Starmer

[headshot]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... ir-starmer

He has now.

[Tristan]

Good.

[headshot]

Probably had to workshop a shortlist of responses through several committees and focus groups before issuing it.

[El Pollo Diablo]

This whole thing is so f.cking depressing. f.cks sake.

[jimbob]

This whole thing is so f.cking depressing. f.cks sake.

Absolutely

[monkey]

My prediction is that more things are going to be noticed until Starmer quits.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... t-messages

[monkey]

My prediction is that more things are going to be noticed until Starmer quits.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... s-watchdog

[IvanV]

Starmer has himself now also described it as "un-British" to protest about the condition of Palestinians in the wake of the Manchester synagogue stabbing incident, and very unfortunate additional "friendly fire" casualties inflicted by the police, in support of earlier comments by the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

This seems to me to be making the same category mistake as the synagogue stabber himself, namely treating the government of Israel and individual Jewish people as if they were equivalent.

[bjn]

My 16 year old pointed that out.

[bob sterman]

Since this is relevant to the future of Starmer...

Some very interesting word choices by Rachel Reeves today - that suggest Starmer will be ditching her soon to take the fall for a range of things.

"I will make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy"

"There is a lot of speculation about the choices that I will make."

"the choices I make in the Budget this month"

Throughout the speech - all the choices about stuff people won't like were hers alone - and all the good stuff (building houses, infrastructure, bearing down on NHS waiting lists) were collective - things "we" are doing.

I don't think this is coincidental - I reckon Starmer has told her to create some distance between them.

[snoozeofreason]

Since this is relevant to the future of Starmer...

Some very interesting word choices by Rachel Reeves today - that suggest Starmer will be ditching her soon to take the fall for a range of things.

"I will make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy"

"There is a lot of speculation about the choices that I will make."

"the choices I make in the Budget this month"

Throughout the speech - all the choices about stuff people won't like were hers alone - and all the good stuff (building houses, infrastructure, bearing down on NHS waiting lists) were collective - things "we" are doing.

I don't think this is coincidental - I reckon Starmer has told her to create some distance between them.

It's hard to imagine any conversation in which Starmer could have persuaded Reeves to do that. I am trying, but my mind keeps going back to a Beyond the Fringe sketch from over sixty years ago.

War's a psychological thing, Perkins, rather like a game of football. You know how, in a game of football, ten men often play better than eleven?

Yes sir.

Perkins, we're asking you to be that one man.

[Tristan]

Since this is relevant to the future of Starmer...

Some very interesting word choices by Rachel Reeves today - that suggest Starmer will be ditching her soon to take the fall for a range of things.

"I will make the choices necessary to deliver strong foundations for our economy"

"There is a lot of speculation about the choices that I will make."

"the choices I make in the Budget this month"

Throughout the speech - all the choices about stuff people won't like were hers alone - and all the good stuff (building houses, infrastructure, bearing down on NHS waiting lists) were collective - things "we" are doing.

I don't think this is coincidental - I reckon Starmer has told her to create some distance between them.

I doubt that's it. The treasury makes decisions on the budget. That's her job. The good stuff (building houses, fixing the NHS etc.) is delivered by others in government.

[bob sterman]

I doubt that's it. The treasury makes decisions on the budget. That's her job. The good stuff (building houses, fixing the NHS etc.) is delivered by others in government.

Yes - but most politicians, if they knew they were about to serve up something likely to be unpopular would try to share the blame with plenty by using "we" as much as possible.

For example, in her 2024 Budget speech, Reeves said "WE will increase the rate of Employers’ National Insurance" and "WE will reduce the Secondary Threshold" and " WE will increase the lower rate of Capital Gains Tax from 10% to 18%, and the Higher Rate from 20% to 24%".