[Tubby Isaacs]

With some justification, though I find the use of "centrist" a bit tiresome. He sounds more like a pub bore. What time was actually spent on "colonial reparations"? They've got the same policy as every other government. They're not paying any. And meeting with foreign leader isn't a distraction from the job. It is part of the job, and it can be a very efficient way of pushing mutual interests, including on trade. Which benefits the economy, something generally regarded as being an important part of government business. Nobody's sat there thinking "If only Keir weren't meeting that foreign guy, we'd have got energy prices down this afternoon"

[Tubby Isaacs]

This is great too. Just reform pensions and benefits and wind power! Bish bash bosh! How difficult can it be? I'm in charge of strategy! And just cut taxes! He's not actually got much interest in policy. Did he get distracted when Ed Milliband was explaining why wind producers sometimes get paid for energy that they produce but which can't be handled by the grid? I think we're working on the issue. As Ed would have made clear, and the Prime Minister's likely support.

I think this chap might have said some of the drivel that's been routinely assumed was coming from Morgan McSweeney. They're well rid of him.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I don't really get this point though. Has the Government "lied repeatedly"? I seem to remember being fairly clear about the shit we're in, and the time it would take to improve things. And even the big mistakes on eg (economic) immigration, are basically what was promised. My impression was that "change" was going to take a long time.

[The Weeping Angel]

Likewise, I'm struggling to think what they lied about repeatedly, nor that they didn't do their homework.

[davidjay]

Likewise, I'm struggling to think what they lied about repeatedly, nor that they didn't do their homework.

This is one of those claims where the answer is "Everything" and so the narrative becomes established.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Guardian’s response is “Experts say Government’s own fault it’s shit because it can fix stuff”.

Nobody in the Government said it couldn’t. Starmer said it takes longer to fix stuff than it should, that’s all. Which everyone seems to agree with.

There’s a rather contradictory attitude to the senior civil service. Nobody on the Guardian or BTL thought Simon Case was up to it. Civil servants appearing before Select Committees tend not to be too popular. But if Starmer or anyone else suggests the system is sub-optimal, that’s wrong too.

All part of this bizarre “the Government has failed” stuff. After 18 months.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I don't really get this point (part of a longer thread contrasting this Government v Thatcher).

The Government so far has passed a load of laws, got more money into various areas, and changed some things. Like all Governments. The problem wasn't ever going to be with passing what it wanted to do. I know James Austin hates immigration policy, but that's the government doing what he seems to suggest it isn't in most areas. Only really on disability cuts has it been forced to change course where clearly it didn't want to.

The difference is surely that Thatcher was met with an hallelujah chorus from the media, where Labour gets a bucket of shit every day. At this stage, Thatcher was still in recession and facing enormous strikes. It didn't look like smart government to anyone but strong partisans at the time.

[The Weeping Angel]

Plus, when you throw in the House of Lords, they've gotten a lot down.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-int ... -opponents

In particular, the pair were fuming about the forthcoming abolition of hereditary peers. Both agreed, the adviser said, that there should be a deliberate strategy to undermine the government on all its legislation, to slow down debate, and to push the new Lords leader, Angela Smith, to ask No 10 for concessions.

Another recalled a Tory peer gleefully telling the new Labour Lords appointees: “We are going to grind you down.”

Even with an enormous majority in the Commons, Labour has seemed to struggle to pass much of its programme. But by far the hardest slog has been in the Lords.

Labour may yet be on course for a record number of defeats for any governing party, although the parliamentary session has been longer than normal.

Already Labour has faced 111 defeats, with at least four more months to go. The record is 128 defeats for the Conservatives, under Boris Johnson during the 2021-22 session.

Labour peers said virtually every bill had been slowed down, from key manifesto pledges on water regulation to rail nationalisation, Great British Energy and the football regulator. The employment rights bill was repeatedly rejected, even after a major concession.

Amendments are being “de-grouped” at late stages into smaller groups of one or two, meaning debates last hours longer. “Each time it is more or less the same people,” one Labour peer said. “Former Tory MPs, making the same kind of speeches over and over again.”

[Tubby Isaacs]

They're also planning to fuck up the assisted dying bill that the Commons passed. Lots of them can't cope with anyone but their mates being the Government.

Hereditary peers will go, hopefully pretty quickly after the select committee's final report in July, and that's 42 Tories (v 2 Labour) gone. But come on, July? This should have taken about a month. People are slowing stuff down deliberately so they can then do the old "na na na, where's the change?"

[davidjay]

Democracy is supreme when it comes to Brexit but the Lords and General Election NOW!!! is another matter.

[The Weeping Angel]

They're also planning to fuck up the assisted dying bill that the Commons passed. Lots of them can't cope with anyone but their mates being the Government.

Hereditary peers will go, hopefully pretty quickly after the select committee's final report in July, and that's 42 Tories (v 2 Labour) gone. But come on, July? This should have taken about a month. People are slowing stuff down deliberately so they can then do the old "na na na, where's the change?"

The government should be drawing more attention to this.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Various people have. The response is just "don't make excuses".

[Tubby Isaacs]

Adam Bienkov did this with the Trump attack on Iran, said Starmer had backed it when he hadn't. This blatant lie here is too much even for lots of Bluesky.

He's a lobby journalist. Well. we'll be able to check how accurate he's being there too, won't we?

[The Weeping Angel]

It's not that different from what Macron has had to say. Like many journalists Adam Bienkov treats social media as his beat and knows what his audience want to hear.

[Malcolm Armsteen]

From a friend in France:

Just listening to what Macron has been saying, and he’s been no more outspoken than the UK. He’s welcomed the departure of a dictator but completely ignored the role of the Americans. They’re all on eggshells so it’s pointless to just knock Starmer.

[Tubby Isaacs]

It's so obvious, this stuff.

But for about half of Bluesky, it's like they've never heard of diplomacy or read the news. Some, like the crank left, genuinely wouldn't care if Ukraine and the Baltics were overrun tmrw, provided a few Lithuanians were allowed to live in a field near the border with Kalliningrad, as part of a generous "negotiated" settlement. But most do care about Ukraine, and seem to be piling in just as rashly.