The London mayor won a historic third term in the face of fierce opposition from the Conservative party, the press and a far from supportive Labour leadership
There is a stark contrast between Starmer-Reeves and Blair-Brown in terms of preparing for government. Blair & Brown came to power with a wide set of minutely debated and fully formed policies which they proceeded to implement, in notable cases to excellent and long-lasting effect.
Starmer's only known policy is not to lose the next election. We do not need a Vicar of Bray as our next Prime Minister. For a start I don't suppose the notorious Vicar of Bray (qv) cared a jot about Europe was or that there is an economic law that says your most important allies must needs be your closest neighbours. Starmer has no such excuses.
Starmer has already betrayed the people of this country by failing to explain to them what a disaster Brexit truly is. My fear is that his entire premiership will be one rolling betrayal of his promise to restore our liberal democracy and the institutions, infrastructure and reputation of our country. Literally everything, including women and children in Palestine, refugees, and the entire green movement (which is essentially most importantly driven by our children and grandchildren), is a candidate for betrayal in his search for power. So patronising, and so stupid.
Starmer is weak and your assessment of his character is accurate. Khan has shown himself to be a principled and capable leader and therefore a threat to Starmer. For this reason, I am expecting the government under Starmer to somewhat undermine Khan in the coming term.
Bravo Adam. Right on the money in my view. Starmer looks to be unprincipled which in the past was a serious charge. The Tories have demeaned politics and sucked in Starmer to fight on their terms. He may be largest party but is not doing enough for an outright victory in my view. And some obvious lies too. The most egregious, is no case for rejoining the EU.
I’m a private renter, I live in a NIMBY area. My husband is on a very good salary, I’m a Carer. I’m furious that all the contracts are one year. The property is never maintained. We pay for any upkeep because if we complain we could lose our property the children are forced to change schools potentially so we can’t risk that. I am aware of my rights but I can’t exercise them. I suppose what really appeals to me is Khan’s even talking about renters. I moved here because crime is low and the schools are brilliant. Having one salary (our son is disabled) we couldn’t afford a deposit. Something needs needs to happen with housing like yesterday.
Sadiq Khan is to be congratulated for sticking to creating the huge ULEZ zone and winning a third term.- the size of the zone makes it genuinely a world first. I think the Tories made a mistake in thinking it was a long term vote winner. While there was an initial shock for some - by the time it came to the election most of the cars that would have been affected had been sold and replaced- so who would vote to end it if they had already changed their vehicle. The fact that were so many old vehicles on the road is a reflection of the way some employers in London treat their low paid staff. My Iraqi son in law, happens, unlike me, to be a great handyman and took on work doing housing repairs in London. But his employer expected him to have his own car or van, all the tools, visit estates that refused him private parking, pay all parking and congestion charges from minimum wages. In other words the employer provided nothing but took all the profits from his labour. I gather among small enterprises doing this is common place. Not surprisingly he has got another job.
On y6ur point about the minimum wage, though he would deny it now, Tony Blair was lukewarm about introducing it because of strong Tory Opposition. His then chief whip, Nick Brown, begged him to introduce a guillotine in Parliament to speed up the bill to do his, but he refused. Instead Nick Brown had to set up a whipping system and faced many an all night sitting as Tories tried to talk it out. It actually became law because of the determination of Labour backbenchers to pass it rather than strong commitment from the leadership. How times have not changed.
I didn’t know about Keir Starmers opposition to rent controls. If ever there was a need for rent controls in the country let alone London, it’s now. What is he going to do when he wins? Thats what’s on my mind, but, with Conservatives as disgusting as this I feel like it’s Starmer or nothing. I resent there not being PR. I voted tactically here in the locals for Lib Dem’s, I’m not thrilled about it but I’m glad it flipped to them and not the Tories haha. I admired Sadiq Khan for holding firm over ULEZ because he was trying to do something for the right reasons and it showed backbone. That’s what we need. I get that Keir Starmer wants to win but I’m worried that he lacks the confidence and determination of Sadiq Khan. And he’s definitely going to need it…If he’s interested in making things better. I feel like it’s a big about-face for him to suddenly put those changes in. So he has Peter Mandelson advising him, he’s purged Socialist MPs, a few Tory MPs have crossed the floor and I can’t help thinking if he’s appealing to disgruntled Tory voters and Tory MPs (let’s face it a Tory MP who crosses this floor is still just a progressive Tory) then it doesn’t fill me with confidence. He didn’t even try and get Remain on side which is considerable now. Why the hell not? It’s common sense. So who the hell is he? I’ve tried to be open minded about Keir Starmer all along. But he’s making it very hard but one thing I do know is I absolutely detest the Tory Party.
In relation to rent controls, be careful what you wish for, as they can have negative unintended consequences for renters.
I could support rent controls *within a contract* as exists in Belgium (I lived there). This means the landlord is free to set any rent they wish, but can then only increase by a measure similar to RPI during the contract unless renovations/improvements to the property are undertaken.
However typical Belgian rental contracts are much longer than the UK (normally 9 years with 3 month notice break clause after 3 years) with stronger tenant rights, so significant changes would be needed in the UK to do this.
Any idea of settiing or capping rents could lead to landlord mass sell-up leaving private sector tenants with even fewer properties to compete for. Or even worse a return to the slumlords of the 1960s where houses on fixed low rents became horribly dilapidated.
What we need is to build many more homes, all kind of homes including social homes, private rented homes, homes for sale to 1st time buyers, homes for older folk to downsize to etc. And bring unused homes back into use. And sod the NIMBYs!
