"Yet there is little evidence of intellectual boldness on his part. He seems almost innately to shy away from big, bold plans. The broad impression of him is as a gradualist at heart, not just contented by but committed to incremental change."
A true conservative ought to see those as points in his favour.
He’s on record as being an admirer of Harold Wilson, and seems to be adopting a similar style (possibly tougher) in party management.
I think Labour have to be careful what they reveal before the election. The Tories will steal any good ideas, and the right wing papers will have them for breakfast with any policy mistakes.
Rachel Reeves should stop doing the hard fiscal yards for Jeremy Hunt (finding the billions at the back of the sofa) and say she will only detail their economic policy once the day of the election is announced.
I think the notion that Starmer is competent is, to be kind, under-evidenced at the moment. His poll lead seems to owe at least as much to Tory collapse as it does to his own efforts. It is worth remembering that, of all the outcomes available after the referendum, his machinations brought about the one he considered the worst case.
Starmer has neither created the myriad dire issues we currently face, nor will he offer any of the deep rooted solutions required. By far the largest issue we face is the polarising, short-termism and partisan nature of politics. Decisions should be decided on their respective merits irrespective of the deemed political bias. The media has become obsessed by the 'Westminster Bubble' (ultimately for the financial benefit of their owners) and that has entrenched the failure of recent governments of all political persuasions with politicians becoming obsessed with getting reelected as their primary objective. Recreate politics for the benefit of those it is meant to serve.
I find it extremely depressing that there is creep towards accepting Starmer as competent and acceptable
For someone without a standout policy/policies or belief ( even this far out from an election ) to become PM because the other party is horrendous is a very bad situation indeed
What I’d like to see commentary on is why leaders like Obama and Macron who came to power in a blaze of glory did not really change much or create any legacy
Why is this acceptance of, at best mediocrity, happening when it comes to a country’s prosperity, security and health
It’s clear something else is at work - Truss and Trump are rough examples of a change on the cards but ultimately they can’t succeed,why ?
I’m afraid Starmer is a don’t rock the boat politician and marginal improvements if at all are likely
I'm not sure Starmer's support for Corbyn is an anomalous piece of the puzzle - it points to the heart of who he is as a politician, just as with his commitment to, and subsequent repudiation of, Remain. He's a ruthless political opportunist, who has no principles that he isn't prepared to abandon in seeking power. His revulsion at Corbyn's anti-Semitism seems genuine. It didn't stop him backing Corbyn to the hilt because nothing would have stopped him backing Corbyn to the hilt. Most of the other leading Remainers are no longer in the Commons. Starmer will be Prime Minister, and they are political failures, because they meant what they said, and he didn't. His greatest asset is the air of pained decency that obscures the reality of his actions.
That said, there are worse things in a politician than ruthlessness. And he is competent - someone who has dealt with most of them told me that there were only two of them who were genuinely impressive, one of whom was Starmer (the other was Gove, so I don't think their opinion came from partisan bias).
It's just that predicting his actions once he's achieved the only thing he's ever cared about (at least politically) is a mug's game. If I had to guess, I'd say that winning the next election will become his priority as soon as he wins this one, and any manifesto pledges he does make will be jettisoned the minute they look like a vote loser. The UK has big problems, and ten years of trimming would be a disaster, but that's what I fear we'll get. But - mug's game.
"Yet there is little evidence of intellectual boldness on his part. He seems almost innately to shy away from big, bold plans. The broad impression of him is as a gradualist at heart, not just contented by but committed to incremental change."
A true conservative ought to see those as points in his favour.
He’s on record as being an admirer of Harold Wilson, and seems to be adopting a similar style (possibly tougher) in party management.
I think Labour have to be careful what they reveal before the election. The Tories will steal any good ideas, and the right wing papers will have them for breakfast with any policy mistakes.
Rachel Reeves should stop doing the hard fiscal yards for Jeremy Hunt (finding the billions at the back of the sofa) and say she will only detail their economic policy once the day of the election is announced.
I think the notion that Starmer is competent is, to be kind, under-evidenced at the moment. His poll lead seems to owe at least as much to Tory collapse as it does to his own efforts. It is worth remembering that, of all the outcomes available after the referendum, his machinations brought about the one he considered the worst case.
Starmer has neither created the myriad dire issues we currently face, nor will he offer any of the deep rooted solutions required. By far the largest issue we face is the polarising, short-termism and partisan nature of politics. Decisions should be decided on their respective merits irrespective of the deemed political bias. The media has become obsessed by the 'Westminster Bubble' (ultimately for the financial benefit of their owners) and that has entrenched the failure of recent governments of all political persuasions with politicians becoming obsessed with getting reelected as their primary objective. Recreate politics for the benefit of those it is meant to serve.
I find it extremely depressing that there is creep towards accepting Starmer as competent and acceptable
For someone without a standout policy/policies or belief ( even this far out from an election ) to become PM because the other party is horrendous is a very bad situation indeed
What I’d like to see commentary on is why leaders like Obama and Macron who came to power in a blaze of glory did not really change much or create any legacy
Why is this acceptance of, at best mediocrity, happening when it comes to a country’s prosperity, security and health
It’s clear something else is at work - Truss and Trump are rough examples of a change on the cards but ultimately they can’t succeed,why ?
I’m afraid Starmer is a don’t rock the boat politician and marginal improvements if at all are likely
I'm not sure Starmer's support for Corbyn is an anomalous piece of the puzzle - it points to the heart of who he is as a politician, just as with his commitment to, and subsequent repudiation of, Remain. He's a ruthless political opportunist, who has no principles that he isn't prepared to abandon in seeking power. His revulsion at Corbyn's anti-Semitism seems genuine. It didn't stop him backing Corbyn to the hilt because nothing would have stopped him backing Corbyn to the hilt. Most of the other leading Remainers are no longer in the Commons. Starmer will be Prime Minister, and they are political failures, because they meant what they said, and he didn't. His greatest asset is the air of pained decency that obscures the reality of his actions.
That said, there are worse things in a politician than ruthlessness. And he is competent - someone who has dealt with most of them told me that there were only two of them who were genuinely impressive, one of whom was Starmer (the other was Gove, so I don't think their opinion came from partisan bias).
It's just that predicting his actions once he's achieved the only thing he's ever cared about (at least politically) is a mug's game. If I had to guess, I'd say that winning the next election will become his priority as soon as he wins this one, and any manifesto pledges he does make will be jettisoned the minute they look like a vote loser. The UK has big problems, and ten years of trimming would be a disaster, but that's what I fear we'll get. But - mug's game.