More importantly, PMQs without 400-odd MPs in the chamber makes everything quieter, calmer, more intelligible and more grown-up. For once the proceedings sounded like the question time sessions that take place in the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly. Without the jeering and the aggro, it lacked gladiatorial edge, and frankly it was probably a bit more boring than the old PMQs. But boring is a much under-rated virtue in governance. It will be be very interesting to see whether the Commons ever reverts to how it operated before when (or more probably if) this is all over.
I think it'll be interesting to see what happens when Johnson is back. I'd have thought he can't use his usual bluster and obfuscation with obscure phrases/language and poor jokes. Part of me suspects he'll be avoiding returning to face this as long as possible.
I thought he did well, although he isn't brimming with personality so it's hard to see how he will do once everyone is back in shouting and jeering.
But god the number of people absolutely losing their minds online about it...calm down, jesus, you don't win elections by doing OK on PMQs, you do it by driving bulldozers through fake walls.
To defy the laws of tradition is a crusade only of the brave.
discovolante wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:57 am
I thought he did well, although he isn't brimming with personality so it's hard to see how he will do once everyone is back in shouting and jeering.
But god the number of people absolutely losing their minds online about it...calm down, jesus, you don't win elections by doing OK on PMQs, you do it by driving bulldozers through fake walls.
Definitely. My hope at the moment is that he can use the "calmer" environment to take apart the government and in particular show up Johnson for what he is.
discovolante wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:57 am
I thought he did well, although he isn't brimming with personality so it's hard to see how he will do once everyone is back in shouting and jeering.
But god the number of people absolutely losing their minds online about it...calm down, jesus, you don't win elections by doing OK on PMQs, you do it by driving bulldozers through fake walls.
Definitely. My hope at the moment is that he can use the "calmer" environment to take apart the government and in particular show up Johnson for what he is.
With a bit of luck his forensic skills combined with his quiet manner will make the braying mob look like bozos. Especially when talking about nurses dying etc.
I look forward to seeing how the right-wing media treats a Labour leader with less extreme views and a more typical approach to attempting to engaging with them than we've had a recent in years.
Hopefully they'll be at least as fair to Starmer as they were to Brown and Miliband.
We have the right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.
I think Johnson is sh.t scared of being forensically questioned by Starmer. His bluster won't work with him. How the media portray it will be a different thing. I hope the public mood is changing. But 'the man in the street' is the man in the street because he's a thick c.nt.
PMQs is like watching a City solicitor trying to wing it against an experienced QC
Which is, in fact, what it actually is
I also loved how Starmer put Raab "on notice", warning that he was going to return to his unanswered question next week. That was very, very good to see.
Bird on a Fire wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 11:24 am
I look forward to seeing how the right-wing media treats a Labour leader with less extreme views and a more typical approach to attempting to engaging with them than we've had a recent in years.
Hopefully they'll be at least as fair to Starmer as they were to Brown and Miliband.
JQH wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 3:11 pm
That would be not at all, then.
Brown was tainted (unfairly) by the crash but was also poor at PR, Miliband was tainted by previous government, Jewish and nerdy, Corbyn was a disaster of policy and presentation.
Starmer is attractive, young, very clever, speaks well, unimpeachably patriotic. There doesn't appear to be any chink in his normal person armour for the right wing press to attack.
plebian wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 4:44 pm
Starmer is attractive, young, very clever, speaks well, unimpeachably patriotic. There doesn't appear to be any chink in his normal person armour for the right wing press to attack.
This is more-or-less my analysis, though I've not delved too deeply into the world of Starmer.
This is why I'm interested to see what they come up with. They're not just going to melt back into the shadows after over a decade of calling the shots.
We have the right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.
plebian wrote: Thu Apr 23, 2020 4:44 pm
Starmer is attractive, young, very clever, speaks well, unimpeachably patriotic. There doesn't appear to be any chink in his normal person armour for the right wing press to attack.
This is more-or-less my analysis, though I've not delved too deeply into the world of Starmer.
This is why I'm interested to see what they come up with. They're not just going to melt back into the shadows after over a decade of calling the shots.
Concentrate on his performance and the nonsense they can kick up about members of the shadow cabinet, which can then be used to beat him?
Quite good to see him taking Raab's dishonest spin to bits re: test numbers when Raab tried to pretend numbers were higher by citing supposed capacity, when Starmer was talking about actual tests done. Not only did he make Raab look stupid and dishonest, which he is, he was able to get in the point that if capacity is above numbers of tests done, then why the hell aren't more tests being done?
Very early days yet, but Raab utterly failed to bluster and b.llsh.t his way round Starmer, and I guess it's probably quite tricky to bluster and lie one's way around a veteran QC.
FlammableFlower wrote: Wed May 06, 2020 1:53 pm
Current format certainly is better for him than Johnson.
Also, Johnson just nearly died. I'd imagine he's at least mildly traumatised.
Also, Johnson just had a new baby. I'd imagine he's at least mildly sleep-deprived.
So he's probably performing roughly at his worst. It's a good opportunity for Starmer to get warmed up and build some momentum (not like that) before Johnson's back on top form.
We have the right to a clean, healthy, sustainable environment.
And it's firmly his own fault that he was in excellent spirits nearly died, having ignored scientific and medical advice.
(in contrast to lots of people who have actually died because of his fuckery)
So no sympathy from me either.
having that swing is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it meaning a thing
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Although having now built* the narrative that he's hammering Raab and Johnson, it'll all be interpreted through that lens in the future. If the narrative takes hold fully, it'll be really hard for Johnson to change it.
*Started building. Maybe give it a few weeks of this.
