Kier and Kemi showed the best of British politics today

[thefireinyourheart]

I do miss the days that every political interaction was like that. We’ve become so nasty in politics these days, it’s nice to see some mutual respect again.

Because politics is fighting without weapons and things need to be fought through to get done

I'm not a Keir fan but I thought how nice it was when he said how much Kemi had been very supportive to him in private when his house was attacked and also when his brother died.

I quite like Kemi, it's taken a while to warm to her but I think she might well make a decent prime minister in the future.

I hope not, but it was good to see another side to her

It was really nice to hear that they have been decent to each other behind the scenes. So much of PMQs is play acting, and it's part of Kemi's job to be seen to be ripping lumps out of the PM.

I would never vote Tory in a million years, but Kemi was an excellent shadow Women's minister. She was always fully briefed and didn't just stick to the trendy lines or the path of least resistance

I liked Keir's final 'goodbye!' to the chamber. Probably adding 'you shower of fuckers!' under his breath 😁

I doubt Kemi would be delighted to see him go. The vast majority of MPs want the country to do well. They differ in how to achieve it. No one wants instability or incompetence.

And yes, her job is to thoroughly test what the ruling party does. It’s like prosecution and defence, in law.

I think that really show how blugh he is. His own cabinet brought him a carriage clock - like the most generic 60s retirement gift

In 25 years time. Keir Starmer is definitely going to be the pointless answer on the name their prime minister round on Pointless.

She's not nasty, she's incisive and assertive.

No she’s not nasty but Starmer was horrendous and belittling at PMQs, she did well to get through it.

Perhaps Burnham will be better on that score.

I think those meetings at the dispatch box are what some of us are looking forward to! I have in my head that he's already been practicing how to handle Kemi.

Edited to add, saddened to see her being called a bitch by a fellow woman, on the thread.

No he wasn’t!

It is the job of the opposition parties to hold the government to account and it is the job of the government to defend their record. Political debate should be robust and challenging.

However, I think it descends far too often into party political point scoring, and that doesn't actually help anybody. I don't blame individual politicians for this at all - Kemi and Keir are both clearly capable of behaving like decent, civilised human beings towards each other, and it was refreshing to see that on both sides, but the adversarial culture in the House of Commons somehow pushes them to behave like children in a school playground.

Burnham has said that he wants to move away from point scoring towards more collaborative problem solving. I would love to see him achieve this, but I'm sceptical as to whether he will make it happen as the adversarial culture at Westminster is so deeply ingrained. I don't think he is the first to want to change it. Whether he can is a different question.

Imagine the kind of grown-up politics we could have if politicians worked together to find long term cross-party solutions to the horribly complex problems that our country is facing, engaging in passionate but respectful debates about the best way of resolving issues without trying to score points off each other. They can and do work together very effectively on some of the select committees etc. Why can't we have more of this and less of the pantomime?

A man of integrity brought down by the right wing press and also stabbed in the back by his own party. He made mistakes but he was respected on the international stage and refused to allow us to be dragged into Trump's/America's illegal war. All the derogatory talk about Charisma was a disgrace and an insult to most people's intelligence. Charisma?? Like Boris Johnson? Lacking in integrity, getting stuck half way down a trip wire, lying about how leaving Europe would bring millions into the NHS. Personally I do not want a bafoon like him representing my country on the world stage.
The goodbye accolades yesterday made me very sad. Starmer brought Labour back from the brink with Corbyn. Now the left will go further left and the right is going further and further right. Our politics are sadly becoming more polarised and extreme.

A sad day for British Politics.

He really was. It was unbearable. Perhaps Burnham will take a different tack.

'Charisma?? Like Boris Johnson? Lacking in integrity, getting stuck half way down a trip wire, lying about how leaving Europe would bring millions into the NHS. Personally I do not want a bafoon like him representing my country on the world stage'

Well exactly. Talk of Johnson's 'charisma' just makes me sick. He was a non stop bullshitter who had an out of control ego and was way out of his depth. A total disgrace from start to finish

He wasn’t. You just don’t like him.

He was. And luckily for me loads don’t like him including his own MPs and he’s gone.

You just like him but you’re in the minority.

.

It does seem to be mainly Labour MPs that don't like him.
Do you agree with them that the country needs to go a bit further to the left?

What are you most looking forward to about Andy Burnham?

I mostly agree. I'm not a party political person - not Labour or Tory but I liked Keir. He was most defnitely someone with more integrity than we've had for ages - since Theresa May, I'd say.

I don't think it was all the 'right-wing press' - I suspect it was the hard left, as much as them.

Lovely to see kind words from him and Kemi. It was touching that he said that, despite their Commons spats, how kind she had been to him in private.

I've often heard politicians say that cross-party friendships are very common - and it sort of makes sense, if you think about it. MPs in your own party are going to be super-critical and often ambitious and ready to stab you in the back, whereas those in other parties have no skin in the game.

That’s because funding for many operations and treatments has been pulled! Therefore waiting lists were removed, don’t be so naive. Early prison release was also a disaster. Immigration figures are also not accurate due to the amendments to reporting. KS has backtracked on many of his election promises, what he has been good at is not dragging us into another war.

No the country doesn't need to go any further left!

I thought they didn’t have time to undo any of the terrible destruction wreaked by the apalling Tory government. Is that untrue, and actually they have improved everything very quickly?

which one is it? Putting aside, for the moment, statistic juggling to create press release ‘ truths’ to placate us.

Not sure about left I don’t think it’ll work but I listened to AB’s speeches and already appreciate a shift in tone. His words are right, but whether that’s pre getting in or the desire to just tax people to anti growth again is still there idk.

He actually cited a conservative policy which he put forward in Manchester with success, he did not talk about inherited x or y or blame others.

I think he has a narrow path forward but perhaps he’ll do it. Or maybe he’ll struggle with his own MPs and policy, let’s see.

This ‘not dragged into the Iran war’…Starmer was only asked to let the US use UK airbases. Starmer said no, then said yes, on a completely fudged and bogus argument.

What’s he done that’s so statesmanlike and well-judged?