Thanks Keir

That's me finished with the Labour Party after a 23 year association. Just rename the party "Tory Cheerleaders" and have done.

 

Genuinely interested in more detail why?

All I see is Labour becoming more electable. Not a bad thing?

 

Not 'Labour' though is it? It's Tory-Light? A la Blair version.

I think that is what the OP is alluding to ?

 

You know that's just a ridiculous, ill-informed flounce, but if you insist, then bye.

 

He's in a very difficult position imo. If he really takes Johnson to pieces (which he has done time and again in PMQs) then he's accused of working against the country, playing Party Politics and being unpatriotic.

I would have loved for him to tear this Charlatan a new arssehole, but I get why he hasn't.

 

Today wasn't PMQs and he again told Johnson that his government had handled the crisis poorly and sent out confusing, contradictory advice. Please do tell what elements from today's specific announcements he should have opposed?

 

Statement in Parliament today that he will just blindly support the measures put in place by Johnson. Garbage.

 

Because positioning himself further to the left like Corbyn and Miliband is bound to get him into government.... worked well.

Look at who he’s got in his shadow cabinet for more clues as the the actual stance of the party.

Angela Rayner for example is no watered down Tory.

I’d probably prefer a further left Labour Party - but the country doesn’t want that and won’t elect that.

Having criticised both parties for not trying to hold the centre ground, i’m not going to criticise Starmer for doing that, and I’d support anyone who is doing his level best to position himself to get this shower out of government.

I think you’ll find he’d be more of a socialist once he got in - but even if he didn’t do that, we’d be much better off than under the far right elitist agenda we have now.

Now is not the time to turn your back on the party, it’s the time to support it. This government is on its knees and it might well be we can get them out much sooner than thought.

 

I think it's biggest admission yet that Labour couldn't have handled this situation any differently. He's going along with the Tories because he hasn't got a clue himself and is secretly glad he isn't in office. Takes pride in the gambit "but I'm not in power".

 

The military being involved in the response. The stupid, pointless curfew. The stupid, pointless masks in pubs to walk from the door to your table. The six months duration. The tacit inference that Labour would have been exactly the same except for they think they'd have done a better job of test and trace. The lack of any reaction to the nonsensical, fantastical figures of Whitty and Vallance, which he instead treated with reverential deference.

 

We’ve just re-joined. Proper, serious leadership.

 

It's not the more centrist position that bothers me mate, it's the lack of opposition to the Coronavirus Act that kills me.

 

Well you should clearly be in charge. You've obviously got all the answers.

 

On this, I don't think this situation is about party politics at all! It's obvious that new measures need to come in, unfortunately.

Starmer has gone in on Boris week after week for their poor handling of testing, PPE etc. Again today he has criticised the muddled messaging from the government.

 

And you've just accused me of flouncing! Brilliant! You asked me what I thought he should have pushed back on, I replied with my view, and you've had a strop. What a baby!

 

I detested his comments today.

“We deserved to lose the election. The electorate are never wrong and any party who loses deserves to”

No mate. The electorate were conned. As always happens, the Tories successfully weaponised Murdoch’s and the Daily Mail’s attack dogs and brainwashed half the country with completely unfounded propaganda.

They ran on a platform of lies and smears, and half the public just gobbles it up every time.

“Get Brexit done so my mates can avoid tax. Oh and by the way, this oven-ready banquet of a deal is actually an out of date microwave meal and I haven’t even read the cooking instructions”

“Talks a lot of sense that bloke” - half the country

 

Water downed Tories are surely a better option than full blown buffoons like Boris, Hancock & Gove.
If he’s the only way we can get this lot out of government then it’ll do for me.
Unfortunately the media in this country make it nigh on impossible for a true Labour Party to get into government.
Sad but true I’m afraid....

 

Disagree with you here SD - he's criticised him again today on the messy handling of various parts of the covid crisis. He regularly tears into the tories at PMQs every week.

He's agreeing that new measures need to be brought in, just as he agreed that the original lockdown was necessary. He was right to agree with these two issues!

 

Removed his promise to increase income tax for top 5% of earners, no longer reversing Tory cuts to corporation tax, his fifth pledge on common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water.

Not a man of his word evidently. Those that consider him ‘electable’ (whatever that means) are in for a nasty shock. Not getting my vote nor that of lots I know without some serious changes. No political leader gets this amount of space. No elections, not even a parish council. Pretending 2017 gains never happened, that 2010 and 2015 never happened. Trying to reframe the disaster of 2008-15 as the ‘sensible’ approach. Look where that got us.