As I write in the column, recovery will be a 10-year project..there is a fair chance that the Tories will lose badly enough at the next election to give Labour a decade..
Labour should indeed be fearful. Is 5 years enough time to put the house in order? Put another way, what can be done to quickly mitigate the effects of Tory zealotry and mismanagement? Soften some of the hard edges of Brexit? Investment in a green economy is good, but maybe not a short-term fix? I ask these questions because here in NZ the Tories are making great play of our Labour Government's failure to make more progress cleaning up the mess it inherited and, with a largely supportive press, have made great headway as a result. Apart from Covid, two factors in play in NZ may also bedevil UK Labour: the enormous bureaucratic inertia that has only worsened over the years, and unfamiliarity with how to pull the levers of power after so many years out of office. The Tories (usually) have an easier job because they're (usually) not trying to do a lot--just stand back and watch the remnants of the 'welfare state' sink into the sand, really--so these factors aren't so problematic. Starmer and co. will need to be very clever on their feet.
Sounds like the conservatives need to get together and decide on what they want to be and stand by their leader once a governing philosophy and set of principles is determined. If it becomes a fight over power then... self destructive internal party politics will prevail never mind any semblance of coherent messaging externally
Thank you - as always well written and engaging. I’d be interested in your views on a viable alternative... does Labour have the clarity / leadership to be able to find direction? Does the ‘Bring back Boris’ brigade have a point?
Excellent. Starmer is a decent enough bloke but expectations of Labour in office are probably best kept modest for the reasons you outline. Let's hope for a more sensible relationship with the EU and slightly improved public transport
Surely they can't stagger on for 2 more years? The constant chaos is unbearable, almost impossible to cope with without zoning out. Thanks for being so forthright in your opinion.
As I write in the column, recovery will be a 10-year project..there is a fair chance that the Tories will lose badly enough at the next election to give Labour a decade..
Labour should indeed be fearful. Is 5 years enough time to put the house in order? Put another way, what can be done to quickly mitigate the effects of Tory zealotry and mismanagement? Soften some of the hard edges of Brexit? Investment in a green economy is good, but maybe not a short-term fix? I ask these questions because here in NZ the Tories are making great play of our Labour Government's failure to make more progress cleaning up the mess it inherited and, with a largely supportive press, have made great headway as a result. Apart from Covid, two factors in play in NZ may also bedevil UK Labour: the enormous bureaucratic inertia that has only worsened over the years, and unfamiliarity with how to pull the levers of power after so many years out of office. The Tories (usually) have an easier job because they're (usually) not trying to do a lot--just stand back and watch the remnants of the 'welfare state' sink into the sand, really--so these factors aren't so problematic. Starmer and co. will need to be very clever on their feet.
Sounds like the conservatives need to get together and decide on what they want to be and stand by their leader once a governing philosophy and set of principles is determined. If it becomes a fight over power then... self destructive internal party politics will prevail never mind any semblance of coherent messaging externally
Thank you - as always well written and engaging. I’d be interested in your views on a viable alternative... does Labour have the clarity / leadership to be able to find direction? Does the ‘Bring back Boris’ brigade have a point?
Excellent. Starmer is a decent enough bloke but expectations of Labour in office are probably best kept modest for the reasons you outline. Let's hope for a more sensible relationship with the EU and slightly improved public transport
Excellent piece
Excellent thank you
Well done
Surely they can't stagger on for 2 more years? The constant chaos is unbearable, almost impossible to cope with without zoning out. Thanks for being so forthright in your opinion.
Lucid and depressingly accurate, as ever. First class writing.