Is there a secret opposition (or where is Keir?)

Ahead in the polls for the first time in years.

Kate Green wrote to Gavin Williamson on 26 September outlining Labour's proposed alternatives.

In April the voting intention by the U.K. population was 52% Labour 28%.

Starmer has seen labours ratings climb 26% since then.

Now say there is no opposition.

Millions of people disagree.

According to the Politico poll of polls the Conservatives are 1 point ahead.

www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/

I'm just amazed that Labour haven't been beating the Conservatives in polls for months. I'd have expected them to have been far ahead.

Staggering.

I think the reason Justine Greening was on TV is because she has campaigned for social mobility since leaving Parliament. She wasn't there as a representative of a political party.

BTW Gavin Williamson was at the virtual Tory conference talking about "snowflake" students and no-platforming. He didn't mention the current situation.

Oopsminty

According to the Politico poll of polls the Conservatives are 1 point ahead.

www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/

I'm just amazed that Labour haven't been beating the Conservatives in polls for months. I'd have expected them to have been far ahead.

Staggering.

Starmer has been beating Johnson in popularity for a few months now, it has taken the voting intention a while to catch up.

Oopsminty

According to the Politico poll of polls the Conservatives are 1 point ahead.

www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/united-kingdom/

I'm just amazed that Labour haven't been beating the Conservatives in polls for months. I'd have expected them to have been far ahead.

Staggering.

The YouGov poll is later than the last one on Politico. Admittedly 1 or 2 points doesn't make much difference. The breakdown of the YouGov poll is available. The Conservative vote is holding up amongst older (over 50) voters, especially pensioners, which doesn't surprise me.

Younger voters (under 50) would overwhelmingly vote Labour, think Starmer would make best PM and disapprove of the way the government us handling Brexit. Four years is a long time until the next election. Labour needs to work on current 14-18 year olds in the constituencies which matter.

I have no idea what Labour's policies are though. It seems that they are shooting up the polls by default.

Labour haven't been an opposition for over a decade,why would they start now? They've abstained on anything they could have stopped ,refused to cooperate with SNP .the 3rd biggest party on WM because of what? For now Scotland is IN the inion so our MPs should be treated with respect not told to F off etc.Having the support of our MP's could have made a big difference to labour when the tories didn't have a majority of 80! Begs the question...are they really labour or Tories in red ties? That "SIR" might be a clue ...socialists and titles ?

What was interesting about Justine Greener was her discussion of the fee situation and if this was the best way to fund higher education. Honestly if I hadn't known she was a Conservative I might have mistaken her for Labour. Fees once being a real topic of discussion for them.

As for the points ahead race if that is all opposition is about they may as well just sit tight then and keep quiet, because only very very committed Boris supporters are still with him. I always thought an opposition suggested things that could be done though and had real policies- you know socialist ones! When the system is failing they should be pointing out what's really wrong with it.

I agree with you about Greening. She was the best Education Secretary for a long time, which was why she wasn't allowed to get her own way. She did/does actually care about education.

trisher

As for the points ahead race if that is all opposition is about they may as well just sit tight then and keep quiet, because only very very committed Boris supporters are still with him. I always thought an opposition suggested things that could be done though and had real policies- you know socialist ones! When the system is failing they should be pointing out what's really wrong with it.

My hunch is that Starmer is waiting until Brexit happens because we're going to be in a different ball park.

Brexit in itself will no longer be an issue, although how the Conservatives manage the aftermath will be. A lot of former Labour voters in the "red wall" constituencies voted Brexit and fell for "getting Brexit done" - who knows how their views might change when it becomes a reality? We still don't know what the Conservatives' agenda for the post Brexit/Covid economy is.

As ever, I could be wrong.

growstuff

trisher

As for the points ahead race if that is all opposition is about they may as well just sit tight then and keep quiet, because only very very committed Boris supporters are still with him. I always thought an opposition suggested things that could be done though and had real policies- you know socialist ones! When the system is failing they should be pointing out what's really wrong with it.

My hunch is that Starmer is waiting until Brexit happens because we're going to be in a different ball park.

Brexit in itself will no longer be an issue, although how the Conservatives manage the aftermath will be. A lot of former Labour voters in the "red wall" constituencies voted Brexit and fell for "getting Brexit done" - who knows how their views might change when it becomes a reality? We still don't know what the Conservatives' agenda for the post Brexit/Covid economy is.

As ever, I could be wrong.

No I don’t think you are wrong, that’s what I have been thinking for a while now.

It isn’t the time to launch policies as it would get drowned out by the noise from Covid and after Christmas Brexit.

Is concentrating on the young such a good idea. Corbyn did this, even turned up at Glastonbury. What happened to all
The young votes come the elections ?

They probably did vote Labour. It was the older voters who deserted Labour. Labour has a problem with them because they tend to be socially conservative and support Brexit. If Labour panders to them, they won't pick up the younger voters.

I'm sure Labour strategists have already looked at a map and know they have to gain at least 100 seats in the next election and know where they are. It's all very well appealing to voters in places like Liverpool, Manchester and London, but they will almost certainly be Labour anyway. It wouldn't make any difference if even 100% in those cities voted Labour.

I suspect appealing to the "red wall" voters is why Starmer's last two broadcasts have concentrated on patriotism and his own background. He can't make any announcements about the economy until he knows what the Conservatives intend to do. The Conservatives have to make good their promise to "level up", but I think after Brexit that's going to be impossible and I hope Labour attacks them then.

Here’s a link to an informative article about Keir Starmer, clearly showing his socialist principles by the human rights' causes he champions.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keir_Starmer

Under the section entitled Awards and Honours, we read of his preference for people not to use the title 'Sir'.

It also says there that he supports the abolition of University tuition fees, so you would imagine that he would be out there pointing out the injustice of taking £9000 a term off someone insisting they attend Uni, then locking them up and providing only on-line tuition, But he seems to be strangely quiet.

trisher

It also says there that he supports the abolition of University tuition fees, so you would imagine that he would be out there pointing out the injustice of taking £9000 a term off someone insisting they attend Uni, then locking them up and providing only on-line tuition, But he seems to be strangely quiet.

No, I wouldn't expect it all. I can see from GN and other social media that there are many people who couldn't care less about students.

In fact, Kate Green has written to Gavin Williamson about it. She would make a far better Education Secretary than Gavin Williamson and knows more about education and young people than probably any other MP. Starmer has delegated to her, which seems a sensible thing to do.

trisher

It also says there that he supports the abolition of University tuition fees, so you would imagine that he would be out there pointing out the injustice of taking £9000 a term off someone insisting they attend Uni, then locking them up and providing only on-line tuition, But he seems to be strangely quiet.

As we have said there is no point in launching anything until post covid and Brexit.

Starmer is known for his patience and tactical expertise.

PS. The promise to abolish tuition fees was, IMO, a stupid thing to do. It immediately alienates all the people who don't go to university and those who have already paid fees and are in the process of paying them back. I would rather see investment in quality apprenticeship, reversal of the cuts to schools in deprived areas and restoration of the EMA, introduction of free school travel for 16-18 year olds and grants to ensure that all people in education have decent digital access.

It’s Justine Greening, not Green or Greener, and she is a disaffected Conservative now standing as an Indie because she disagreed with Brexit.
She was the minister of women and equalities and was the daft person who wanted to change the rules on transgender by making it all self ID instead of the sensible rules already in place.She seemed to think because she is gay she knows best about the subject, women who protested were met with arrogance from her.

It’s £9,000 per annum not term, for Uni fees.

lemongrove

It’s £9,000 per annum not term, for Uni fees.

It's £9,250 a year.