice they're not the brightest of buttons.

No-one with an ounce of common sense is going to argue that Lee Anderson or Andrea Jenkyns have any talent beyond causing outrage surely?

The Tory party had a massive majority at the time. They could have forced through any deal they could have agreed with the EU. Johnson just didn't want the scrutiny. He was cowardly

Johnson's deal was and is awful for this country. Trade barriers with our biggest export market, more paperwork, border delays, regulatory divergence.

Exports have struggled, investment fallen, labour shortages in key areas such as food production

Leaving the country seems a bit extreme, I’ll stay and vote for whoever gets Labour out..the same as most other people. I will also continue to remind people that Labour introduced a children’s education and vocational training tax every time they claim Labour wasn’t incompetent.

Whereas the Tories removed the option for British people to live and work in Europe. This is part of Brexit which Farage's is partially responsible for.

If Reform get in, their uncosted tax cuts will make the Truss gilt panic look like a minor blip. They'll destroy the NHS.

Farage is a charlatan. He's a bullshitter pushing simple solutions to complex problems just so he and his billionaire backers can have tax cuts. He'll fundamentally damage this country

Well the point being it was fruitless. Johnson did not get a better deal. He got a worse one that was eventually corrected by Rishi Sunak years later in agreeing the Windsor Framework which was not very different from what the May government had been offered.

Now Keir Starmer is probably being offered something similar to what May was initially offered.

It’s interesting to wonder what Reform would do as an alternative to these deals.

Whenever Two Tier opens his mouth, a couple more of his brain cells take their last breath.

What an absolute embarrassment.

'Pledged to halve violence against women and girls' doesn't mean a great deal. He also pledged to 'smash the gangs' and pledged to 'boost the economy', not to mention pledging to 'make Brexit work'. Pretty sure he also pledged to reduce chaos and sleaze in government. How's that going for him? I'd note that it is also very difficult to 'have violence against women and girls' when you're so unsure of what a woman or girl actually is that you have to be told by Tony Blair that no, women don't have penises. As PP said, it also doesn't look great for his commitment to women and girls that the moment Blair said that 'men were with penises, women with vaginas' Starmer got the message, but when Rosie Duffield liked a tweet saying only women had cervices he threw her to the TRA wolves without a second thought. I wonder what exactly the difference was between those two interventions? Starmer's heel-dragging on the inquiry into grooming gangs and his tolerance for the frank disrespect shown to victims of that scandal by Lucy Powell and Sadiq Khan also bodes very ill for his government's chances of success in this area.
For the record, I think Nigel Farage would be an appalling prime minister and it will be to all our detriment if Reform win the next election. But the idea that Labour is the party for women and girls is simply laughable.

I think the labour party is in a bind. Replace him right before the state visit, or keep him there, a total joke on the world stage.

Not like they have any better candidates either is it.

General Election please..

They didn’t introduce an education tax. They closed a tax loophole for private schools. A very different thing.

Someone asked about the red wall. I live in one of those areas and they voted blue for Boris to "get Brexit done" and they will vote reform to "end immigration". No, most of them don't have much understanding of how politics and the international stage work but they know what they want and they aren't getting it under Labour.

Most of them are minimum wage workers who have seen a hiring freeze, some layoffs and no annual bonuses because of Labours hike in NI.

Surely it’s more likely to be the Conservative lack of talent? They are the people who should be representing right leaning people.

Indeed!

Sounds like most politicians

The Tories didn’t remove the option, leaving the EU did that.

If Reform get in, their uncosted tax cuts will make the Truss gilt panic look like a minor blip. They'll destroy the NHS
Gilt yields are higher now and mass immigration has finished the NHS model, just no one will admit it just yet.

Labour introduced a children’s education and vocation training tax. Labour’s policies and kite flying have almost paralysed the job and housing markets. Labour’s policies will increase inflation. Labours policies have increased the cost of Government borrowing. Labours policies will kill the generational farms in the U.K. Labours net zero policy is slowing economic growth. Labours policing and criminal justice policies have made the U.K. less safe.

Labour are done.

As I explained previously, the gilt yields under Truss were due to the market panicking because of her unfunded tax cuts. The gilts being high now are due to different factors, and are less of a worry as they are predictable, and in line with other economies.

You are really only replacing one polemical description of the government's actions with another, and not necessarily a very accurate one. Are you referring to the removal of business rates relief from private schools, or the removal of the 0% rate of VAT on private school fees? If the former then yes, arguably could be said to have 'closed a tax loophole for private schools'. On the other hand, it could also be said that they 'arbitrarily and for political reasons excluded one form of education from a form of tax relief that remains open to other educational providers', which makes it look rather different. It is, after all, very unclear why private schools should pay business rates whilst universities do not. Or are you referring to the removal of the 0% rate of VAT on private school fees? Because that's not 'closing a tax loophole for private schools', since it's not the schools that pay it. Rather, it is the introduction of VAT on a service that has previously never attracted VAT in this country, is not legally eligible to attract VAT in the EU, is by any measure a merit good, and has the additional benefit of saving the DfE a good deal in unspent per-pupil provision.

The loophole to not pay tax on children’s education and vocation training? Yes completely different. 👍

We’re still paying a vast amount in debt servicing thanks to Labour’s policies. That’s putting them at risk and cornering them for options at the next budget.

I agree. And therein lies the problem. He's not politically savvy which, clearly, is rather damaging for a PM

Hes also not motivating nor energising

Hes a bit like the last bit of haddock at the fish market

And I say this as an historical labour voter

🥺🥺

I voted Labour and I feel completely betrayed by him. Reeves is also equally incompetent and destroying the economy.

Starmer has gone against basic Labour values and is going from one scandal to another.

Time for a Labour leadership contest to have someone in charge who is not a complete liar and actually has a vision for the country.

Still higher than Truss peak as well as current long term OATs and T/bonds.

I’m also not convinced that predictably high borrowing costs is a big selling point for a Government, no matter how you spin it.

He is an excellent politician in that he is excellent at achieving his political aims. Impossible really to think of anyone more effective operating today.

You’re quite right that he’s anything but an excellent public servant though!

And the Housing Minister who evicted tenants and then raised the rent..