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You obviously believe it is possible that "his team" might have launched a "Nonces Vote Tory" campaign without discussing it with Starmer, because you suggested it was possible!
I can propose loads of things i don't think happened. It may have been designed by a focus group of 7 years old with crayons. Perhaps Binners did it and is now laying low. Can't say for certain though.
Irrespective of likelihood and what he did / didn't know - he's the boss and he's accountable for his team.
https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1644714653807788032?t=mXGd7ew4HNZxIx83mBOXrA&s=19
Third one. (Other two have twitter context warnings)
Sunak became an MP in 2015. He was appointed to the cabinet in 2018. I'm sure Sunak believes thieves should be punished.
Starmer goes on about integrity. Lmfao.
In bad taste but also shite adverts.
Why not go after all the wasted/embezzled money of the last few years? Rishi Sunak definitely is responsible for that!
Not exactly agile ceremonies is it? Even though the LP were never active anti-nazis I never thought I'd see them seeking out the NF vote, hang 'em and flog 'em, send 'em back, dole scroungers, king and country.
I posted the other day that Labour should avoid culture wars and focus on economic competence.
The messaging isn't even digestible, too many numbers.
How about a pic of Sunak with the copy, "every law I pass makes me richer".
Or a picture of him and a picture of a nurse with the caption; "Guess who pays less tax?"
Who the hell does their comms? Makes you realise how effective Campbell and Mandelson were back in the day.
https://news.stv.tv/world/labour-accuses-tories-of-handing-4000-rapists-shockingly-short-sentences
Labour has accused the Conservatives of handing nearly 4,000 rapists “shockingly short” jail terms, as the party continued to attack personally Rishi Sunak’s handling of sentencing.
Has Labour decided that they are the new Conservative Party?
I think they might have a battle on their hands, the Tories are rather good at being Conservatives :
The Conservative Party used the row to attack the record of Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions.
A spokesman said: “Since Sir Keir Starmer left the sentencing council, the average sentence for rape has increased to nearly 10 years imprisonment compared to eight years in 2010.
“Rapists also spend more of their sentence in prison now because the Government ended automatic halfway release for serious sexual and violent offenders. Of course, being a human rights barrister, Sir Keir voted against this change.”
Keir Starmer sat on the last sentencing review panel in 2010 that set the guidelines the judiciary gave followed since then.
His position on this therefore has zero credibility - he has just provided yet more evidence of his dishonesty and lack of personal integrity.
I very much hope Rishi Sunak brings legal proceedings against Labour for defamation over the first tweet.
I posted the other day that Labour should avoid culture wars and focus on economic competence.
Hard to campaign on doing the same things as the tories, just more competently. Especially as most people now realise that the economy is systematically not working for the majority, and that is by design not compitence. Unfortunately the void left by not offering real solutions only leaves populism and culture wars, so it isn't any real surprise to see SKS's labour project take this direction.
Keir Starmer sat on the last sentencing review panel in 2010 that set the guidelines the judiciary gave followed since then.
His position on this therefore has zero credibility – he has just provided yet more evidence of his dishonesty and lack of personal integrity.
Not beyond the realms of possibility that helping people draw this conclusion was one of the aims of this campaign...
I very much hope Rishi Sunak brings legal proceedings against Labour for defamation over the first tweet.
That would be a particularly daft thing to do imo. First of all it would suggest that Rishi Sunak can't handle the cut and thrust of politics and secondly the suggestion by Labour that Sunak doesn't think paedos should be jailed has worked massively in his favour.
No sensible person believes that of course and it simply shows that Labour are happy to descend into gutter politics, not good when your central message is that Labour has the moral integrity which the Tories alledgedly lack.
I think it is widely accepted across the political spectrum that Labour has scored an own goal.
I have discovered recently that the person behind the "Rishi Sunak is soft on nonces" campaign is the Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed. This comes as absolutely no surprise to me, Steve Reed is a local Croydon MP who is on the hard-right of the party and despises the Left.
Steve Reed is an integral part of the right-wing cabal which controls much of the Croydon Labour Party and which has screwed tenants and bankrupted the council. It is precisely the sort of gutter politics that I expect from the Corbyn-hating Steve Reed.
Smiley friendly helpful bigots embraced by Mr Dull…
https://twitter.com/keir_starmer/status/1644958328945274881?s=21
…they mean well towards most people, so who cares about a minority… that’s the message, right?
Happy Chocolate Egg Day!
