Sunak (General U.K. is Jaded thread)
Been going Green for years now, as previously stated.
By the way Amps, Starmer is a human rights lawyer, in what way is he not going to be activist?
Do you think he’ll just focus on building some new railway lines and power stations? 
bosstrabs He’s a Tory in Labour clothing. He won’t do anything to scare anyone, they’re already talking about getting re-elected in four years…
Or do you see an ‘activist’ as simply anyone who doesn’t aggressively oppress the working class for their own gain or the enrichment of the middle classes?
I agree with Amps. Starmer is purging the left and is only interested in capturing the mainstream majority.
The best and only realistic thing you can do is vote for whatever party would unseat the Tories. Where I live is a Tory stronghold, but Labour were the main challenger. I would have happily voted Lib Dem or Green if the polling data said either had a chance in my area.
Starmer is pretty far from leftist, you can see it from over here even with just a passing knowledge of UK politics. He reeks of centrism in the worst possible way, ie nothing gets done because he does not want to upset the status quo whatsoever.
Amps Social media is far more at fault than the press. They’re largely preaching to their own little choirs.
- Edited
Imagine saying you wouldn’t consider going private if your loved one needed life changing surgery and was on a long waiting list (and you could afford it)
The problem is that the UK resoundingly voted against the opportunity to elect Corbyn as PM on account, it seems, that he was considered too far to the Left. On top of that, we’ve had 14 years of the Tories who essentially won the last election on Brexit and its position on immigration and has lurched even further to the Right in an attempt to shore up its vote. That should tell you something about how far the public would be inclined to vote on another hard Left candidate for PM.
I don’t know whether Starmer is actually a centrist, but it seems clear that the country is not anywhere near the far Left, so it only makes sense to position yourself in the centre and seek to bring the public along step by step.
It’s now 8 years since the country voted in favour of Brexit and only now are people prepared to speak up about the disaster it’s been after 8 years of the Voldemort effect.
The hard left had its opportunity and the public voted in the other direction. It doesn’t make any sense to pine for a hard left politician when the public won’t vote for it.
I don’t think anyone is pining for a hard-left politician mate. Well, apart from Amps, and he doesn’t count because he’s a scouser. They were perhaps hoping for something a little bit left of centre, or possibly even someone who actually stood for something other than their own career and ego. Someone who had a vision and ideals over and above getting their hands on the wheel for a bit.
I’ve got no idea how Starmer will do. He might be good, he might be bad. I can’t see him doing anything other than steering a deliberately mediocre path down the middle, upsetting as few people as possible as he goes. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that’s the best we can hope for. I suspect it doesn’t matter who is at the tiller because the tectonic plates don’t seem to be moving in the right direction.
Russia, China, climate change, AI, the next pandemic, climate change, migration, ageing population, climate change, Taiwan, the NHS ….. godspeed Sir Keir. Long tinfoil.
Was mainly saying it because I have heard the argument from the hard Left regularly. Think it is entirely possible that he will creep further towards the left. Starmer that is, not Amps. His strategy has worked well so far: Brexit for example by not re-animating the debate and catalysing the morons and allowing the Tories to wear it. In power, I would expect him to navigate towards rejoining the SM/CU. In a polarised world, that is the smart thing to do and wait your turn to effect change.
Can’t imagine him being worse than the Tories.
I find the whole “we won’t put up taxes” bit rather disengenuous.
It’s either a straight-up lie, or it’s sophistry in the sense that they won’t increase the rate of tax but will increase the tax take through the removal of allowances and reduction of thresholds - or they’re going to cut spending (which I highly doubt).
They’d get more respect if they were honest enough to admit that taxes will go up instead of pretending that they’ll somehow grow their way out of it.