To feel slightly sad for Labour and Keir?

[Wellwhatnowbellaboo]

Aibu to feel sad for Labour's results so far ? I've not historically been a Labour voter but I think Keir has done a good job on some things but on others he was never going to be popular...and no one would be ! I like that he's the first leader recently to appear to have a moral backbone and consistency (if he truly wasn't informed about Mandelson I might add).
How do you feel about the state of play particularly if you've been lifelong labour and did you swing to a different vote this time round ?

You’re right!

Netanyahu could have been arrested by now if world leaders had come together. He hasn’t been because Trump is in hock to pro-Israel money in US, and the rest of the world is afraid of upsetting Trump. It’s ridiculous.

And let's not forget that Labour had to be dragged kicking and screaming to the local elections. They kept delaying cancelling them because they just bloody knew this is what would happen. Such committed guardians of the democratic process.

You thought that Labour would clamp down on benefits?! 🤣. Labour are the party of benefits.

I am a Labour voter, I dont feel sorry for them at all. They haven't been listening to their constituency and those who can't hear must feel. They need a leadership challenge. Starmer needs to go. I would have voted your party if they were standing.

The only thing I'm sad about is the amount of seats Reform have got.

@Lemonthyme yes - this morning I was thinking I’d happily have a John Major type back!

I have lost respect for Starmer. He isn’t really a politician - he seemed like the best option to me when he became leader but he isn’t leader material. I don’t mean he has to be charismatic, but at least give the impression that he says what he means and means what he says.

I read the Telegraph (free trial subscription) and yes it’s pretty one-dimensional, and as for the comments 😬 - absolutely everything is about immigration. I still prefer it to the Guardian though!

Why do people shoehorn Gaza into everything? A lot of people aren't interested, any more than any other dispute across the world.

Because they wish to use it to beat others over the head.

Performative nonsense.

I do too. I think he wants to do the right thing, have good social policy etc., but he inherited a great mess. His desire to do the 'right' thing was not in line with what the majority of voters wanted. I was just reading about the lifting of the 2 child limit. He saw this as great social progress, raising incomes for families, but the polls suggested people were against this. That's just one example of many...

I really like Keir as a man and think given the insanity in the world, we need a stable a clever PM

He’s creating a great mess.

He fucked it. He alienated the left by bringing in right wing policies. He was never going to get the support of the right by virtue of being left wing on paper. This government is awful and I hold them responsible as a contributing factor for the Reform vote count and inevitable rise of fascism to come.

At the moment, we have neither.

It’s incredibly hard, probably impossible, not to alienate the left of the Labour Party. Unfortunately, most voters are nowhere near as ‘left’ as many Labour backbenchers would like them to be.

You are right it is impossible to underestimate just what a huge mess it was that he inherited. That is why Reform are taking so many seats from the Conservatives as well as Labour.

I feel sad for him/them and sadder still for the rest us.

I feel sorry for them but I don’t know what they could have done.

• Cut back on benefits and particularly the overly abused disability benefits and they are heartless
• Roll back the triple lock and you are sending the elderly into poverty
• Cut tax loopholes and tax ultra rich at a higher rate and you are a lefty communist.

How can they actually win - all the above need to be done but who has the stomach for it.

Look at what happened last month when the Tony Blair Institute suggested (quite reasonably I thought ) that lower level mental health issues such as ADHD and Anxiety should not be reasons to receive disability benefits

I don't feel sorry for Kier as he isn't a leader however Labour will remain in power and the alternatives are worse...Rayner would be 10X worse.

The issue is that Labour have refined candidate selection to such an art form that they are not able to run the UK (no real life experience and nepotism...Morgan McSweeny wife got a safe seat despite zero relevant experience)

They have damaged the economy even further (I agree they inherited a mess) with job taxes and benefits increases. They haven't tackled immigration which does have an impact on our services so it doesn't feel as if there is improvement.

Most people agree benefit spending is too high, the winter fuel cancellation was atrociously handled. First step would be to implement an income level and then don't increase the threshold so that over time it loses value.

Poor decision making and bad policies is why they are unpopular.

They cannot get welfare reform past their back benches - we know this from last years rebellion.

I don’t know, the public are better informed and I think they / the next gov could make changes without definitely being voted out if they cut across the board - winter fuel then the farmers was stupid

Voters believe Starmer has little or no respect for them

Three quarters of voters believe Sir Keir Starmer’s Government has little or no respect for them, a poll has shown.

A survey by More in Common and the UCL Policy Lab, released on the day of the local election results, found 44 per cent of Britons agreed with the statement: “The Government doesn’t respect people like me at all.”

A further 31 per cent said Sir Keir’s administration only “respects people like me a little”.

Half of all voters (50 per cent) described the Labour Government as “chaotic”, nearly twice as many as the number who said the same about the previous Tory administration under Rishi Sunak when prompted to compare the two.
The Prime Minister’s priorities are also seen as out of step with those of the public.

It’s not about support though for me, it’s about being the grown up in the room and telling the country you cannot go on getting into more debt and having an increasingly big welfare bill on an increasingly small tax income. Being brave enough to tell people what they don’t want to hear and hoping they respect you enough to let you get on with fixing the country. That’s where he’s stuffed it for me.

The farmers tax was a stupid implementation but the ultra wealthy were using the agricultural ITH allowances to dodge hundreds of millions of £ in IHT. He had to do something. It was implemented really badly to hit small genuine farmers.

But the Tories didn’t do it either so people are now mistakenly thinking that Reform might grasp this nettle - they won’t either

They really will.