Excellent as ever and I'd agree with most of it. Your youthful exuberance probably accounts for your pre '97 recollections. In my memory (I was grizzled even then) members were, if not equally, then certainly close to as dismissive of Blair as they are of Starmer. Prescott was aeen as 'real' Labour and Blair as mere froth.
Sticking to Tory spending for 2 years was seen as a sell out and ditching Clause 4 alienated many, but we'd been out of power for 5 years longer and suffered Thatcher so just wanted to win and politics wasn't a 24/7 experience then just a monthly chat over a beer and the dreaded canvassing over the summer and at elections. Labour Governments are always a let down to members, Wilson, Callaghan, Blair and Brown were all 'class' traitors in the end, but they're all we've got. In October '24 or January' 25 I'll take Labour 285 - Tories 284 as long as Starmer is in No 10.
They will grit their teeth, hold their nose, and vote for Starmer.
Starmer is a lucky leader. Brexit is over. The SNP are in trouble. Boris Johnson’s coalition of socially conservative anti-immigration northern voters that wanted post Brexit investment with low tax Tories is unsustainable.
Starmer is not Corbyn is his selling point. He is not the most demonised Labour leader in history. Corbyn didn’t do himself any favours and should have retired to his allotment. However that is it.
Starmer’s team is Blair’s old team. Revived from the cold store. They want vengeful purges on those to the left of the former great leader. Never again will Labour be remotely socialist. Their chosen successor, Wes Streeting, already making pro-privatisation noises.
Starmer wants to keep racist uncle Joe in the marginals happy by “make Brexit work”. Meaningless drivel but, as Boris Johnson showed, meaningless drivel wins elections every time over policy.
Spending questions are reduced by that media favourite “reform”. No need for taxes or spending, just reform and the private sector.
The media love strong Labour leaders. By that it means praise a leader willing to “take on its members” and refuse to support any conference vote that the leader doesn’t like. Democracy is a rare thing.
Starmer has ditched every pledge he made to get members votes. Some say he will become progressive in Government. His dishonesty may be reversed if he is being dishonest to voters too.
Labour will be better than the Conservatives. It’s a low bar.
I have heard nothing from Starmer that makes me enthusiastic. I suspect people will vote against the Conservatives rather than for Labour. That’s the difference from 1997. No one thought Blair was a socialist but he did have a message of hope.
Excellent as ever and I'd agree with most of it. Your youthful exuberance probably accounts for your pre '97 recollections. In my memory (I was grizzled even then) members were, if not equally, then certainly close to as dismissive of Blair as they are of Starmer. Prescott was aeen as 'real' Labour and Blair as mere froth.
Sticking to Tory spending for 2 years was seen as a sell out and ditching Clause 4 alienated many, but we'd been out of power for 5 years longer and suffered Thatcher so just wanted to win and politics wasn't a 24/7 experience then just a monthly chat over a beer and the dreaded canvassing over the summer and at elections. Labour Governments are always a let down to members, Wilson, Callaghan, Blair and Brown were all 'class' traitors in the end, but they're all we've got. In October '24 or January' 25 I'll take Labour 285 - Tories 284 as long as Starmer is in No 10.
Labour members just want to win. That’s it.
They will grit their teeth, hold their nose, and vote for Starmer.
Starmer is a lucky leader. Brexit is over. The SNP are in trouble. Boris Johnson’s coalition of socially conservative anti-immigration northern voters that wanted post Brexit investment with low tax Tories is unsustainable.
Starmer is not Corbyn is his selling point. He is not the most demonised Labour leader in history. Corbyn didn’t do himself any favours and should have retired to his allotment. However that is it.
Starmer’s team is Blair’s old team. Revived from the cold store. They want vengeful purges on those to the left of the former great leader. Never again will Labour be remotely socialist. Their chosen successor, Wes Streeting, already making pro-privatisation noises.
Starmer wants to keep racist uncle Joe in the marginals happy by “make Brexit work”. Meaningless drivel but, as Boris Johnson showed, meaningless drivel wins elections every time over policy.
Spending questions are reduced by that media favourite “reform”. No need for taxes or spending, just reform and the private sector.
The media love strong Labour leaders. By that it means praise a leader willing to “take on its members” and refuse to support any conference vote that the leader doesn’t like. Democracy is a rare thing.
Starmer has ditched every pledge he made to get members votes. Some say he will become progressive in Government. His dishonesty may be reversed if he is being dishonest to voters too.
Labour will be better than the Conservatives. It’s a low bar.
I have heard nothing from Starmer that makes me enthusiastic. I suspect people will vote against the Conservatives rather than for Labour. That’s the difference from 1997. No one thought Blair was a socialist but he did have a message of hope.