To not get the visceral levels of hatred people have for Keir Starmer

[LastChristmasigaveyousomesocks]

I’m not suggesting he’s the greatest prime minister ever. I’m not even suggesting he’s good at all. But some people really, really passionately hate him.

He is a bit insipid and doesn’t have much charisma but overall he seems like a decent enough bloke who perhaps lacks the political skill and acumen he needs. He’s out of his depth basically.

But that’s not a reason to actually despise someone is it?

When did we get to a point where we can’t just disagree without painting the other person as the devil incarnate?

She's not having any of it (despite everyone else being able to read). Thats the left for you. "My truth" not "the truth".

Labour on the other hand have implemented their findings....

Which findings have Labour implemented so far? Last time I looked, Jess Phillips was busy trying to scupper a proper inquiry (possibly thinking about votes in her 44% Muslim constituency).

Certainly, from recent events in Birmingham and London, there seem to have been no changes in the police forces who have been EDI’d into ‘allowing <certain> communities to police themselves’ aka turning a blind eye because the mosque leaders say they will deal with it. Which isn’t how policing ‘without fear or favour’ should work.

Being able to read.....

I just accepted he is highly unpopular but he is also rated at or above the alternatives.

On the Left and Right, its always the Right that descend into the insults, every time, predictable and boring.

What started out as a bit of fun by you and responded in kind by myself, soon changed with your sarcastic and condescending posts.

This seems to be Labour’s take and maybe Starmer too relies on it. For all the posts claiming it’s the media etc there will be someone who voted Labour in 2024 then got hit by one of Starmer’s policies. Eg someone running a pub who has moved their vote somewhere else.

It’s not the press they’re thinking about it’s staying in business. Mn has a high number of posters immune to Labour’s bad policies but plenty really do feel it.

And once you alienate someone and treat them with contempt it gets returned. Hence the very low approval rating and polling.

Yes dear. Im sure you're absolutely right.

Oh, that grubby little far right rumour rears its head again.🙄

You're right, of course, that some people will form their opinions on the basis of their own personal experience. People who are now paying VAT on private school fees, for example, may have their own reasons for feeling aggrieved with Labour which aren't fuelled by the media narrative. Likewise, there will be people who have benefited from Labour policies, such as the lifting of the two-child benefit cap to help tackle child poverty, who may be feeling rather more positive about the current government. Inevitably, there are winners and losers under every single government - politics is, after all, all about making those difficult choices.

But there will also be vast swathes of the population who don't particularly feel that their lives are any better or worse than before. Some of them will be disappointed because they were expecting overnight change, so they feel let down that this hasn't yet happened. Others may feel that change was always going to take time and so they are willing to wait and see what happens. Many in this group don't know what to think, and may be easily influenced by the media narratives.

Yes, I think this is a large part of Labour’s problem. As Lucy Powell let slip in her Deputy PM acceptance speech (the bit in question mysteriously removed later by the BBC - totally proving the point), they are all about the ‘narrative management’.

In a very left wing kind of way, they seem to think they can fix the problems by TELLING us repeatedly everything is ok while it is quite patently not (Animal Farm as an instruction manual again)

The constant posts in the PM official Facebook page just cycles round how they are tackling the cost of living crisis but their trumpeted ‘measures’ are going to make a tiny difference to a tiny number of people - freezing rail fares, giving free school meals to 500,000 children and capping ground rent to £250. They make zero difference to me.

Meanwhile they are not fully in control of our police forces - having ceded some key policing decisions to certain local religious groups and lying to carry out their wishes (don’t imagine that Birmingham is an isolated case), they are proposing to remove the right of many to trial by jury, help poor people be killed (yes Lord Falconer in the HoL confirmed that poverty could give eligibility to the Assisted Suicide law and is now making threats to get it passed) and appear to have no control or wish to control the vast numbers of men entering our country and in some cases absconding from insecure accommodation and in some cases committing serious crimes.

