Does labour want to make itself unelectable ?

[glasslightly]

The country has ‘spoken’, even if you consider it a protest vote for Reform. It’s clear that hard left politics are not popular. Fair enough if that’s your committed political philosophy but if you’re a member of the Labour Party and your job/ any shred of political influence you want rest on any form of political clout, surely you don’t aim for a new hard left leadership ?

what do you understand “hard left” to mean?

Yabu

Labour have only been in a year

The protest vote is about immigration and money

What do you mean by hard left, and what has the government done to make you describe them as such? It's difficult to speculate on whether the public may be protesting against a 'hard left' (or sonething else) without knowing what you're referring to? What actions have been 'hard left' and what evidence do you have that people disliked those specific things?

This government is absolutely not “hard left”.

Jesus wept you know nothing about politics.

I find it unbelievable that Starmer’s response was - ‘the public have spoken, and they are unhappy with the pace of change.’

Er, nope, that’s not it. Try again!

Next effort - ‘we are going to strengthen ties with Europe, and renew the scheme for youngsters to travel freely here for work.’

Even worse Starmer, that is literally no one’s priority and no one asked for that. Have one more go!

<wheels out Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman>

I mean, you couldn’t write it.

I don’t want to speak for OP but any actions that would be so economically damaging to send the bond markets soaring - like putting socialist doughbrains like Angela Raynor and Andy ‘fuck the bond markets’ Burnham would be ‘hard left’ to me.

Yay! National bankruptcy! Great plan guys!

I can't imagine anyone hard left being a member of this Labour party.

Who are you describing as hard left, exactly?

I presume OP is referring to Angela Rayner's statement this evening backing Andy Burnham.

Although I would consider both to be soft left and the govt centrist.

Labour aren’t hard left. Corbyn was further left and some of the policies of the Greens are almost Marxist.

No they've all joined the greens....I do think Starmer is completely out of touch. Surely the move to be closer to Europe and attempting to rejoin by another name have to be looked at again. The fact we keep giving France money and more and more boats keep coming. The fact that his failure to aid the us was done without considering the wider ramifications and if he really didn't want to (which I support) he should have been more vocal about it. The fact that his policy u turns have been absolutely embarrassing. Worse of all Mandleson.

It's apparent his own MPs aren't happy with the direction of travel and the errors. But given it's most likely Rachel Reeves or Angela Rayner....I think we are in for a bit more Kier

I have long thought Starmer is deliberately trying to make himself and his party unelectable. How can a (supposedly) intelligent man be so tone deaf? Either that or he's genuinely not too bright.

These are the only logical conclusions. I've seen endless hand wringing over the protest voting on Thursday but no one seems to want to address the fact that a growing majority of people no longer want Labour's weak brand of politics. Making a mistake is fine; but making the same mistakes repeatedly and expecting different outcomes is the definition of madness.

Were this all not so serious, it would be funny. If we end up with a Reform government the left only have themselves to blame - this should be a huge wake up call.

What would you actually like to see him do ?

Three actions the government could take this week to earn your support - what would they be ?

What? They came to power July 2024, so just about 2 years. Long enough to start making a difference and making people feel better about things….

Oh excuse me, 2 years**

Still, sorry, what people are protest voting reform for, bar immigration i dont know

Labour havent done anything remotely left wing

Yep, he’s really bad at getting it. He may well be ousted soon anyway.

@MandingoAteMyBaby Theres so much, and nothing that could be achieved in a week. But, and sorry it's more than three...

Seriously slash the welfare bill - benefits only for those genuinely in need
Realistic measures to control illegal migration
Investment in business and business owners
Make work actually pay - taxpayers are being battered and are treated with absolute contempt
Zero tolerance on crime - I'd love to see a New York style broken windows approach
A hard line on single sex spaces - the ideological nonsense has to stop

This is just for starters, I could list many, many more!

And in that 2 years they have achieved:

