Keir Starmer Labour Leader

Fluctuation0161

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So, what is Keir's plan for Scotland? As this is the real achieves heel for Labour. Not socialism. Although it seems Keir, like many others, may be in denial.

He is probably too busy trying to appeal to English Daily Mail readers to notice.
 

TwoSheds

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The BoE is primarily buying the bonds that the government is issuing to pay for its corona response, among other things. Banks have actually been losing money from interest rates being so low, rather than having their pockets lined.
Read this today and thought of you, this is pretty much exactly what I would be doing with £1.4bn instead of giving it to financiers. They will see the benefits for their economy I think.

US President-elect Joe Biden has unveiled a $1.9tn (£1.4tn) stimulus plan for the coronavirus-sapped US economy before he takes office next week.

If passed by Congress, it would include $1tn for households, with direct payments of $1,400 to all Americans.

The relief proposal includes $415bn to fight the virus and $440bn for small businesses.

Biden, a Democrat, has promised to beat the pandemic that has killed more than 388,000 people in the US.

Each day brings well over 200,000 new cases in the US and the daily death toll sometimes tops 4,000.

In a primetime speech on Thursday night from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said: "A crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight and there's no time to waste."

"The very health of our nation is at stake," he added. "We have to act and we have to act now."
How is America more socialist than us though FFS? :lol:
 

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Read this today and thought of you, this is pretty much exactly what I would be doing with £1.4bn instead of giving it to financiers. They will see the benefits for their economy I think.



How is America more socialist than us though FFS? :lol:
:lol:I had actually read that and thought of you tbh. I much prefer the US policy. Would be intrigued by a breakdown of what people did with it- if everyone sticks it in the bank then it won't work as stimulus, just build the savings rate, but if everyone went on a splurge then it might help. Still think Bezos loves this most.
 

Raven

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Read this today and thought of you, this is pretty much exactly what I would be doing with £1.4bn instead of giving it to financiers. They will see the benefits for their economy I think.



How is America more socialist than us though FFS? :lol:
Anyone arguing that trusting the banks with large amounts of public money is a good thing is incredibly naive.

I've been quite interested by your points regarding QE and your thoughts on how the money should have been distributed more fairly. I've been angry with the banks for years because it was public money that bailed them out, yet when society needs bailing out it's still public money bailing us out. There is no give and take, the banks have stolen more from us than a benefit cheat or a refugee family could steal from us in a million lifetimes yet we very rarely hear politicians and the media lambasting them.
 
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Anyone arguing that trusting the banks with large amounts of public money is a good thing is incredibly naive.

I've been quite interested by your points regarding QE and your thoughts on how the money should have been distributed more fairly. I've been angry with the banks for years because it was public money that bailed them out, yet when society needs bailing out it's still public money bailing us out. There is no give and take, the banks have stolen more from us than a benefit cheat or a refugee family could steal from us in a million lifetimes yet we very rarely hear politicians and the media lambasting them.
I don’t disagree. But the collapse of the likes of RBS would have had a catastrophic effect. They had to be bailed out.
 

TwoSheds

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:lol:I had actually read that and thought of you tbh. I much prefer the US policy. Would be intrigued by a breakdown of what people did with it- if everyone sticks it in the bank then it won't work as stimulus, just build the savings rate, but if everyone went on a splurge then it might help. Still think Bezos loves this most.

Well as with all benefits / tax breaks the really rich people will stick it in the bank or buy shares or something, the rich-ish people might use it for a toy, the middle class probably paying debt or on a toy, and the majority who live hand to mouth will spend it on living / debt, and it will go straight into "the economy" in all sorts of ways.

Clearly not paying it to the really rich ones and redistributing amongst the rest would be a better use of the money but on the other hand the cost of working out who's really rich, plus the whingeing and bitching about how it's not fair they don't get a handout they don't need, probably render the benefits either negative or negligible. So for me a timely universal handout is almost certainly the best and easiest way to do it.
 

