So frustrated and desperate for Labour to be bold and give the country something to believe in.

[youlookradishing]

This is my take on what is happening today.

I really do believe that the last decade and a half has left the country (Western world, actually) in a terrible situation and that any government with any moral values are in a totally impossible situation.

The economy needs fixing before the lasting change can happen and the public can reap any rewards, but the people are too desperate and cynical to wait. The vultures are circling and we are turning to populist voices who are looking to take advantage of our desperation by promising the impossible and delivering only for themselves to the detriment of us all.

Labour have actually tried to put the very limited public money in the right places (eg tightening up winter fuel allowance) but caved in and U-turned any time they face opposition. Policies like scrapping the two child benefit cap brought them negative press rather than positive, because of the fannying around.

Likewise they are actually bringing NHS waiting lists down and getting more houses built, but their messaging around this is utterly woeful and nobody seems to notice it’s happening.

Kier is FAR too bothered about being popular and trying to please everybody. He won the mandate in 2024 and he should have built a narrative of ‘this is gonna be shit for a while, but this is WHY, and this is why it will be WORTH it. He is trying to deliver but any positives are being utterly drowned out because there is no vision for us to believe in! At the end of the day, nothing he can deliver will ever be enough in the short term, when we’re starting from such a low baseline. This is about vision and messaging. Look at Trump, the guy is a complete lunatic, but he has charisma and tells a good story and THAT is what gets people on board long enough to actually have an impact.

I honestly believe that this Labour government are the best hope this country have got - come on Kier, time to turn it around and give us something to believe in, because we have everything to lose if you don’t!

The right answer doesn't get less right because you've heard it before.

Well you need to face the fact that he actually IS the PM and he actually DID win the General Election.
Sorry if that fact offends you.

Such as every child gets a school place - thats equality of opportunity isn't it? Except it's not. Schools vary massively in quality and provision, based on area, funding, leadership etc.

This raises a really crucial point...

I get frustrated with the dishonesty and 'mythology' about 'good schools'. Good schools are made up of highly motivated students from supportive families (not necessarily affluent ones) where the parents support the school and teachers and everyone works together in the best interests of the students.

Schools are not buildings. Schools are students, teachers and families. No amount of fancy facilities and shiny paintwork will make up for hostile parents, disaffected students and low aspiration. I chose my children's school on the basis of what the other families were like in terms of their attitude to their children's education. It was a scruffy, paint-peeling ex-state-grammar where everyone valued education.

It's ridiculous to try and manipulate school entry by lotteries etc. If you change the intake, you fundamentally change the school. If you ship in lots of disadvantaged children from unsupportive (even troublesome) families, a 'good school' won't stay 'good' for very long, if outcomes and achievement is the measure.

I remember huffily ignoring local prejudice and going to see a so-called sink-school in the area. We couldn't gain access for a while on the Open Evening because parents were physically fighting in the playground, and it just got worse from their. There's no way that was going to be a good school! How can any school do its job with parents like that?

from there, not from their.

There are levels of racism quite literally everywhere in the world that a person could find frightening. It’s almost as though humans enjoy and seek to protect what is familiar to them, isnt it. So weird.

I am not in denial about that but that doesn’t negate the fact that he won on a vote share worse than Corbyn got and that most voters didn’t want him.

Regardless, it’s curtains soon for Starmer and he’ll go down as one of the most inept PMs of all time.

If he stands his ground and rides this out as I hope he will it might be the exact opposite.

And more inept than Liz Truss? Really?? Are you sure?

Someone will come along soon and say a bright child will do well anywhere!

Can’t see it, Starmer’s time of ‘riding things out’ is about to end.

He’s despised by the electorate, the opposition, the media and now, by a lot of his own party.

It's what you and a lot of the right wing press want to happen but let's just see

Not just me and the right wing press but most people, and on all sides of the political spectrum.

I am politically neutral and don’t align with any party but it’s not hard to see that Starmer is a lame duck of a PM.

He really isn't though.
He's not perfect and he is too trusting of the advisors around e.g McSweeny but he stood firm over the Iran war which was exactly the right thing to do. Let's not forget that both Farage & Badenoch were prepared to drag us in straight away to appease Trump.
That alone shows the integrity and intelligence of the man.

