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Starmer again trying to impress people who’d probably never vote for him and his party.
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Keir Starmer has sacked Sam Tarry from the Labour front bench for appearing on a rail strike picket line.
Mr Tarry, who was the shadow transport minister and is in a relationship with Angela Rayner, joined a picket line at Euston Station on Wednesday morning
Starmer again trying to impress people who’d probably never vote for him and his party.
Torn on this. The whole solidarity thing seems like a load of bollocks, basically just MPs hoovering up sentiment by hijacking a strike that they have nothing to do with. Just say you support working and move on and do your job.
The reason I'm torn is labours strategy over the strikes appears to already be out of date and they are too robotic to be flexible and move with public opinion. They have chosen the precise moment that broad sentiment may have actually tilted in favour of workers who strike, to oppose strikes in order appear 'pragmatic' and 'ready for government'. They just look stupid.
Starmer 2022 is Theresa May 2017, gaining decent support from people put off by the other side, which isn't a secure place to be electorally.
Having read a bit more about this, it looks completely right he was sacked. He made an unauthorised media appearance and essentially decided to just make up a new policy on behalf of the leadership.
Tarry a tad longer Sam
What's the point of labour if they won't stand up for workers? May as well have another 5 years of tories. I can't vote for Starmer on this path especially after he lied to become Labour leader.
Starmer's Labour are fine with neo liberal economicsOriginally Posted by Doucas
In a nutshell.
Angela says ;
Grant Shapps spent more time on his doomed leadership bid than on resolving the strikes. It’s a serious dereliction of duty.
Labour will always defend the right of working people to organise and withdraw their labour - to stand up for services, public safety, defend jobs & pay.
7:59 AM · Jul 27, 2022
Her ex a public service union official is worth a bit
https://www.newsunzip.com/wiki/mark-rayner/
More stupidity and self-harm from Starmer.
Although if the end game is to break the organisational, financial and political link with the unions, reduce the membership to more of a passive rump (with no need for grass-roots activists because electioneering will be by national advertising campaigns) and to fund the party through corporate donors, billionaires and third party agencies (tied to 'friendly' governments), he is well on the way.
No doubt Peter Mandelson is beaming.
Do you think a junior shadow minister should do a media round and make up party policy on the hoof without first getting permission from his boss and the party leader?
No wonder his own CLP are on the verge of kicking him out.
It was an own goal and rightly pissed off most trade unions. I doubt it plays that well with the public either.
Total hypocrisy too - I didn't see Rachel Reeves getting the boot for 'making up' Labour policy earlier in the week. Or is the main factor whether it comes from a junior or a senior shadow minister? Or whether the interviews come from a Starmer loyalist or someone who backs striking workers in the middle of a cost of living crisis?
The public i.e. the voters that REALLY matter tend to like strong leadership so I suspect it'll actually play well.
With regard to Reeves, are you referring to the renationalising or tax cuts comments?
We will have to agree to disagree on whether Starmer is showing strong leadership. In my view it is spineless and a betrayal of the party he leads and the people he is there to represent. FWIW last month many more of the public (who REALLY matter) backed the strikes than opposed them, and support was rising. That's from the Daily Mail not The Canary!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...D-45-CENT.html
I have spent most of my adult life as a Labour Party member (over 30 years), usually under right wing leaders, but always felt able to fully participate, campaign and canvass, and hold office. But with Starmer - after that catalogue of cynical lies he told to win the leadership election - I just reached a tipping point. I quit last November - although the Labour Party refuses to accept my resignation (despite phone calls, emails and cancelled direct debits) until I register on their How To Resign portal and follow the on-line divorce procedure. Membership is down by about 200,000 under Starmer if you include the lapsed figures.
On Reeves I was referring to the re-nationalisation comments.
I quit Labour about a year ago as well, they do not stand for working people. Just another neoliberal to keep the rich rich and make sure workers get screwed. We need a national strike.
God I miss the halycon days of Corbyn and Boris, bloody true men of principle, we need Farage to reapear and show true leadership ..
I hear Boris is going for UN Secretary General ..
Of course he's showing strong leadership. All parties adopt collective responsibility, Tarry went against this and was rightfully sacked as a junior minister. It's worth adding that he attempted to portray himself as the actual shadow minister for transport!
Funny how he hasn't appeared on any previous RMT picket line but chose to do so yesterday as his CLP moved to deselect him - every one of his wards voted against him. No doubt he's looking out for future employment and who can blame him.
FWIW I fully support the RMT in this dispute but understand that Starmer has no power over it's resolution - that's the problem of being in opposition. Correctly he has called on the government to sit down and negotiate with the RMT. That is the correct approach.
Like you I have also been a member of the Labour Party for over 30 years but unlike you I remain so. I want Starmer to be PM after the next GE as it'll be either him or Truss/Sunak. Who knows what'll be in the manifesto or if it'll bear any relation to the 10 pledges of his leadership campaign. Time has moved on and circumstances change and no one should be beholden to policies pledged in 2020. Equally I know that I won't get all I want from the manifesto but am pragmatic enough to accept that and not let "the perfect be the enemy of the good."
WRT membership, it was inevitably going to shrink as the Corbyn cranks and loons left (not you Jon) and a figure of c. 415k is still healthy. Not that we should dwell on membership numbers, it's voters that matter, not members. The Conservatives have comparatively few members but regularly win elections.
I've been wavering on Starmer after initially supporting him, but you make some good points. Nightmare scenario is that labour in-fighting weakens the chances of getting shot of the present incumbents.
Difficult for Starmer, but I should imagine he's content with how it's turned out, although he can only push the left so far before a split emerged, but that is highly unlikely at present I think. At the end of the day, the optics were a Labour MP on the picket line (impresses some people) and a Labour leader being strong (impresses other people).
Ultimately, if politicians go against the party line they should expect to get sacked. Tarry knew that.
Whats perhaps more interesting is that he is in a relationship with Angela Rayner I believe? So did they talk about it before etc etc etc
Do you have a bit of an obsession with Angela Rayner? most of the time someone brings her up on this board it's you.
Labour taking the left for granted again. I’ve been calling for Starmer to start talking about what he and his party is for rather than against and now he has started doing it to a tiny extent, it’s pretty depressing - he’s petrified of stepping on “middle England’s” toes.
It's easier for him though, with there being no obvious left of labour party at the moment, Socialist Alliance, Respect, various marxist groups etc all gone by the wayside. He could risk losing their votes, but more likely is he knows he has them in the bag at the moment.
The Green Party should be thinking they’ve got a real opportunity of taking a lot of votes, especially young ones, off Labour.
Yeah true. I suppose I overlooked them in there, but I don't see them as conventionally left really, but yes, they could siphon off some younger ones.
The old Labour problem of keeping both Hampstead and Hull happy..
Yeah. I can't imagine being 'left' enough to want to risk another Tory government and Starmer is counting on people feeling that way. He might lose votes to the greens in seats they can't win.
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