Can you point us to the non grubby facts of this case please - I would like to understand it fully. It does seem like an odd thing in the face if it.

Ha the post before yours made me think we’re not at victory gin stage, yet anyway. Labour have lost a lot of support because of their policies, they will blame everything else bar that, but it’s just democracy. People can move on and vote elsewhere.

Very true. I think most people vote according to what they see in their own lives and community and what benefits them and their family. It's patronising to think otherwise.

Apparently a trial in April. And yes its been very quiet for something that is so peculiar.

I don't know how old you are but it's quite easy to deliver news content to young people via social media algorithms, very easy to push emotionally charged and polarising content via all the obvious social media platforms, you don't have to literally read a newspaper.

I agree, for governments it often comes down to the numbers - how many potential voters feel a positive effect, how many potential voters feel a negative effect and those in the middle.

My view is that the things this government are doing have had a negative effect on more. Things like their tax thresholds hitting the lowest (and largest) taxpayer bracket harder. Employment negatively affected by the NI rises and employment of young people affected by the minimum wage changes.

Many will feel a huge knock on effect of the serious harm to the hospitality industry- not just staff losing jobs in asylum hotels and businesses where business rate rises shut them down but the whole supply chain and customers who miss the services and opportunities to socialise.

Unemployment has jumped to 5% in the last few years yet our population is still growing rapidly thanks to the government appearing unwilling to control our borders.

100 private schools closed down because of the VAT change putting extra strain on state schools which were struggling anyway.

There is a huge list of all the people negatively affected by the decisions of this government. I think it outweighs those who feel better off.

The facts:

Two Ukrainians named Petro Pochynok, 34 and Roman Lavrynovych, 21 and a Ukrainian-born Romanian, Stanislav Carpiuc are due to go on trial in April. Lavrynovych is charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. Pochynok and Carpiuc are accused of conspiring to commit arson with intent to endanger life.

A fourth man who was arrested in connection with the case has been released without any charge.

A fifth suspect has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson and has since been released under investigation.

We will find out more in April. No doubt there will be howls of "cover up" if the desired narrative doesn't emerge.

He’s a liar. He lies. He said he spoke with Rosie Duffield many times and she said that was completely untrue and he hadn’t spoken to her once.

He also says what he thinks people want to hear and does a 180degree change if he thinks they want the opposite, and 180 degree back again if he thinks they didn’t want that after all.

Someone so transparently dishonest and unprincipled will always attract contempt.

It's Russian psychological warfare

Strange. Strange also that my post got deleted.

So true

The thing that I find terrible is that Labour will effect these policies and destroy lives and yet theres no punishment or admission they were wrong. Ever. And that applies to all politicians. Blair and Boris caused the disaster regarding immigration, which has meant that the tolerant British public is now accused of racism because we can't cope with this influx of people with very different cultures. Yet there's been no comeback on them. Bit of criticism. That's it.

Starmer is making decisions that seem against British interests such as complying with (non binding) suggestions from international bodies that no other country would follow. Yet there will be no comeback on him either.

The farming IHT issue. Farmers have committed suicide due to a dreadful policy that Labour have u-turned on. Any comeback on Labour? No. They just carry on with their destructive policies which they will probably have to u-turn on but only after the damage is done.

I think there should be more accountability for decisions made in any public office. No one resigns any more for bad decisions they take while on the job. They just get a nice fat pension and a seat in the Lords.

So quiet that Sky reported this a couple of days ago.

The case is sub judice, so the press can't say much other than the known facts until the trial begins.

https://news.sky.com/story/another-arrest-over-fires-at-properties-and-car-linked-to-sir-keir-starmer-13500448

There are some on this thread that don't like this strange story being mentioned.

It is patronising.

As for the use of SM in pp Labour try to use it too, just not very well. In terms of output and content it’s still high in quantity.

Ah right. Thank you. I hadnt seen that.

It's the right wing press that I read so they are the ones clearly that are being quiet and playing it down.