Had to look that one up Kelvin.
Went over my head at first.
And FWIW…IDK if Starmer designed the campaign, approved it, or even was aware. But he is leader of the LP and therefore accountable for them and the fall out.
He was also head of the CPS when they didn't prosecute Jimmy Savile in 2009
Labour, led by the lawyer Sir Kier Starmer also published this, "Do you think an adult convicted of possessing a gun with intent to harm should go to prison? Rishi Sunak doesn't."
Well he wouldn't, it isn't an offence. There's a broad spectrum of like offences, so which ones have you used?
Their campaign is sloppy and poorly written at its best
Well Starmer has doubled down on the adverts in his piece in, ermm, the daily heil.
He really is relying on the "who else will they vote" for approach isnt he?
Yep - he’s flicked the ‘Let’s go FULLL Neil Kinnock’ switch!!
Utter fool - all they had to do was keep their heads down and let the Tories shoot themselves in the foot.
Utter fool – all they had to do was keep their heads down and let the Tories shoot themselves in the foot.
All this amazing choice on offer between parties.
Not only does our brand of capitalism create rigged markets it also offers rigged political choices too.
Starmer didn't have to do this at all.
Anyway, if that latest opinium poll is owt to go by then we could see much less of a Labour lead. Serves them right for squandering the opportunity in a fit of gammon mist.
Labour is failing to promote core Labour values such as equality and welfare (The Guardian view on Sir Keir Starmer: his party remains a mystery to voters, 4 April) because it is still wedded to the “handbag economics” of neoliberals such as the late Nigel Lawson. The view of the state as like a household, constrained by a shortage of money, bears no relation to the public monetary largesse of 21st-century states. Since the 1990s deflation crisis in Japan, the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the pandemic, central banks in key economies have been in full flow. However, this has mainly supported the financial sector and the market generally, rather than public welfare.
To open up this new agenda, fundamental questions need to be asked about the creation and circulation of money in the 21st century. Why is publicly generated money (QE) used to bolster the (financial) market rather than public services? Why can banks borrow from the central bank, when governments have to borrow from private finance? Why is that government debt, when bought back by the central bank using publicly generated QE, not then cancelled?
If Labour is to win the next election (rather than the Tories losing it), it must open a debate about the issue of publicly generated money, and the role of the public economy in building the true wealth (wellth) of the people.
Prof Mary Mellor
Newcastle upon Tyne
Right to the spot.
it must open a debate about the issue of publicly generated money
It won’t touch this with a barge pole in the next 12-18 months, it needs to win an election that includes all the people, not a left of centre debate.
Also, all these attempts to reassure “Tory Voters” and show that the Tories have failed even on their own terms land like a clunking fail with those of us who voted for a Corbyn led government in 2017 and 2019 for good reason. They are not talking to us with this law and order stuff. We may want to feel special and hear just our ideas, ideals and policy lines coming back at us, but that isn’t what we’ll get. It won’t be the 2023/4 election strategy.
It won’t touch this with a barge pole in the next 12-18 months, it needs to win an election that includes all the people, not a left of centre debate.
Probably won't. And we will all be worse for it.
Cool just carry on down the current route.
Currently - winning an election might not be the done deal we think it is.
Sunak has just taken the economy mantle in a poll - first time since he was elected.
First opinion poll taken since Labour launched their "Rishi Sunak doesn't think nonces should be jailed" campaign.
https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/latest-gb-voting-intention-9-april-2023/
"Labour Party leading by 14%, three points less than in our previous poll released on Monday last week, and the narrowest lead Labour has held over the Conservatives since Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister"
I wonder if Labour were expecting a poll boost.
election results have far more correlation with leader approval ratings than party approval ratings. just saying. no idea what the current state of play with that is BTW but Sunak is making the conservatives look almost reasonable, despite all that's gone on. he has a massive target on his back. i disagree with the approach but i can see why it's been taken.
Polls show that Sunak is more popular than the Tory Party.
I have no idea why the Labour leadership has decided to accuse Sunak of not wanting to send paedophiles to prison. No reasonable person is going to believe that and it appears to be a huge own goal.
@ernielynch super centrist James O'Brien justified this particular campaign as going for the jugular on the Tories.
And that it would have the desired effect.
Clearly not seen this poll.
He couldn't really see much wrong with it. His listeners couldn't get one over him on it.
Tories go full on culture war and see a dip in the polls
Labour try and do a bit of culture war-ing of their own and see a dip in the polls themselves.
