Keir Starmer's time is up

[PR1Berske]

Keir Starmer has sparked a row in the Labour party by launching a shadow cabinet reshuffle as his deputy was giving a major speech attacking “corruption” by the government.

Allies of Angela Rayner insisted that while she met the Labour leader between her broadcast round on Monday morning and her speech at 11am, she was not told the reshuffle would be imminent or consulted about any of the details.


One Rayner ally said Starmer would have been fully aware the reshuffle would “blow up” her attempt to lay out plans for reforming the standards system and said it was “not fair”. A second said she had been “gazumped” and complained at the “utterly bizarre” timing.

However, other senior Labour sources disputed Rayner had been “blindsided”. One shadow cabinet minister insisted “she definitely knew”. Another insider said Rayner met Starmer in his office on Monday morning and was told directly the reshuffle would be taking place that day.

Cat Smith, a shadow Cabinet Office minister in Rayner’s team, was the first person to announce they were resigning. She suggested Starmer had offered her the opportunity to remain in her existing post, but that she had raised concerns about several issues, including the failure to restore the whip to Corbyn.

In her resignation letter, Smith described herself as “one of our few remaining ‘red wall’ Labour MPs”. Starmer has put winning back red wall seats at the heart of his plans for
the party.

 

[quiet guy]

Just when you think he can't possibly fuck it up, he does just that. He's a one man disaster zone doing more to boost Johnson's support than anyone else.

 

[Brainaddict]

The discussions over Israel/Palestine are very often proxies for the huge differences in politics that exist across the Labour Party spectrum. I wish more of the debates were about those differences more directly, rather than that one conflict being the nexus that brings together a load of things that the right and left of the party disagree on. I think it's reached a point where it's not benefiting either side to use Israel as the proxy constantly, and it's not benefitting Palestinians as far as I can tell. You don't think the government should sell weapons to governments bombing civilians? Say that, and use all the examples available. You don't want your government supporting other governments that treat other people as lesser human beings? Say that and use all the examples available. Etc etc.

It's certainly very distressing for people who believe those actions are terrible to share a party with people who are fine with them, but the idea that anyone is doing the Palestinian people any good with this intense focus on Israel is a bit delusional I'm afraid. Yes, solidarity is good, but so is strategy, and there is zero strategic plan for the left of the Labour Party to help the Palestinian people at the moment or at any time in the forseeable future.

Always one of my less popular opinions, so do get the deckchairs out bystanders...

 

[brogdale]

 

[PR1Berske]

Keir Starmer carried out a wholesale overhaul of his shadow cabinet on Monday, bringing Yvette Cooper back on to the frontbench as part of a ruthless shakeup widely viewed at Westminster as accelerating Labour’s shift to the centre under his leadership.

Cooper, who served in the last Labour government, will shadow Priti Patel as home secretary, resuming the spiky interactions the pair have had in Cooper’s current role as chair of the home affairs select committee.



Other significant moves include a promotion for David Lammy to shadow foreign secretary, while Lisa Nandy will face Michael Gove as shadow levelling-up secretary. The radical reshuffle, which blindsided Starmer’s own deputy, left almost no senior role untouched.

“The Labour party I lead is focused on the priorities of the country,” Starmer said. “With this reshuffle, we are a smaller, more focused shadow cabinet that mirrors the shape of the government we are shadowing. We must hold the Conservative government to account on behalf of the public and demonstrate that we are the right choice to form the next government.”

He lavished praise on Nandy, whose shift from shadow foreign secretary to the levelling-up brief would traditionally be regarded as a demotion – though levelling up is politically prominent because it is at the heart of Boris Johnson’s agenda, and the Wigan MP has previously been a strong voice on tackling regional inequalities.

“After 11 years of Conservative mismanagement of our economy, delivering prosperity to all regions and nations in the UK will be a defining mission of the next Labour government, and there will be nobody better than Lisa to lead this work,” Starmer said.

 

[Quote]

Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up? Is 'Levelling Up' even a thing? I just assumed it was some vague, nebulous Tory blag that they never needed to explain or show examples of, but can be wheeled out whenever someone points out the shocking state of the country they've ruled over for 11 years.

