[The Weeping Angel]

Hang on, I thought Starmer was having a very easy time from the media, per Jez fans. He's being smeared, this one seems to suggest. Which is it?

Hands up who thought "make Keir leader, the media won't smear him". No, me neither. I was just happy he didn't have Corbyn baggage.

Of course the media would attack him and as somebody I follow on twitterpointed out this was startred on facebook by Corbynites.

[Boiler]

Can’t Labour do that? Doubt it can win campaigning on the real ishoos.

Not whilst it tries to present itself as holding things to a higher standard: because when it doesn't, that's when the Tory beatings start - "ah, see, Lefties showing their true colours!" and the like and I have to say yet again, not helped by Prescott 2.0's little "scum" outburst.

Closely followed by "they're all the same."

[Nigredo]

I have the feeling this Savile business will be his undoing, sadly.

Pointing out Saint Maggie used to have Savile to dinner won't cut it either.

And the Corbynistas will be reveling in (and perhaps even actively encouraging) it rather than gaining belated awareness that EVERY Labour leader will face mendacious press vilification and it might do everyone some good to not pointlessly splinter off.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They're certainly doing their share of active encouragement of bollocks. See eg "Release the Forde Report, Starmer".

[The Weeping Angel]

Or misinformation like this

[Tubby Isaacs]

Oh look, who should pop up on the Forde Report? I'm sure as hell not watching his video, but the wording of the tweet looks a bit weaker than usual from that lot. No "publish it, Starmer!" just talk about the delay.

[Abernathy]

The Forde enquiry is independent of the Labour Party. The party has no power to release the report earlier, or later. Martin Forde has stated that his report cannot be published yet as investigations by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) are still ongoing and cover much of the same ground.

[Youngian]

The Savile stuff is already becoming a meme on Facebook, unfortunately. My gentle-natured aunt over in the East Midlands, who I would describe as a Labour Leaver who voted Tory for the first time in 2019, recently shared a crudely photoshopped image of Starmer and some kids taking the knee in front of Savile above a caption that read something like “He thought Jimmy deserved a second chance”, or some such bollocks.

A mild mannered woman on a village FB site was appalled I jumped down her throat when she posted this crap. But then explain who is spreading this stuff; Prescribed far right organisations and the Kremlin. "And you're now likely be flagged by Special Branch." That's at best exaggerated hyperbole but she didn't do it again as these people are all mouth and no trousers.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This really isn't good enough.

I agree with Ashworth that Labour ought to be pressing for changes to be made now. But don't get sucked into this "Plan B" v "Plan A" nonsense. And get your communications alligned properly.

[mattomac]

Whose Sam Coates contributing his quote?

[Malcolm Armsteen]

Not sure what you are asking.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Finally a yougov poll that looks like the others. Tory lead down to 4. Interestingly, the Green vote remains high at 10%.

[mattomac]

Not sure what you are asking.

I missed the spokesperson part....

[mattomac]

Finally a yougov poll that looks like the others. Tory lead down to 4. Interestingly, the Green vote remains high at 10%.

Kantar which also showed a 12 pt lead is also down to 4pt.

I never really bought the stubbornly high Yougov polls and always assumed it around 5pts just because the other polls didn't deviate too much.

[Youngian]

If the Greens were as savvy as Alex Salmond at picking up nativist voters in the slipstream they’d be a formidable force. Half of Tory voters surveyed a few months back supported the idea of English independence and the Greens are the only party in England to advocate that proposition. Luckily for Labour and the Tories that the Greens are a bunch of drips.

[Nigredo]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59032991

I've already seen a few brain excretions about "he couldn't be bothered to investigate Saville and now he's pretending to care about child safety!"

[Malcolm Armsteen]

In the light of recent revelations of how the police have historically treated the female victims of abuse it does seem perverse.

[Nigredo]

Starmer isolating for a 5th time, hope his front bench are able to step up at short notice.

[Youngian]

Quite happy for Ed Miliband to unleash the shit pipe.

So that’s everyone masked apart from the Tories and DUP. I was wondering who else, is climate change expert Graham Stringer still an MP?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Sounds like Reeves did pretty well responding to the budget.