As I say, I hope he stands firm & watches these self-serving attempts to grab power from him crash & burn.
Given more time he will continue to prove himself. It's still early days whatever people want is to believe, he hasn't even been in power two full years yet.

A broken clock is right twice per day. Even Starmer managed to see sense with this insane war. But it’s not enough. Almost 2 years in and nobody is really clear what he’s really trying to do. This is reflected in the recent hammering at the ballot box and why are where we are with his own party about to oust him.

So he is trying to lift people out of poverty by increasing the minimum wage.
He is trying to lift children out of poverty by lifting the two child cap.
He is trying to reduce NHS waiting times which has been going well & it's annoying that Streeting has now stepped down from this.
He is trying to negotiate carefully with a crazy US despot who wanted to levy huge tariffs against the UK.
He is trying to keep us out of an illegal war.
He is trying to forge a relationship back with Europe after the disaster that was Brexit.
And all in a very challenging global landscape.
I think the relentless criticism of him is unfair particularly when we have seen far worse in recent years. Johnson was hopeless during Covid and Liz Truss attempted to ruin us!

Ps and those things are just some of things he is doing

I’ve lived there too. Being racist is seen as much more acceptable. One thing that you cannot understand unless you’ve lived there is that Sweden is set up on the basis that everyone works and pays tax. You’re looked down upon if you don’t. That’s why it can never ever work here. Too many people have the mindset that working more than 16 hours to maximise benefits is a mug’s game. Get over the notion that we can be like Sweden. We have FAR too many entitled arseholes for that..

I admire your optimism with him but he’s failing on pretty much all fronts because ultimately he’s out of touch and always has been.

He's simply not capable and will be gone soon. The fact that he doesn’t have the nouse to select competent people is just for starters. And he’s back at it consulting with Broon, a thoroughly disliked ex PM. Then the debacle on his tax U-turn.

I do agree that none of it is easy in an increasingly complex, volatile world. Anybody who takes this job on is in for a sh!t storm of a ride.

The UK needs a radical overhaul of its electoral system with more cross part consensus and long term vision. This shambles is hurting everybody.

I disagree that he is "failing at everything', it's simply not true.
Just this week there have been reports on sn improving picture in the economy with surprising growth despite the war in Iran.
And NHS waiting lists are falling too whether you want to admit or not.
It seems that anyone who is not a fan of the Labour party won't accept anything positive that is going on at all.

Starmer reminds me of John major - grey man, fumbling along, weak and just grey - at the time.
Now though we have not had many years of strong but dwindling leadership.

The government has a hard job but fails to push that fact. A government strong enough to say "this will be tough but it has to be done - get used to it". There are too.many Moaning Minnies (now what woman politician said that?)
The lazy media want Action! Kapow! Controversy!
There are painted performing chimps happy to show their pink butts.

Sorry I don't understand your post at all?

You have quoted a bit of my post, without the other part which firmly acknowledges the role of parents in their child's education as being the most important factor, giving examples of vastly different outcomes for 2 children at the same school based on parental engagement.

That was a failing school, but I came out with highest possible grades across both gcse and A level and gained a highly sought after uni place whereas my friend had to quit school at 16.

But my post wasn't really about schools, it was responding to the point made by another poster that people should have equality of opportunity and that's it really hard in practice to actually acheive equality of opportunity as there are so many factors contributing towards this. It could easily look like 2 children had exactly the same opportunities but 1 took advantage of them and 1 didn't, but rarely is it that simple

A quick and temporary name chance for this as I’m Tory through and through. Imo we were told by Reeves from the very beginning this is going to be tough but we’ll get through it. I don’t like her taxing, the pressure from those more left wing to increase welfare payments which have spiralled out of control, the u-turns which have unfairly put Starmer in embarrassing positions. But my God, he’s wise and he earns my respect. Kemi gives a thorough thrashing weekly but he’s undaunted. I hope he can stay, that Reeves goes, the Labour Party settles, that they appreciate it’s the policies not the personalities the country rose against, that the world markets relax and the backbiting, scheming contenders don’t usurp him. We need Starmer to steady the ship.
There, I’ve said it. Never thought I would.

It’s not that they haven’t fixed the problems. It’s that they have actively made them worse.

Did anyone notice last week when Kemi focused on Wes Streeting and told him to do his job?
It was a mark of respect for SKS. Coming from the leader of the opposition, that should tell the country something.