If Team Starmer thinks that those extracts are going to prove enticing, they have seriously misjudged things. AGAIN.
It is just typical Starmer word soup, no real content, just words
That won't save him.
We just need this to be over. For the country, for Labour and for him.
To be this beleagured cannot be easy to bear. Even if he tries to deluded himself that he has a future, deep down he must know that he has no future.
A long, bitter retirement beckons.
Speeches tend to be just words.
He needs a big policy announcement. Wealth tax, pr, join the single market, it is go big or go home time.
But there's no manifesto commitment to any of those, the Lords will strike all of them down and he doesn't have the political capital to ram any of them through the commons multiple times without it being killed by a thousand cuts.
If policy was popular with Lab MPs he would be fine getting it through commons. If a budget measure lords can't block.
So I guess that points to a wealth tax plus (and this is important) some kind of tax cut to help with cost of living crisis.
A really bold strategy would be a full council tax revaluation. Or its abolition and replacement with local income tax.
It would have many losers but I suspect in the Labour areas it would have many more winners.
It would be Reform areas that would be the biggest winners.
Council tax is equivalent to 0.5% of property wealth in aggregate. Even if you increased it to a flat 1%, a majority of households would get a cut, and that cut would be enormous in places like Teesside, where the current rate can be as high as 5% depending on band.
There was a lot of crap spouted on PB about people not caring about the WWC over the weekend. Well, this is the kind of policy that could hugely improve livelihoods in those areas, along with abolishing energy standing charges, quadrupling bus services (back to 2010 levels) and so on.
So why has no one done it or advocated for it, if they care so much about these areas ?
Because it would upset those who lose out and there’s no political courage to do it.
Are there any realistic rabbits Starmer can pull out of the hat other than Europe? Surely we have no significant cash to be distributed as sweeties or taxes to cut at the moment?
Rayner was, of course, in govt at the time and, yes, she’s hypocritical. It’s not a binary choice.
Declared Vs undeclared is binary
For all the PB gammons with a hard-on about how corrupt their heros can be... A more apt comparison would be that Farage's undeclared bung is 6.25 Borises. Though Boris gets extra points for being PM when he didn't declare it.
I feel like the last Prime Minister who was actually good at big set piece interventions was Theresa May.
Starmer's speeches are usually completely forgettable, and the one time he accidentally said something memorable, he disowned it.
When we had this other chap, called "William Glenn" here, I am sure you remember a speech she gave where she said "Brexit means Brexit" rather than defining what it meant even though at that point nobody had decided.
I hold her responsible for a lot of the mess that followed. But otherwise, she was the last PM not in it for vanity.
That was very clear
It meant that the instruction from the voters was that we leave the EU and it was the responsibility of parliament to execute on that instruction. The context was people were agitating for a second referendum or to reject all potential forms of brexit with the hope of staying in the EU
I thought those advocating for a second referendum were idiots but it’s equally stupid to claim they weren’t acting democratically.
They were advocating for a referendum, ffs. They were doing so by putting pressure on elected representatives.. This is exactly how British democracy works, and exactly how we got the initial referendum, and both exactly demonstrate that we had always retained sovereignty.
I don’t think it’s quite time yet, but those trying to suppress discussion of rejoining now are not acting democratically, IMO. If polling for SINDY was as overwhelming as it for rejoining now, even this Unionist would wearily accept it was time for another referendum.
If Team Starmer thinks that those extracts are going to prove enticing, they have seriously misjudged things. AGAIN.
It is just typical Starmer word soup, no real content, just words
That won't save him.
We just need this to be over. For the country, for Labour and for him.
To be this beleagured cannot be easy to bear. Even if he tries to deluded himself that he has a future, deep down he must know that he has no future.
A long, bitter retirement beckons.
Speeches tend to be just words.
He needs a big policy announcement. Wealth tax, pr, join the single market, it is go big or go home time.
But there's no manifesto commitment to any of those, the Lords will strike all of them down and he doesn't have the political capital to ram any of them through the commons multiple times without it being killed by a thousand cuts.
If policy was popular with Lab MPs he would be fine getting it through commons. If a budget measure lords can't block.
So I guess that points to a wealth tax plus (and this is important) some kind of tax cut to help with cost of living crisis.
A really bold strategy would be a full council tax revaluation. Or its abolition and replacement with local income tax.
It would have many losers but I suspect in the Labour areas it would have many more winners.
A government with five years and a massive majority ought to be an opportunity to tackle and resolve some long- standing problems. Local government finance and the moribund state of council tax is one. The House of Lords is another. The state of social care is yet another. Or, the welfare system. So far, Labour shows no sign of being either able or willing to get stuck in to any of them.