Raven

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I don’t disagree. But the collapse of the likes of RBS would have had a catastrophic effect. They had to be bailed out.
I'm not an expert on the matter by any means but my rather hard headed approach would have been telling them all to feck off. Gambling away things like people's pensions for years and then when the bubble bursts, they exchange a couple of winks and a couple of nudges to weasel their way directly into public funding, whilst simutaneously taking people's houses, cars and other possessions, all after being bailed out by their taxes. Evil, corrupt little toe rag leeches with absolutely nothing to offer society.

As a socialist, I believe we should be moving away from such morally corrupt system of capital and telling the banks to piss right off would be an excellent start.
 
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I'm not an expert on the matter by any means but my rather hard headed approach would have been telling them all to feck off. Gambling away things like people's pensions for years and then when the bubble bursts, they exchange a couple of winks and a couple of nudges to weasel their way directly into public funding, whilst simutaneously taking people's houses, cars and other possessions, all after being bailed out by their taxes. Evil, corrupt little toe rag leeches with absolutely nothing to offer society.

As a socialist, I believe we should be moving away from such morally corrupt system of capital and telling the banks to piss right off would be an excellent start.
I understand, and when you dig into some of the practices, it really was a house of cards. However, the impact of the big banks collapsing in the UK would have made the financial crisis far worse (in my opinion), so whilst somewhat abhorrent, the government bailout was the right thing to do.
 

Raven

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I understand, and when you dig into some of the practices, it really was a house of cards. However, the impact of the big banks collapsing in the UK would have made the financial crisis far worse (in my opinion), so whilst somewhat abhorrent, the government bailout was the right thing to do.
As I say, I'm no economist so I'm certainly not an authority on the matter but my anger towards them has only become more intense as the years have rolled by, yet others seemed to have diminished. I feel like they're getting away with what they did, whilst everyone is focused on culture wars propped up by the media and over half the politicians in the land. It's disgusting that so many have suffered because of the action of the banks and trusting them with public funds should never be allowed to happen again.
 

nickm

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Keir Starmer drops Labour pledge to fight for return to EU free movement

Opposition leader says it won’t be ‘realistic’ to renegotiate free movement


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/starmer-labour-free-movement-eu-pledge-b1785041.html?

He has changed his tune on yet another issue. What does he actually stand for? Genuinely, can anyone tell me his core values?

Is he hoping his 3 word slogan can simply be "Better than Boris"?
We. Lost. The. Argument. Free movement is a dead issue. Move the feck on. That’s why he’s not looking to reopen it. I’d like us to rejoin the EU in some manner but I accept it’s not a debate that’s worth having at the moment. For fecks fecking sake. How politically obtuse do you have to be not to see that?
 
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nickm

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True though. Labour is now 4 points ahead. I know the last thing you want is a labour victory at the election because it’ll be yet another nail in the coffin of corbynite thinking, but the rest of us think it’s a fairly positive developmental.
 

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True though. Labour is now 4 points ahead. I know the last thing you want is a labour victory at the election because it’ll be yet another nail in the coffin of corbynite thinking, but the rest of us think it’s a fairly positive developmental.
I do wonder about how the polls will translate into votes, given the lack of elections we have had whilst Starmer has been leader due to COVID.

And there are a lot of elections in May. As well as Scotland, there are:

24 county councils
127 unitary, district and borough councils
13 directly elected mayors
40 police and crime commissioners

Up for election.

What do you think would be a good result for Labour?

I think winning the London Assembly, retaining all their mayors plus winning the West Midlands and Tees Mayoralty, plus gains of councils and/or a couple of hundred councillors too.
 

berbatrick

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True though. Labour is now 4 points ahead. I know the last thing you want is a labour victory at the election because it’ll be yet another nail in the coffin of corbynite thinking, but the rest of us think it’s a fairly positive developmental.







the big turning point was boris. if the situation looks like it did in 2018, they might change leader again.
 

Fluctuation0161

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We. Lost. The. Argument. Free movement is a dead issue. Move the feck on. That’s why he’s not looking to reopen it. I’d like us to rejoin the EU in some manner but I accept it’s not a debate that’s worth having at the moment. For fecks fecking sake. How politically obtuse do you have to be not to see that?
Yet another issue Starmer now has no opinion on. It raises more questions about him.

