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?

Yes I read that. I fail to see the relevance with what is happening today in the UK.

It is clearly not exclusive to Jews even though some white supremacists in Charlottesville used it in that way.

I don't disagree with anything you posted but when those who are net beneficiaries of welfare payments far out number those high income earners who are net contributors to the tax system (top 1% of income earners pay 30% of all income tax and the top 25% pay 75%) then no political party is ever going to get elected on a policy of cutting welfare payments.

The only solution is a complete financial crisis for Government (like Greece) and then to have spending cuts imposed by an outside body like the IMF or the European Central Bank against the wishes of the majority of voters.

Interesting. Other European countries are a hut further down the line than us and are seeing the consequences of allowing the type of immigration that we e all seen in recent years.

PPs trying to dismiss it because some white supremacists in Charlottesville coined a far fetched theory around Jews are rather missing the point about the effects that we are now feeling as a result of mass immigration which is neither natural or an overall positive.

The problem is people think that knee jerk change will automatically be good. They think 'Things are bad so they can only get better.' That's false. They see flames and grab the nearest jug of clear fluid to pour on the flames, assuming it's water, then find out it's petrol and oh fuck now YOUR face is on fire, EVERYTHING is now on fire.

Sometimes the centre just needs to hold and course correct. I think this is what Starmer is trying to do. His fucking sixth form back benchers need to wake the fuck up before we get our own version of Nazi Germany or Mao's China. Let him do his job.

Exactly. I am alarmed. And I suspect we only see the tip of the iceberg due to deliberate hiding of information by the authorities.

Look at their reluctance to publish crime stats by country of origin for example. If it showed any groups moving here in a positive light, they would have published it.

The emerging information from the investigation into the Birmingham Maccabi issue shows the influence that the mosque leaders have over their policing decisions. We should all be policed in the same way, to the same standards, not allowing some communities to be allowed to ‘police themselves’. Especially when in some respects their standards of acceptable behaviour are so far from ours. This will not be an isolated situation.

Agree. John Major used to get quite a lot of over the top abuse too iirc. The fact he inherited a Recession from Mrs T was never factored in really.
The only person who gets more shit slung at them is Sadiq Khan. I used to live in Islington. No I'm not a luvvies , it was the Finsbury park end . Anyway I'm on an Islington FB page.

Recently they had a headline 6 Dead and 2 injured after stabbing , car crash , house fire. The comments were all ' Khan says it's safe!' and snide comments about ' doctors and engineers'.
Digging into the story - 4 ppl had died in a house fire , two in a road accident and the stabbing incident was minor injuries. But a lot of people just see the rage bait headline.

A lot of Britain's economic issues are Brexit fallout. But some folk don't want to admit that , so they project their hatred and self loathing onto some hapless scapegoat. He is a rotten communicator and doesn't help himself. But if you want a circus act ....Boris is still around , Nigel , Mad Lizzie.

There’s no shortage of ire at non Labour politicians. Often from those who feel it’s too much when aimed at Starmer.

Can you expand on what you think his vision is? I can’t see it.

I’m not sure how ‘critical thinking’ would help with public concern about the very real issue of immigration- the numbers are there in black and white. How, with RR’s £20 billion black hole in the economy, can we afford more £billions on the costs of housing new and recent immigrants - many of which are not yet economic contributors living in social housing.

He needs some decent media training.
And they need to sack his PR team IMO.

Immigration is way down and half the asylum hotels are shut…
So yes, I guess, the figures do speak for themselves

His 'vision' is - the centre must hold, we need to course correct which takes time in a democracy because we have laws that uphold human rights. It is dismal, grown up work which delivers long term benefits and stability. Not very sexy, totally fucking necessary.

Meanwhile in the loony fringes, we get Farage guzzling pints blabbering about getting rid of immigration and wear your xenophobia like a Union Jack and Polanski offering free money / houses / sex changes / unicorns to anyone who feels entitled to them regardless of contribution.

The hardest part of political life for someone like Starmer must be not popping a blood vessel with frustration at how completely fucking stupid 35% of our population is. He must be tempted to drink a pint in a Union Jack thong draped in a trans pride flag, knowing that he would immediately get a 20 point bump from the social media posts.

The UK has been off course for decades. We are in managed decline. Look at the debt we are in and what we are piling on our children. Labour and Conservatives do not have the answers any longer.

Shhhh, people don't want facts and due process! They want jazz hands and unicorns and free money for them but not others ! Who needs those foreign medical staff anyway! And no we don't need Albanian drug smugglers to be fair so THEY are the ones we need to kick out the door ASAP - and if that means changing the law, we get on it.

And where are the asylum seekers that were in those hotels now residing?

You do know that if the number of people leaving the country goes up, net migration looks lower. Non EU migration on asylum and study grounds is up. It’s not quite as simple as you make out.

Key Figures & Trends for 2025 (Irregular Arrivals):
Total Small Boat Arrivals: 41,472 (highest since 2022).
Increase from Previous Year: 13% more than 2024's 36,566.
Peak Arrival Period: The first half of 2025 saw a record number of arrivals for that period (19,982).
Common Nationalities (Year Ending Sept 2025):
Eritrean, Afghan, Iranian, Sudanese, and Somali.

I think people didn’t mean using barracks over hotels but it’s a good example of where Labour are losing voters.

Did they mention barracks pre GE? There’s not much point in closing hotels for barracks.

"Foreign medical staff" Who throw their papers overboard. Bit hard to tell what "medical" qualifications they may have as a result...

I was in Budapest in the summer. Absolutely loved it. Felt super safe.

I know data from the Nordic countries (especially Sweden shows that those foreign born commit more crimes).

Ah, my sweet summer child. Who DOES have the answers? You think managed decline and gradual course correction with sustained improvement is bad. Instead of a competent MOT assessor saying 'We need to do some work on the engine to make it drive better but it will take a few hours' you'd rather vote for ACCELERATED decline. Then we get rid of everyone competent, the bus can hit the wall at speed and burst into flames and everyone can die screaming. Gotcha, great plan, love it, vote Reform / Greens /Monster Raving Loonies 😫

Are you happy to welcome one into your own home? Do you have DDs? I'm sure they'd love that.

Ok. How does that vision fit with his apparent priorities of bringing in the Assisted suicide law, a new Islamophobia definition to be weaponised by extremists, to remove the right to a jury trial for huge numbers of people and to give away the Chagos islands against the wishes of the Chagossians and to the damage of the environment and costing us £34 billion? I’m not sure those were in the manifesto? Not to mention refusing to follow the law on women’s rights.

We’re not after ‘sexy’, sane would do.

You sound a little excitable.

I dont know who else has the answers because for the last century we have had only two parties pinging back and forth. Time to let someone else have a go. Lets wait for the manifestos and judge then. On currently polling we will be in for something new anyway despite the "screaming".

Thatcher turned the country around. Let's hope for a similar type of leader. Or at least someone that can make a decision without u-turning 3 minutes later...

Adult DD. She volunteered while at uni teaching asylum seekers English. I don’t have the facility to have someone in my home, asylum seeker or not. I just have the apparently weird belief that we should treat people with humanity.

I don’t think you can accurately use the word ‘facts’ in relation to that post.

I prefer ‘overly simplistic soundbite that misrepresents the true picture’.