Just hammer the Tories on the economy, corruption and incompetence ffs.
This is what total bullshit looks like.
https://twitter.com/DrFrancesRyan/status/1645699984564551681?t=aAtQHwAQUhioIAIxwS4IXQ&s=19
Fiscal responsibility looks for a reason to limit spending and blame on something.
And emphasises the lack of government money - as an absolute truth.
False and not good policy.
Just hammer the Tories on the economy, corruption and incompetence ffs.
Yup. A valid line of attack would be the underfunding of the police and courts meaning criminals do get away with it.
Claiming its Sunaks intent though rather than just them not caring about the results of their cost cutting is nuts though.
What are labour actualy doing? it's almost as if they are happy to remain a shadow government as they still get cushty MP's salary without having to do any hard work.
Shout at how bad the tories are from the sidelines whilst creaming in the benefits.. makes perfect sense for thier respective retirement funds when you think about it.
He's supported no striking workers and no talk of any sort of redistribution. Anyone getting excited about council or parliamentary elections will be sorely disappointed.
It falsely suggests the benefit system is rife with fraud, whilst framing benefit claimants as the reason other ‘deserving’ people aren’t getting the support they need.
Keir Starmer gets a lot of stick for his lack of consistency but here at least is an example where Starmer has remained remarkably consistent - cheering on the right-wing tabloid benefit cheat narrative:
I don't know if comes as a shock to anyone that Starmer previously had a very important role in sentencing guidelines?
Even more shocking is he appeared more concerned getting tough with 'benefit fraud' than paedophiles.
‘
I think 35% is unaffordable’, we have been warned and ‘growth’ is the neoliberal LP term for trickle down. A complete and utter c(harlatan
He's talking total bollocks.
The only reason it's unaffordable is because someone is choosing not to pay it.
It would be a smart thing to do. The staff will spend the net created government money into the greater economy.
There's plenty of demand in the NHS to take up the extra spending.
I'm getting totally sick of this unaffordable nonsense. It's the number one reasons for terrible policy. Fiscally constrained by a mythic barrier.
The BoE is the fiscal agent of the government. We don't go to the private sector to fund the government. The government funds the private sector via public spending.
I am so looking forward to him becoming Prime Minister.
https://twitter.com/AyoCaesar/status/1646827270047162370?s=20
Sponsored by missiles. Pmsl
How far we have not come.
Centrists - This is a excellent 4D move.
35% might well be unrealistic, I dunno, but it's a negotiation, they are not going to start out with a demand for 3% or whatever.
Take sunaks comment that he won't negotiate unless they drop the 35 % demand... This doesn't sound much different.
Starmer saying it's unrealistic is just undermining the NHS starting position.
An odd think to hear from the leader of the labour party.
Surely his position should be simply to urge the government to negotiate to find out what is an acceptable raise? That's the entire point of negotiation?
Starmer saying it’s unrealistic is just undermining the NHS starting position.
An odd think to hear from the leader of the labour party.
I am sure that is the point - to send out a deliberate message which typically wouldn't be associated with a Labour leader.
He undoubtedly wants to rebrand Labour as Tony Blair did. Blair took great delight in publicly criticising trade unions, he felt with some justification, that it would make him more attractive to the likes of Rupert Murdoch.
Two polls out today, one gives Labour a 23% lead the other a 15% lead:
https://twitter.com/techneUK/status/1646770183699156993
The 'poll of poll' shows the Tories very slowly closing the gap :
https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/
The issue is how much can they close the gap before the next general election. Probably not enough as imo it would require a dramatic improvement in the state of the economy within the next 18 months, which doesn't look likely.
I reckon - like the article above the gap will close to hung parliament territory.
People (some) are waking up to the lack of ideas from Starmeroid.
But yeah I'm thinking recession late on in the year now. Just a guess.
https://twitter.com/PollingReportUK/status/1646479319839956994?t=8podecfFNRN0LrgLX5Ky_Q&s=19
14pt lead.
14pt lead.
What is the change on the previous poll undertaken by PollingReportUK, whoever they are? It would be useful to know.
No idea. I have noticed a few new names in the polling world.
Quick check polling report - look like a site that indexes polls - and more in common are the poll company.
More in common have done Polls for a while I think.
https://twitter.com/UKLabour/status/1647138414116974592?t=YWL4sdZ5RVC3DnefIaEoXg&s=19
Parody account.
