He was good on Inter on Monday
Is that still available to hear, @vero? I prefer to hear interviews in French these days!
France Inter - “Michel Barnier : “J’aurais préféré un vote plus ouvert, qui donnerait une légitimité plus grande”” sur Michel Barnier : "J’aurais préféré un vote plus ouvert, qui donnerait une légitimité plus grande"
I think he was guarded on the BBC, and who could blame him.
Thanks Jane! I’ll give it a go…
The fiasco that is the Labour Party conference encapsulates why the Tories have a 80 seat majority.
And will continue to do so - seems bizarre that in the current climate they won’t pull together to oust these self-serving fraudsters.
I came across this comment in The Guardian yesterday which I (and lots of others) thought was a good description and explanation of Labour’s problems. It’s by somebody that places themselves ‘on the left of the party’ - but I think represents the general view of ordinary members - indeed as far as I can tell of everybody that actually knows what’s been going on inside the Labour Party recently.
Or this from the great film director Ken Loach…
Democracy in the Labour party is now dead. Starmer’s leadership has seen new rules invented and applied retrospectively and constituency parties de facto suspended, their elected officers removed and replaced by reliable rightwingers. Candidates for elections are imposed from the centre, regardless of local wishes. Motions critical of Starmer or supporting his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, are ruled out of order, and constituency party chairs who allow them to be debated are suspended. You cannot criticise Starmer’s leadership, and you cannot criticise the fact that such criticism is not allowed.
Out of public or media earshot, Labour members have taken to using the name ‘Stalin’ instead of ‘Starmer’!
I’m not a great lover of blaming the public for wanting fuel, or food for that matter,(re-stockpiling) They are mostly media led and respond so. Lets face it, the truth is difficult to find anyway, especially when you’re continually lied to. No, the blame has to go to successive governments inability to govern, and news outlets backing them up.
IMO 
The problem for the Labour party is that it does, in fact, need to change so anyone trying to turn it into a party of government rather than a bunch of individuals who seem to delight in internecine squabbling is likely to get some kick back.
The problem for Starmer is that his tenure as leader has been lacklustre and no clear policies have really emerged which the party could unite behind (maybe that is impossible).
Right now Labour can only win by default - they won’t win on their own merit which leaves them vulnerable. The fact that they won’t work with other parties and won’t call Johnson out on his handling of,… well, everything but especially Brexit robs them of any real relevance.
Perhaps Gina Miller will “do a Macron” and sweep the board with her new party (sadly I think this unlikely given the UK political landscape and she has chosen a truly awful name redolent of middle management speak and focus groups).
Who’s funding Gina Millar these days? Her hedge fund manager husband?
Dunno but that’s arguably better than Russian oligarchs.
So do we all now love Kier Starmer and expect him to stop a return to the seventies ?
Wasn’t a bad speech and who can argue that unless they get elected they have as much chance of implementing a £15 PH minimum wage as a £1,000 one. No need to scare off the employers now.
£15 an hour? That’s £27K p/a if you work a standard week!
The idea of a £15 per hour minimum wage in 2021 is bonkers and would be the highest in the world by some margin.