Question is, is Starmer a man of principle and ideas or simply a political chameleon. You can even be politically obtuse and figure out the answer to that. ;)
 

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We. Lost. The. Argument. Free movement is a dead issue. Move the feck on. That’s why he’s not looking to reopen it. I’d like us to rejoin the EU in some manner but I accept it’s not a debate that’s worth having at the moment. For fecks fecking sake. How politically obtuse do you have to be not to see that?
It's the equivalent of an international footballer declaring retirement from the national team. Everyone knows he's past being picked anyway, the aim is to stop wasting time on speculation.
 

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We. Lost. The. Argument. Free movement is a dead issue. Move the feck on. That’s why he’s not looking to reopen it. I’d like us to rejoin the EU in some manner but I accept it’s not a debate that’s worth having at the moment. For fecks fecking sake. How politically obtuse do you have to be not to see that?
The issue is we'd already lost the argument when he made the pledge.
 

Jippy

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Er, I think you are having trouble, mixing up the words imagine and probably.

If you think any opposition leader would not be ahead of Boris at this stage then you have not been looking at Boris Johnsons popularity plummeting.
Well, imagine is baseless by definition. Imagine how big a lead Keir would have it wasn't for the right wing press.
 

nickm

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Er, I think you are having trouble, mixing up the words imagine and probably.

If you think any opposition leader would not be ahead of Boris at this stage then you have not been looking at Boris Johnsons popularity plummeting.
So when he’s behind it’s because he’s useless, when he’s not pulled ahead it’s because he’s not lefty enough, when he pulls ahead it’s because anyone could do it. I see.
 

Fluctuation0161

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So when he’s behind it’s because he’s useless, when he’s not pulled ahead it’s because he’s not lefty enough, when he pulls ahead it’s because anyone could do it. I see.
He has pulled ahead it is because we are beginning to see the UK's most unpopular Prime Minister decrease his popularity day by day, mistake by mistake.

What do you think will happen to the polls when the Tories inevitably eject Boris and bring in a new leader?
 

Fluctuation0161

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Well, imagine is baseless by definition. Imagine how big a lead Keir would have it wasn't for the right wing press.
I can imagine it would be less of a lead because Keir and the right wing press go hand in hand, for now.

Do you see the difference now? Language hey.
 

Jippy

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I can imagine it would be less of a lead because Keir and the right wing press go hand in hand, for now.

Do you see the difference now? Language hey.
Oh yeah, the DM has been showering him with praise.

Cap'n Hindsight lacks foresight on council tax
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/...pn-Hindsight-lacks-foresight-council-tax.html

The second wave of Covid swamped Captain Hindsight - and the jab could wash him away...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/...-swamped-Captain-Hindsight-jab-wash-away.html

Man of the people? New Labour leader Sir Keir owns seven acres of land in Surrey worth up to £10m

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.da...r-owns-seven-acres-land-Surrey-worth-10m.html

Etc. I can't be bothered spending my evening digging out more tbh. Fin
 

nickm

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He has pulled ahead it is because we are beginning to see the UK's most unpopular Prime Minister decrease his popularity day by day, mistake by mistake.

What do you think will happen to the polls when the Tories inevitably eject Boris and bring in a new leader?
Who can say? It’s not as if the tories are laden with leadership talent, or their issues are solely down to Johnson. Rather like Majors conservatives, it’s the whole edifice thats rotten. If brexit say continues to be a shitshow, or post COVID means taxes rise and spending is cut, you could put david Attenborough in as Tory leader and it’d make no difference.
 

DOTA

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I still think it will take an ERM type fiasco for Tory support to fall away significantly.
I think people like Boris more than the Tories. If he goes, and he sure likes to tell people he's thinking about it, then things could change.

Problem is no one likes Keir.
 

nickm

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I think people like Boris more than the Tories. If he goes, and he sure likes to tell people he's thinking about it, then things could change.

Problem is no one likes Keir.
Maybe but at least voters don't actively hate him, unlike the last guy. He certainly lacks charisma though.