Taking frilling round the edges to new extremes. It’s the Asda approach to government, every little helps. I’m beginning to think Starmer has been listening to Liz Truss about small govt.
Labour’s controversial “attack ad” accusing Rishi Sunak of failing to put paedophiles in prison has caused more voters to think negatively of Keir Starmer’s party than a Conservative poster that accused the Labour leader of being soft on crime, according to an Opinium poll for the Observer.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/16/labour-rishi-sunak-attack-ad
I am hoping that the attack ad was a kite flying exercise to see if it worked and that labour will take note of this poll.
I think Labour's trajectory is pretty well defined now.
... says number one privateer Streeting.
The ads were terrible but standing by them its the right thing to do politically. Apologising would come across as weak.
This article in the Daily Telegraph is actually very good. It is surprisingly honest and I find it hard to disagree with its conclusions.
For the Conservatives, this is heaven-sent. They need politics to get dirty. When you are up to 20 points behind in the polls, no number of policy announcements will cut the mustard with voters. They need to tear the other guy down.
Why does all this necessarily favour the Conservatives? Labour have given the Tories the excuse to go negative much earlier than they expected.
Starmer should have claimed the moral high ground for as long as possible. He might even have proposed a pact to agree positive-only campaigning, which politicians who are miles ahead occasionally do. It would have made it uncomfortable for Sunak had Starmer claimed he would only “play the ball, not the man”.
It is hard to imagine the Conservatives turning around a 15- or 20-point lead. But it is possible to imagine how a competent negative campaign will close the gap – maybe to about 10 points. If they can do this with nine months to spare, who knows what will happen in a general election.
Starmer has shot himself in the foot.
Labour have given the Tories the excuse to go negative much earlier than they expected.
When did they stop?
You even pasted the word "earlier".
But they have been doing it for years, before any of these Labour ads. There’s no going earlier, they’ve already been at it for years. These Labour ads only stand out because they are reminiscent of pre-existing Tory attack ads on Labour leaders, including on Starmer.
They usually occur after the election campaigns kick off, or at least nearer the GE. I am aware of past Tory negative ads but I am not aware of any current ones.
Yeah it is an example of the Tories attacking Labour, it's the sort of thing that happens in a parliamentary democracy. Labour also attack the Tories. So not exactly surprising or unique.
However you are obviously suggesting that it is comparable to a highly personal attack on the leader of a party which claims that he doesn't think nonces should go to prison.
If the two were in anyway comparable Labour's highly personal attacks on the Tory leader would clearly not have created the furore that they have.
Even senior Labour politicians have expressed their disgust at the campaign. And it is obvious not because it is negatively criticising the Tories.
Impressive barrel scraping btw.
If the two were in anyway comparable Labour’s highly personal attacks on the Tory leader would clearly not have created the furore that they have.
The “furore” is because Labour have shown they are prepared to sink to the level of the Tories when it comes to negative campaigning. They (the Tories) have been pushing hard on Starmer being soft on crime, being a lefty lawyer and all that, and the push back was not expected to be equally dirty. It was expected that Labour would “keep the gloves on” no matter how many bare knuckle punches they have to take. I wish they had… and “gone high”… but the idea that the Tories weren’t already negatively campaigning, and in a personal way against Starmer, is just laughable.
Impressive barrel scraping btw.
Just picked the first one I found scrolling down the @Conservatives Twitter feed. End of March this year.
but the idea that the Tories weren’t already negatively campaigning
Yeah you obviously want to pretend that what is being discussed here is one political party criticising another political party, and nothing more than that.
There's no point pursuing this any further. Back to my original point, a surprisingly good and honest article here:
Starmer has shot himself in the foot.
He's doing that on a number of fronts. Claiming to be a transformative leader and then announcing a policy to ban auto-renewing internet subscriptions. What does he really think the response of voters to that will be?
even the colours match, are Labour about to do an Arsenal?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/16/keir-starmer-polls-tightening-labour-tories
I thought Brexit couldn't happen. I thought Trump couldn't happen. I'm wondering is it 'third time lucky' or 'these things come in threes' - they couldn't blow it now, could they?
Oh they certainly could. Starmer has already ruined their chances in Scotland. they will make a few gains at the tories expense I am sure but a recent article in the guardian showed just by how much he has missed the mark up here.
That recent attack ad has worked against labour. Its totally disgusting
they couldn’t blow it now, could they?