The Ledbetter/euthanasia plan was their attempt at fixing social care.
You can't actually believe that? The Bill was very limited in who could 'benefit', and while the safeguarding within that category was not strong enough, in my opinion, there is no way assisted dying would have gotten numbers enough to actually make a difference.
People can, and I believe many do, genuinely believe that other people have a right to end their lives on their own terms without putting their families at risk of criminal prosecution.
I certainly do believe in the principle, though I'm not sure it's possible to construct the law in such a way that I would be comfortable with. I certainly do not think there was an ulterior motive involved.
Rayner was, of course, in govt at the time and, yes, she’s hypocritical. It’s not a binary choice.
Just to understand, is the suggestion that politicians shouldn't accept any donations? Whatever size, declared or not?
No. The left need to understand the effect of hypocrisy on voters. Noone expects sainthood from any politician except when they drone on and on about it from Farage etc in the pretence that they are different. It's really thst simple.
I've just seen an Instagram that says Rayner got 50k from a Company called Refrigeration House Limited. If true its pretty substantial.and why?
Here is a February report on an earlier payment from the same donor:-
The money from Refrigeration House Limited, an Oldham-based family business set up in 1965, would, even if it were repeated in monthly installments, amount to £600,000 a year. Paul Jordon, the Mancunian who runs the firm, says: “As a local businessman, I know Angela’s track record and we need more people in politics with her background and real world experience. I’m happy to support her office because she has an important and ongoing contribution to public life.” https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/02/what-is-angela-rayner-up-to
All of which raises the question: where are the Staggers' subs? The American spelling of instalment is used, and the last sentence in the donor's statement makes no sense as written: presumably ‘has’ should be ‘makes’.
I dunno. Is 50 bags a lot? It's all properly declared anyway which is how people know about it. The question should be, how many more staff does Rayner have after this and other donations towards staffing costs? https://members.parliament.uk/member/4356/registeredinterests
They all seem to have people throwing money at them. No matter how you look at it they are not doing it for nothing , they are expecting some influence somewhere. The who;e political system in UK is rotten.
Rayner was, of course, in govt at the time and, yes, she’s hypocritical. It’s not a binary choice.
Just to understand, is the suggestion that politicians shouldn't accept any donations? Whatever size, declared or not?
No. The left need to understand the effect of hypocrisy on voters. Noone expects sainthood from any politician except when they drone on and on about it from Farage etc in the pretence that they are different. It's really thst simple.
Farage didn't declare a donation of £5m, if you don't understand the difference between declared and undeclared donations then you're not very intelligent, but I think you're just squirming because Farage has been shown to be as corrupt as expected.
Toolmaker Change Renewal Fixing the foundations 14 years £22 billion black hole Far right Division Reform Farage Not our war Brexit Breakfast clubs Lifting children out of poverty
What an orator this man is they would be mad to replace him!!
Rayner was, of course, in govt at the time and, yes, she’s hypocritical. It’s not a binary choice.
Just to understand, is the suggestion that politicians shouldn't accept any donations? Whatever size, declared or not?
No. The left need to understand the effect of hypocrisy on voters. Noone expects sainthood from any politician except when they drone on and on about it from Farage etc in the pretence that they are different. It's really thst simple.
Farage may have broken the actual law- that's not hypocritical, it's criminal.
I feel like since the person triggering this is Australian we should be taking the opportunity to import the word "spill" into the British political consciousness. Lots of punning potential if we can bring this off.
Comments
Because it would upset those who lose out and there’s no political courage to do it.
NEW THREAD
They were advocating for a referendum, ffs. They were doing so by putting pressure on elected representatives.. This is exactly how British democracy works, and exactly how we got the initial referendum, and both exactly demonstrate that we had always retained sovereignty.
I don’t think it’s quite time yet, but those trying to suppress discussion of rejoining now are not acting democratically, IMO. If polling for SINDY was as overwhelming as it for rejoining now, even this Unionist would wearily accept it was time for another referendum.
People can, and I believe many do, genuinely believe that other people have a right to end their lives on their own terms without putting their families at risk of criminal prosecution.
I certainly do believe in the principle, though I'm not sure it's possible to construct the law in such a way that I would be comfortable with. I certainly do not think there was an ulterior motive involved.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.".
Change
Renewal
Fixing the foundations
14 years
£22 billion black hole
Far right
Division
Reform
Farage
Not our war
Brexit
Breakfast clubs
Lifting children out of poverty
What an orator this man is they would be mad to replace him!!