• Settled major public sector pay disputes, including junior doctors, reducing strike action across parts of the NHS and public sector
• Increased NHS funding commitments and achieved modest reductions in waiting lists from post-pandemic peaks
• Introduced the Employment Rights Bill with stronger protections on dismissal, sick pay, zero-hours contracts and union rights
• Advanced renters’ reform legislation including abolition of Section 21 “no-fault” evictions in England
• Introduced planning reforms aimed at accelerating infrastructure and housebuilding
• Set a target to deliver 1.5 million homes during the parliament
• Began rail renationalisation by legislating to bring passenger services into public ownership as contracts expire
• Created Great British Energy as a publicly owned clean energy investment company
• Expanded support for renewable energy, grid upgrades, nuclear power and carbon capture projects
• Set a goal for a largely clean electricity system by 2030
• Created a National Wealth Fund intended to support industrial and infrastructure investment
• Announced major investment plans for apprenticeships, technical training and manufacturing skills
• Provided more multi-year funding settlements for government departments and public services
• Passed legislation removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords
• Improved diplomatic and operational relations with the EU compared with the post-Brexit period
• Scrapped the Rwanda asylum deportation scheme
• Increased focus on organised people-smuggling gangs and cross-border enforcement cooperation
• Launched a new statutory national inquiry into grooming gangs and institutional failures relating to child sexual exploitation
• Tightened planning rules around stalled development sites and some green belt areas near transport hubs
• Accelerated approvals for nationally significant infrastructure and energy projects
• Expanded state-led industrial strategy in areas including AI, energy and advanced manufacturing
• Maintained strong support for Ukraine and NATO commitments
• Increased defence spending commitments and emphasis on domestic defence manufacturing
• Introduced breakfast club expansion plans for primary schools
• Expanded childcare and school support commitments
• Began reform work on NHS digitisation and procurement processes
• Re-established more regular engagement structures with business groups and trade unions
• Committed additional investment into regional transport outside London, including buses and rail
• Strengthened enforcement plans around water company pollution and sewage discharges
• Advanced industrial strategy work tied to decarbonisation and energy security
• Introduced legislation to strengthen regulation of football club ownership and governance
• Expanded powers and resources targeting retail crime and antisocial behaviour
• Reversed some restrictions on onshore wind development in England
• Approved or accelerated several large renewable and energy infrastructure projects
• Increased cooperation with European partners on defence, migration and trade matters
• Introduced measures intended to speed up asylum decision processing
• Increased funding commitments for affordable and social housing programmes
• Established Skills England to coordinate national skills strategy and workforce planning
• Announced reforms intended to simplify planning for major infrastructure projects
• Strengthened commitments around AI regulation, AI safety and sovereign compute capacity
• Increased support commitments for semiconductor, battery and clean technology industries

Eg fucking LOADS.

If you are referring to Angela Rayner’s statement Andy Burnham is far from hard left

The government now is far from hard left

Angela Rayner isn’t hard left but further to the left

the only way Labour will ever win an election is to stay left of centre

Settled major public sector pay disputes - largely achieved by offering above-inflation pay settlements funded through borrowing/taxpayer cost, rather than structural NHS reform. It reduced immediate strikes but doesn’t solve staffing shortages

Increased NHS funding / reduced waiting lists - NHS spending rises almost every government; this isn’t unique. Waiting lists remain historically high and “modest reductions” came after extreme post-Covid peaks

Employment Rights Bill - Mostly proposed legislation, not fully implemented. Businesses argue it could increase hiring costs, reduce flexibility

Renters’ reform / ending Section 21 - Landlord groups warn this may reduce rental supply, pushing rents higher, guess time will tell

Planning reforms - Planning liberalisation has been promised by many governments. Delivery depends on whats happening locally

1.5 million homes target - this is just a target which they're not on track to meet

Rail renationalisation - Public ownership doesn’t automatically improve reliability or reduce fares. Existing operators were already heavily state-controlled through contracts

Great British Energy - mostly a state investment vehicle with unclear powers, not an energy producer likely to materially cut bills soon

Clean electricity by 2030 - Highly ambitious and many experts question feasibility given grid constraints, planning bottlenecks, and nuclear build delays.

"Hard Left" 😂

A lot of people's lives are miserable, and they're angry about it.

Unfortunately, we live in challenging political times - particularly the issue of the aging population, and an increasingly volatile world.

Solutions to the former - like immigration, pension reform - are politically unpopular.

Parties like Reform and the Greens, who have never been in government and so have never been in a position of accountability, can safely propose ideological solutions that, in realty, are nonsensical or economically incoherent - but are simple enough for people to latch onto (and do well on social media).

All to say, the UK is completely fucked, and its decline will be dramatically hastened once we have an ideologically extreme but economically clueless party in government, which likely will happen.

If people are angry now, they'll look back at 2026 as "the good old days" in 5 or 10 years.

Still, at least Farage is getting rich.

It looks to me like they already have

Sure, a few are “wait and see” but it’s undeniable that this government are particularly ambitious about our post oil-age future, while it seems like the Reform / Restore / Conservative axis would prefer to keep us tied to volatile global fossil fuel markets - commodities which will become ever more scarce. I know British people are trained to expect short term “fixes” at the expense of the long-term picture. I am really pleased this government has a longer term vision which doesn’t deliver instant gratification but does build the foundation for real change.

BUT what has helped the hard working person, on an average salary, who receives no benefits?

I work in the public sector, in a rat infested crumbling school. Teachers are leaving by the bucket load. Support staff are in line for a 3.1% pay rise and are far worse off than 10 years ago.
Council tax up.
Mortgage rates up.
Many in the private sector facing no pay rise at all.
No local services, as all the money goes on child and adult services.
Highest tax increases in the Western World.
who can afford train fares in an average salary?
who needs workers rights, when it’s still easy to make your life hell and get rid of you.
i think you need to get your head out from under the sand and speak to hard working people. Who receive no benefits.
They are killing off ambition and growth. It will be another 4 year wonder, and at the end we will hear the same words ‘ sorry no money left in the pot, good luck’