Of course they can. Starmer doesn't know how to deal with Sunak. He's spent 3 years selling himself as the only competent grownup who can be PM and now Sunak is stealing his thunder. And his response is to call Sunak a paedophile sympathiser. Who looks like the grownup now?
https://twitter.com/RedfieldWilton/status/1647993437726072836?t=-b4Whj7SQ-SeFn795BmJhg&s=19
Labour lead 12 now on RW.
"The gloves are off." According to Streeting.
Trouble is the gloves don't come off on issues that count.
Labour lead 12 now on RW.
That is a huge improvement for the Tories. Less than a month ago RW were giving Labour a 21% lead. And there are quite a few months to go before the next general election.
If Streeting is claiming that the gloves are off he is obviously referring to dirty gutter politics, such as accusing Sunak of personally wanting to keep paedophiles out of prison.
It might not have given Labour the boost they were hoping for but on the real issues which will decide the next general election, the economy and funding services, there simply isn't enough difference between Labour and the Tories for Labour to go bareknuckle.
The kid gloves will remain on for that.
I reckon we're getting into difficult to call territory.
I still think recession is likely. That will shift stuff around.
It would certainly shift stuff around. The only way the Tories stand any chance next general election is if the economy isn't performing too badly and Labour don't offer an inspiring or credible alternative.
If a recession occurs and Starmer has nothing to offer apart from 'difficult decisions' (ie austerity and privatisation) and 'growth' (ie trickle down) with nothing about redistribution, pay, rents etc then he could easily find himself coming second. When asked if he was a socialist he squirmed and the only principle he's announced and stuck to is an unqualified support for Israel. Doesn't seem to me to be very powerful stuff with which to get elected. As that (very good) Telegraph argued if it's a gloves off culture war about hang 'em and flog 'em he'll be slaughtered. To get elected the LP need some contrasting policies to the Tories but he has none.
The junior doctors and nurses'strikes have public support. By undermining their campaigns people will just think 'what's the effing point?'
Yes this is all demonstrating the lead might be big but it's weak and doesn't take much to topple it.
The Starmer approach to politics has been dreadful, and deserves any kicking he might get going forward.
https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1648435879537680384?t=97ND-4JqY7i6iXyuWwiY3Q&s=19
But we can't afford to fund it and the necessary wages.
Apparently.
The NHS is "broken" and trade unions are greedy?
And due to the government's incompetence the NHS is wasting hundred of millions of pounds?
It would appear that 30p Lee and Sir Keir Starmer are both singing from the same hymn sheet.
Tory MP Lee Anderson labels NHS 'BROKEN' as he rages at union demands for more money - 'Wasting hundred of millions of pounds!'
Perhaps 30p Lee should have ridden out that aberration when the Labour was led by a leftie and remained in the Labour Party?
Nice to see Diane Sodding Abbott jamming her mismatched size 9s in her mouth again. A comment piece appears in the Guardian describing the uneven experience of racism across various groups in the UK. It is sensible and nuanced, and concludes "Morally speaking, racism is a black and white issue. But when it comes to how it manifests itself, it is multidimensional. The most comprehensive survey on racial inequality for nearly 30 years needs to be examined comprehensively." Hardly provocative.
And then a few days later, Abbot writes in to say being a Traveller is a bit like having red hair,
and they don't experience racism. 🙄 Then she has the whip withdrawn. Then she apologises, and says an early draft of her thoughts was accidentally sent in. 🙄🙄🙄 Imagine being one of the best known MPs in the country, and your first reaction to a newspaper article about a detailed and comprehensive study of racism in the UK, is "well, actually..." like some sort of reply guy on STW.
Between dinosaurs like Abbot and Starmer's Paedogeddon ads, Sunak might for the first time be thinking "Christ, I might actually be able to pull this one off". Labour never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. If they keep this up and the Tories win again, we are dooooooomed.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/15/racism-in-britain-is-not-a-black-and-white-issue-it-is-far-more-complicated
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/23/diane-abbott-suspended-by-labour-after-saying-jewish-people-not-subject-to-racism
I reckon Diane must surely have earned her place in the Lords by now, for services to the Conservative party.
Thicker than a boxing day turd
Mind boggling that she wrote that, did she really believe what she was saying?
I think this presents Starmer with the opportunity to ditch further association with corbyn era, Im sure Momentum etc will be angry, but Abbot did this herself
Just what are Labour doing? did they see thier large poll lead and think, right, we can't be having that!
What's the saying? better to let people think you are stupid than open your mouth and confirm it.