IMHO this is what Starmer should be focusing on… what do you think?
Absolutely. Teasing Sunak might make good slapstick, but it really only works in the Chamber.
His priorities should be (imo) the shocking rise in inequality and the NHS. He needs to tell people it will be expensive and take longer than a single parliament to fix what the Tories have wrecked.
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The trouble is it will take money and, no matter what people say, they don’t want to pay more taxes.
Yes, but investment money though, amortised over decades. IMHO the issue is that since Thatcher’s time only London and the Home Counties has mattered. The rest of the UK has gone to pot. So it will take a lot of investment and lot of time to fix.
Nine out of the ten poorest regions in Northern Europe 
That would be hard to achieve on purpose. Starmer should be banging on about this morning, noon and evening. Instead his diluting his messages, backtracking and vacillating. I wish he was stronger.
Even staunch supporters are getting worried…
I think the ordinary working person and their employer is already well taxed between income tax, and the National Insurance %, another tax, that is also paid by each of employee and employer.
What the Tories don’t want to do is tax the fat cats whose money the UK hosts and whose transactions they facilitate bringing in huge income for banks, lawyers and their support systems in the City of London in particular.
The size of these transactions and flows beggars belief. I know, because for well over a decade I was in that world recently-ish, as well as in the old City world pre-“Big Bang”.
The tiniest, tiniest % transaction charges on these flows would not be noticed, other than as a signal of potentially worse to come, and would yield enough for government to be able to achieve serious things again for the British people. (Always subject to the government’s competence, probity and will, of course.)
It needs to be done, and in a managed way, but Britain as a home and a processor of money has many advantages most other countries can’t equal. If not then the UK as a cohesive entity will sink without trace.
The ordinary taxpayer and his employer are already squeezed beyond belief and for an increasingly poor return.
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Much prefer sumac…
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Looking at the local election results, it seems that Starmer is doing something right.
Given that Labour is so far ahead in the polls you’d expect them to trounce the Tories all over the country, anything less is a failure.
Listening to the BBC Labour are well ahead, but on the percentage vote, it is not so straightforward.
I’m happy to take the view of the wonderful John Curtice that the results so far are well -aligned with the opinion polls.
Which should be more worrying for the Tories than the local election results themselves.
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Save the city and stuff all the rest?
But then London is the money laundering centre par excellance!
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Or is it the Tories have been doing everything wrong and Sunak with his “steady the ship” approach might just pull them around? I think (hope) the locals will be a Tory disaster but have they then enough time to steal the GE? I just think if Starmer was more “for something” rather than just trying to alienate nobody he’d do better in the leaderships stakes than he is,
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Much as it pains me, I have to agree. I can see why he’s doing it but it’s very frustrating.
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Yes. it’s a strategy. I just hope it’s the right strategy.
I’m not sure Sunak’s “just don’t do any more damage” approach is working, and damage continues because the government are refusing to negotiate pay settlements which go anywhere near keeping people’s incomes in line with rising inflation.
They seem intent on self destruction.
A Lib Lab pact, back to the future?
Maybe - I think the LibDems still have bitter memories of the coalition government though so likely to be a loose agreement at best (especially as I think both parties have previously said they would not join a “pact”).
It’s far too late to steady the ship.
Boris and his antics and the Liz Truss fiasco are still in the minds of the electors.
There would be huge financial problems whether or not we had a Labour Government because of all the problems caused by the Ukraine war.
In your head and my head Jane, but fickle voters?