sir keir starmer, Brithsh primie minster, disappoints me, why cant he be socialist?

@peterlee Agreed, but unfortunately Labour limited their options with a rash pledge not to raise income tax or VAT.

@SunshineGirl Don't you think that they were backed into a corner somewhat by the majority of the press and broadcasters who forced them to make some specific promises? The Labour Party could not be sure that the bunch of shysters in Government before them had actually annoyed the public so much that they were already toast. They Cons were promising things they hadn't delivered for 14 years, but the majority of the press (and one outlying TV station) were either still supporting them or ReformUK. I agree that it would have been better if they hadn't been so definite, but I am unusual (I think) in believing in higher taxes and more public spending. It is not a vote winner and the front page of the Daily Wail today shows how virulently anti-Labour parts of the media are.

@FreddieUK They tied themselves in semantic knots in the early days with definitions of "working people". The concerted effort in the press is extraordinary, but I feel they have wasted a year of a huge democratic mandate to push through serious reform. The coalition government put 2.5 percentage points on VAT in the 2010s with barely a murmer. It is clear that people want continued higher government spending. What we need is leadership and direction on how we are going to pay for that.

@SunshineGirl I agree very much that there has been a total lack of obvious leadership. The vacuous antics of B Johnson and N Farage, who many people seem to find attractive as leaders, are considered repugnant by most thinking people. (The Covid inquiry results showed just how lacking in effective political leadership we actually were at a time of crisis.) I don't mind a more low-key style, but since we lost Angela Raynor, there has been precious little passion or commitment to anything coming from government circles.

@FreddieUK Agreed, although I have been quite impressed at the defence of the increase in minimum wage and removal of the two child benefit cap.

@SunshineGirl I am not disheartened by the Budget, refusing to accept the gloom and invented outrage about it.

@FreddieUK That's the spirit!

@SunshineGirl The Daily Mail is a more effective Tory opposition than the clowns they have in Parliament. My wife actually believes what they write there.

@peterlee Effective opposition requires proposing a feasible alternative to government policy. Right now I see the press doing little other than fan the flames of outrage, blame and negativity lit by Reform.