That Starmer fella...

I've voted Labour, Lib Dem and Greens over the years in parliamentary and local elections depending on who the candidate was, what the local issues were or who was most likely to beat the Tories (albeit in a safe Tory seat ...

Still worth doing in a seemingly safe seat.

Likewise I'm ABC (Anything But Conservative) and we (the constituents) managed it in Putney in 2019, sadly the only seat in that election that went from Con to Lab. 6.4% swing.

Failed rapper sums it up well from a North British perspective..
https://unherd.com/2023/10/scotland-deserves-better-than-this-circus/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67056005

Labour conference votes to nationalise energy

The shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC: "We're not going to nationalise the energy system."

Asked if they would follow the vote, he said: "No."

¯\(ツ)/¯

Reeves spendy spendy is contingent on the OBR forecasts in November 23 and March 24.
The usual screenshot of 10 yr gilt yields..

Edit to add. Didn't realise that Reeves announced some sort of OBR uber quango today. The Hope E4 of statism.

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IMO the OBR may well have to reassess this from the March 23 forecast..

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Amusingly the BoE can't display the yield curve atmo.

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Because there's so much free capital laying around.

There'd be more of it wasn't syphoned off to shareholders, it's an investment from the people who might be in charge of money to improve services and make a good return on the investment.

So follow the Manchester United route of buying the business with debt and paying for it with potential future profit?

So prices remain high for a generation.

I'd rather sign up to labours UK energy supplier and price the private companies out of the market due to low profits

Pretty good speech from Starmer. Certainly acted and spoke like a leader in waiting.

The only problem really is that I don't think his word counts for much TBH, after the signed pledges business.

Lets see.

Manchester United isn't a country, but if the other way works too then I'm all for it.

No but neither are the energy companies which are the assets we are talking about nationalising with debt.

Squeeze the companies out with competition.

Also my local water company is surveying at the moment asking how to fairly raise water prices to "pay for essential maintenance" my survey response was they should suck it up at the expense of profits until the work was complete.
If labour forces them to do this then they have a choice to walk away from the "franchises" or absorb the cost and profit in the long term. The bastards have sucked us dry for 30 years while they should have been reinvesting profits.

Debt to yourself as a country? They seemingly make enough profit that it shouldn't be debt for long anyway, the status quo is definitely the worst option either way.

Genuine question, what was great about the speech? As a Starmer sceptic, I was hoping for something to prove me wrong; all I got was building on green belt and business,business,business.

If you listened to the speech and didn’t hear anything to allay the concerns you have, I’m not sure having it filtered through others will help

I’m interested in what people feel are the big positive takeaways from his speech?

The heckler covered him in glitter.... Just curious, was it meant to mean something? You can't polish a poo but.......

That The Labour Party is in a energized, confident united place, there has been a real buzz around Conference this is very good news for the election battle to come.

Compare and contrast with the Tories last, which to me looked dead and lifeless (except when leadership bid speaches were being made) to me.

That The Labour Party is in a ... united place

Who'd have thought that kicking out dissenting voices would have such an effect ¯\(ツ)/¯

Edit: I realise that I sound like I'm just constantly critical of everything, but I worry that too many people are going to ask" but what is Labour doing for me", and we're going to end up with another Brexit where the polling looks great and then we wake up with the hangover

Who'd of thought strong leadership could turn things around ?

Dec. 2019 awful defeat, worst since 1935?

Oct 2023 big poll lead looking like a gov in waiting

Not won yet I know but this hardened old sceptic actually believes Labour could.

A rotten lettuce could hold a poll lead against this lot. I really hope you're right

If the Lettuce had better Socialist Principles and a chance of winning, I'd vote Green!

andyp in reply to @mespilus

Starmer should be telling anyone who listens ULEZ is the absolute bare minimum if we’re serious about even beginning to attempt to address climate change.

ULEZ is not about climate change, the mayor had never said this. It's about the health of children.

yeah Conference under Starmer is even more tightly controlled from the centre (pardon the pun), with debate and democracy trampled on and a level of control freakery worse than Corbyn and Blair rolled into one.

Jesus Christ they’re going to steamroller the election and they’re still walking back on anything half decent they said they might do

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/25/labour-u-turns-on-promise-of-scottish-style-right-to-roam-in-england