That Starmer fella...

ugh. way to waste a perfectly good sckbrn, starmer, you fucking coward.

if johnson isn't what he considers a bad person i shudder to think who else qualifies.

If there is one thing we should have learned in the last five years or so, is that every time a member of the opposition attacks a government minister, the tabloids spin it round into a bullshit story about the hippocrasy of the person saying it...and that message gets delivered onto the breakfast tables and into the tea breaks of millions of people every morning.

What we have now is tribalism. Brexit has become a cult. People react badly to being told that the person they voted for is a cunt or the policy they voted for has been a disaster and double down. They dig in even deeper. No amount of calling Jonson a twat and the Tories a failure is going to land damage in the current climate.

Good speech. I think those guys heckling him while he was talking about his dead mum did him the biggest favour of anyone - suddenly the whole speech had a sense of urgency about what was at stake (beyond Starmer's career).

No amount of calling Jonson a twat and the Tories a failure is going to land damage in the current climate.

This is the point, to me - it clearly doesn’t work, at all, and just alienates people

Think it was good, addressed a number of areas people have concerns about and was directed where it needs to be. Should have lots of good sound bites for evening news and social media

I also liked how he handled:

Brexit - Called Johnson out for being elected on a platform of "Get Brexit Done" but having no idea what to do next.

Patriotism- aligning patriotism with people doing better and fighting for equality while also taking a swipe at Priti Patel.

Blair's Labour - Pointing out that according to the OECD, the UK lead the way in terms of increasing social mobility under Blair.

Hecklers- Heckling while he was talking about the NHS and his dying Mum wasn't a good look. It was a clear statement of intent. Fuck the hecklers and the people who think you can win an election by going even further left. You don't win elections with Labour members anyway.

All in all I think he had a tightrope to walk and avoided being drawn into just hucking shit over the wall at the Torys. The patriotism bits stuck out to me...I have a feeling that will resonate well with voters.

Agree he dealt with Brexit well, he put the blame on the Tories failing to make it work rather than those who voted for it, he has to win back brexit voters and this should be a pill they can swallow

The patriotism stuff is cringe but seems like it's want the general public want to hear

I think the patriotism stuff - not just saying it but redefining it to include Marcus Rashford and taking the knee and the England team and black lives matter - rather than the biscuit box WW2 Union Jack patriotism of Johnson - is HUGELY important and was very well pitched. Labour are more likely to win than they were this time yesterday. I don't think it was enough, but it was better than I was expecting.

It's all about a liberal coalition if the Lib Dems somehow get their shit together. And if not, COME ON YOU GREENS!

Well put btw.

I agree redefining it is good and liked him bringing up taking the knee but it was the forced "WE ARE PATRIOTS" Braveheart impression I found cringe, he doesn't have the personality sadly to pull that off. I totally get why he is doing it and that it will play well.

I also think we'll be hearing a lot more of these three words in the coming years:

“It’s not enough to ‘Get Brexit Done’, we need a plan to ‘Make Brexit Work’”.

‘Make Brexit Work’

Doesn't appear to have made the BBC article edit? I wonder whether he's got in there with that phrase before Johnson himself was to use it? (Kuenssberg & co would be bound to know)

It would amuse me greatly, if so.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58720108

and he went after johnson for "defending his right not to wear a cycle helmet".

awks!

I thought it was a bit shabby that the BBC only seemed to interview known Corbyn loyalists about what they though of Starmer's speech. I mean, sure, ask Laura Pidcock what she thinks of Starmer but maybe ask somebody else too? You know, somebody who is still an MP for example.

they interviewed angela rayner too
https://mobile.twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1443200536451375105

Ah cool, I missed that.

And if not, COME ON YOU GREENS!

You realize that every vote for the greens is a vote less for labour? Although Starmer as leader is probably doing wonders for their support.

I'm resolved that the situation is what it is and I hope the best for labour. But as a political project, I'm not sure what that hope is for other than "power."

Who are the hard left going to vote for? Greens or spoilt ballot at the risk of Boris holding on.

There isn't really a hard left in the Labour party. Mild left at best.

Hard left is literally a labour term. It’s not an insult. Corbyn very much the heir to that Bennite tradition.

‘Make Brexit Work’”.

Better than "Stronger Future Together", terrible slogan

'hard left', while not always pejorative, is often a term used to delegitimize the people it is applied to. it's most regularly used to portray those people as on the fringes, extremists, at the outer reach of the political spectrum etc. jeremy corbyn is not 'hard left' by any measure really - that he can be described as such by our press without pause for thought betrays the fact we have a truly poisoned political culture in this country. really he is just a mild, centre left social democrat - the like of which would be very much seen as the common sense mainstream in many continental european countries. on rainy fascist island though, his politics is othered as 'hard left'. I suspect there are very few hard left members of the labour party, despite all of the braying about 'trots' from labour right patsys on social media

I don't think it's an insult, but it is not a particularly useful description

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_left

More likely to induce apathy and “all the same, what’s the point?”, which’ll keep Boris happily in