There is a stark contrast between Starmer-Reeves and Blair-Brown in terms of preparing for government. Blair & Brown came to power with a wide set of minutely debated and fully formed policies which they proceeded to implement, in notable cases to excellent and long-lasting effect.
Starmer's only known policy is not to lose the next election. We do not need a Vicar of Bray as our next Prime Minister. For a start I don't suppose the notorious Vicar of Bray (qv) cared a jot about Europe was or that there is an economic law that says your most important allies must needs be your closest neighbours. Starmer has no such excuses.
Starmer has already betrayed the people of this country by failing to explain to them what a disaster Brexit truly is. My fear is that his entire premiership will be one rolling betrayal of his promise to restore our liberal democracy and the institutions, infrastructure and reputation of our country. Literally everything, including women and children in Palestine, refugees, and the entire green movement (which is essentially most importantly driven by our children and grandchildren), is a candidate for betrayal in his search for power. So patronising, and so stupid.
The Vicar of Bray is a very apt analogy
Starmer is weak and your assessment of his character is accurate. Khan has shown himself to be a principled and capable leader and therefore a threat to Starmer. For this reason, I am expecting the government under Starmer to somewhat undermine Khan in the coming term.
Bravo Adam. Right on the money in my view. Starmer looks to be unprincipled which in the past was a serious charge. The Tories have demeaned politics and sucked in Starmer to fight on their terms. He may be largest party but is not doing enough for an outright victory in my view. And some obvious lies too. The most egregious, is no case for rejoining the EU.
I’m a private renter, I live in a NIMBY area. My husband is on a very good salary, I’m a Carer. I’m furious that all the contracts are one year. The property is never maintained. We pay for any upkeep because if we complain we could lose our property the children are forced to change schools potentially so we can’t risk that. I am aware of my rights but I can’t exercise them. I suppose what really appeals to me is Khan’s even talking about renters. I moved here because crime is low and the schools are brilliant. Having one salary (our son is disabled) we couldn’t afford a deposit. Something needs needs to happen with housing like yesterday.
Sadiq Khan is to be congratulated for sticking to creating the huge ULEZ zone and winning a third term.- the size of the zone makes it genuinely a world first. I think the Tories made a mistake in thinking it was a long term vote winner. While there was an initial shock for some - by the time it came to the election most of the cars that would have been affected had been sold and replaced- so who would vote to end it if they had already changed their vehicle. The fact that were so many old vehicles on the road is a reflection of the way some employers in London treat their low paid staff. My Iraqi son in law, happens, unlike me, to be a great handyman and took on work doing housing repairs in London. But his employer expected him to have his own car or van, all the tools, visit estates that refused him private parking, pay all parking and congestion charges from minimum wages. In other words the employer provided nothing but took all the profits from his labour. I gather among small enterprises doing this is common place. Not surprisingly he has got another job.
On y6ur point about the minimum wage, though he would deny it now, Tony Blair was lukewarm about introducing it because of strong Tory Opposition. His then chief whip, Nick Brown, begged him to introduce a guillotine in Parliament to speed up the bill to do his, but he refused. Instead Nick Brown had to set up a whipping system and faced many an all night sitting as Tories tried to talk it out. It actually became law because of the determination of Labour backbenchers to pass it rather than strong commitment from the leadership. How times have not changed.
No case for rejoining the EU is indeed an outright and increasingly pathetic lie.
I didn’t know about Keir Starmers opposition to rent controls. If ever there was a need for rent controls in the country let alone London, it’s now. What is he going to do when he wins? Thats what’s on my mind, but, with Conservatives as disgusting as this I feel like it’s Starmer or nothing. I resent there not being PR. I voted tactically here in the locals for Lib Dem’s, I’m not thrilled about it but I’m glad it flipped to them and not the Tories haha. I admired Sadiq Khan for holding firm over ULEZ because he was trying to do something for the right reasons and it showed backbone. That’s what we need. I get that Keir Starmer wants to win but I’m worried that he lacks the confidence and determination of Sadiq Khan. And he’s definitely going to need it…If he’s interested in making things better. I feel like it’s a big about-face for him to suddenly put those changes in. So he has Peter Mandelson advising him, he’s purged Socialist MPs, a few Tory MPs have crossed the floor and I can’t help thinking if he’s appealing to disgruntled Tory voters and Tory MPs (let’s face it a Tory MP who crosses this floor is still just a progressive Tory) then it doesn’t fill me with confidence. He didn’t even try and get Remain on side which is considerable now. Why the hell not? It’s common sense. So who the hell is he? I’ve tried to be open minded about Keir Starmer all along. But he’s making it very hard but one thing I do know is I absolutely detest the Tory Party.
In relation to rent controls, be careful what you wish for, as they can have negative unintended consequences for renters.
I could support rent controls *within a contract* as exists in Belgium (I lived there). This means the landlord is free to set any rent they wish, but can then only increase by a measure similar to RPI during the contract unless renovations/improvements to the property are undertaken.
However typical Belgian rental contracts are much longer than the UK (normally 9 years with 3 month notice break clause after 3 years) with stronger tenant rights, so significant changes would be needed in the UK to do this.
Any idea of settiing or capping rents could lead to landlord mass sell-up leaving private sector tenants with even fewer properties to compete for. Or even worse a return to the slumlords of the 1960s where houses on fixed low rents became horribly dilapidated.
What we need is to build many more homes, all kind of homes including social homes, private rented homes, homes for sale to 1st time buyers, homes for older folk to downsize to etc. And bring unused homes back into use. And sod the NIMBYs!