[davidjay]

Good luck to him in that case.

[Nigredo]

Amazed he could share a green room with Alex James and not want to chin the Tory twat.

[Abernathy]

Ayeshe Hazarika in the Evening Lebedev :

https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/com ... EYTIzfLBT4

Dorries flogs it off. Make Me Prime Minister features Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair’s famous spin doctor, and Baroness Warsi, former Tory party chair, putting plucky members of the public through their paces to see if they’ve got what it takes to get to Downing Street. It’s billed as the Apprentice meets The Thick Of It. Cannot wait!

One person who may want to tune in, and who is the most obvious person in Britain right now with an actual real-life shot at becoming Prime Minister, is Sir Keir Starmer. When you look at the last few months of polls, the local election results in May plus last Thursday’s win for Labour in Wakefield, the prospect of Starmer making it to Downing Street is not all in the realms of fantasy.

Boris Johnson’s herculean levels of unpopularity with the public and his own MPs plus the ominous economic picture give Starmer a fighting chance of getting to No 10.

Of course, the big but (and I cannot lie) is that it may be with the assistance of tactical voting and the Liberal Democrats in a hung Parliament. Labour sources and MPs push back on this and say the Wakefield swing is bigger than they need at a general election and that they are fighting to win a majority and there were no deals with the Lib Dems

I get it. I said the same thing when I worked for Ed Miliband, except that when the election kicked off behind the scenes, work was being done looking at where there were synergies with the Lib Dem manifesto. But the public hate stitch-ups, so I get the caution that both sides are showing to avoid any formal alliance. So Labour must put forward the most vote-winning policy package it can. It came as no surprise — and a bit of a relief — to me that Starmer yesterday told the New Statesman conference that he was not wedded to Labour’s 2019 manifesto.

There have been howls of outrage from some on the far Left on Twitter (who knew) at this. But why would you cling to a manifesto rejected by the public and crafted by Jeremy Corbyn, who has now been suspended from the party in parliament? And before anyone bleats “but we won the big argument”… Err, nope. Labour gifted the Tories a landslide victory, which we are all paying for now. Also, so much has happened since 2019. Covid, Ukraine, Brexit, record inflation plus a global energy crisis. It would be mad to look for Labour to look backwards.

Starmer’s sole job is not to pander to huffy Labour Party members, it is to be ruthless in fighting for every vote to kick out the Government. But I do accept that he needs to do more. People need to start seeing Starmer has a compelling argument which is not just diagnosing the many problems we face and slagging off Johnson, but telling a big, bold, bright story about how he would heal Britain. Ditching a vote-losing manifesto from years ago is a no-brainer. Now he must pitch the public hard if he wants to hear those magic words “you’re hired”.

[mattomac]

I wonder how many of these members remain, the hardcore lot, especially seeing what’s happening in Tower Hamlets and Ilford with the two Corbyn friendly MPs and the fact deselections elsewhere have failed.

[davidjay]

I wonder how many of these members remain, the hardcore lot, especially seeing what’s happening in Tower Hamlets and Ilford with the two Corbyn friendly MPs and the fact deselections elsewhere have failed.

There seems to be a lot of Twittering about forming a new party, but not much going ahead and forming it.

[Crabcakes]

I wonder how many of these members remain, the hardcore lot, especially seeing what’s happening in Tower Hamlets and Ilford with the two Corbyn friendly MPs and the fact deselections elsewhere have failed.

There seems to be a lot of Twittering about forming a new party, but not much going ahead and forming it.

Because if they formed it, they'd be responsible for it. And if it bombed (which it almost certainly would), it would show that the support was for Labour, not for the chosen one and his underlings. And we can't have that, because they 'won the argument'.

[Andy McDandy]

They'd also learn there was more to policy making than going "No, not that".

[Abernathy]

I wonder how many of these members remain, the hardcore lot, especially seeing what’s happening in Tower Hamlets and Ilford with the two Corbyn friendly MPs and the fact deselections elsewhere have failed.

There seems to be a lot of Twittering about forming a new party, but not much going ahead and forming it.

Because if they formed it, they'd be responsible for it. And if it bombed (which it almost certainly would), it would show that the support was for Labour, not for the chosen one and his underlings. And we can't have that, because they 'won the argument'.

We still need to be vigilant, eternally so. The Party can never again risk a repeat of the Corbyn debacle, or anything like it.

[mattomac]

Sadly it will be time for Burgon in about 40 years.

[davidjay]

I've not got much time for Diane Abbott, but jesusfuckingchrist the abuse she's had over the past 24 hours...

[Arrowhead]

Very good news to hear Heidi Alexander is hoping to make a return to Westminster at the next GE, having been shortlisted by the local constituency party as a potential candidate to contest Swindon South (she was born and raised in the town). She has just received the public endorsement of Andy Burnham, which seems pretty significant.

Let's hope a few more of the sensibleheads make a return soon - anyone know what Owen Smith is up to nowadays? He seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth?

[Youngian]

Owen Smith is up to nowadays?

Probably has a well paid corporate gig, telling people he’s glad to be well out of the hell hole of politics. Before looking bored shitless after three months like Nick Clegg.

[mattomac]

I've not got much time for Diane Abbott, but jesusfuckingchrist the abuse she's had over the past 24 hours...

I don’t like anything personal being thrown at MPs but her statement was frankly appalling.

[Arrowhead]

Probably has a well paid corporate gig, telling people he’s glad to be well out of the hell hole of politics. Before looking bored shitless after three months like Nick Clegg.

Even so, the way he has just vanished into thin air is surprising. Zero social media presence now, including all his 2016 leadership campaign stuff.

From prospective leader of a major political party - and potential future Prime Minster - to almost total anonymity is quite the turnaround. The Corbyn/Brexit clusterfudge era of 2015-2019 swallowed up and spat out a lot of talented MPs.

[mattomac]

Yeah in the book Left Out there was a couple of what ifs, Wes Streeting is listed, one of those what if moments I feel we look back on.

[Youngian]

Probably has a well paid corporate gig, telling people he’s glad to be well out of the hell hole of politics. Before looking bored shitless after three months like Nick Clegg.

Even so, the way he has just vanished into thin air is surprising. Zero social media presence now, including all his 2016 leadership campaign stuff.

From prospective leader of a major political party - and potential future Prime Minster - to almost total anonymity is quite the turnaround.

Labour’s Paul Nuttal

[Bones McCoy]

Probably has a well paid corporate gig, telling people he’s glad to be well out of the hell hole of politics. Before looking bored shitless after three months like Nick Clegg.

Even so, the way he has just vanished into thin air is surprising. Zero social media presence now, including all his 2016 leadership campaign stuff.

From prospective leader of a major political party - and potential future Prime Minster - to almost total anonymity is quite the turnaround.

Labour’s Paul Nuttal

Nuttall: The only England football captain with a doctorate.

[Abernathy]

Read the Forde Repoert in full here :

https://www.fordeinquiry.org/wp-conten ... Report.pdf

[Crabcakes]

So it seems to be some people were shitty on both sides which is genuinely crap, but the key claims that it lost Corbyn the 2017 election are bullshit (and when those people were gone, he very much un-won the 2019 one), and any suggestion that the antisemitism issues were completely fabricated are also bullshit.

[Youngian]

Captains take responsibility for their watch apart from Corbyn who predictably responded with a load of factionalist whataboutery. He’s history and we have a far bigger bunch of nutters to worry about choosing the PM than sad arsed Corbynbots with their hilariously bad takes on a report no one in the real world cares about.