Not that this dismal collection of dullards Labour is expecting us to turn out and vote for will offer anything more hopeful.

 

[strung out]

Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up? Is 'Levelling Up' even a thing? I just assumed it was some vague, nebulous Tory blag that they never needed to explain or show examples of, but can be wheeled out whenever someone points out the shocking state of the country they've ruled over for 11 years.

Not that this dismal collection of dullards Labour is expecting us to turn out and vote for will offer anything more hopeful.

It's a re-branded version of the ministry for housing and communities. Officially renamed in September with Gove's appointment.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Puddy_Tat]

It's a re-branded version of the ministry for housing and communities. Officially renamed in September with Gove's appointment.

"ministry of bullshit" would be more honest...

 

[Steel Icarus]

Secretary for levelling up lol
Lisa "Cheeky" Nandy

 

[Pickman's model]

It's a re-branded version of the ministry for housing and communities. Officially renamed in September with Gove's appointment.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

How many people will tramp down the earth on his premature grave

 

[Chilli.s]

Levelling up? what do they think this is Grand Theft Auto

 

[Quote]

It's a re-branded version of the ministry for housing and communities. Officially renamed in September with Gove's appointment.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Okay, thanks.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Shadow Secretary for Levelling Up? Is 'Levelling Up' even a thing? I just assumed it was some vague, nebulous Tory blag that they never needed to explain or show examples of, but can be wheeled out whenever someone points out the shocking state of the country they've ruled over for 11 years.

Not that this dismal collection of dullards Labour is expecting us to turn out and vote for will offer anything more hopeful.

Levelling up means no to wealth redistribution. The revisionist Starmer clique are happy to let the Tories frame the agenda.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Comrade McDonnell speaks openly against the revisionist Starmer clique

 

[killer b]

Of all the vulgar things this government have done and said, few are more vulgar than 'levelling up'.

 

[two sheds]

trickle down by another name

 

[two sheds]

Starmer - no longer forensic but .... ruthless

 

[Raheem]

It's a re-branded version of the ministry for housing and communities. Officially renamed in September with Gove's appointment.

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Can't wait til we have a Department for Getting Into the Groove.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Of all the vulgar things this government have done and said, few are more vulgar than 'levelling up'.

in practice, it mostly means screwing London as punishment for voting for the 'wrong' mayor...

 

[Raheem]

in practice, it mostly means screwing London as punishment for voting for the 'wrong' mayor...

If only that was so.

 

[killer b]

in practice, it mostly means screwing London as punishment for voting for the 'wrong' mayor...

what do you mean?

 

[mx wcfc]

what do you mean?

Isn't there a fairly strong correlation between funding and voting tory?

 

[killer b]

Isn't there a fairly strong correlation between funding and voting tory?

there's been a few headline bribes chucked the way of some new tory-voting seats, but it's fuck all when you look at what's been cut from all those places over the last 10 year, and London funding remains waaaay ahead of the regions.

 

[killer b]

importantly, the pissy headline bribes to northern seats have not been scraped together by 'screwing' london out of some cash. that's not how it works

 

[Pickman's model]

Starmer - no longer forensic but .... ruthless

Classic shammer

 

[two sheds]

Not sure how it relates to London (a couple of boroughs mentioned) but from last year:

Labour councils in England hit harder by austerity than Tory areas

Exclusive: analysis by Guardian and Sigoma shows poorer, Labour-held areas lost over a third of spending power

www.theguardian.com

 

[Leighsw2]

The discussions over Israel/Palestine are very often proxies for the huge differences in politics that exist across the Labour Party spectrum. I wish more of the debates were about those differences more directly, rather than that one conflict being the nexus that brings together a load of things that the right and left of the party disagree on. I think it's reached a point where it's not benefiting either side to use Israel as the proxy constantly, and it's not benefitting Palestinians as far as I can tell. You don't think the government should sell weapons to governments bombing civilians? Say that, and use all the examples available. You don't want your government supporting other governments that treat other people as lesser human beings? Say that and use all the examples available. Etc etc.

It's certainly very distressing for people who believe those actions are terrible to share a party with people who are fine with them, but the idea that anyone is doing the Palestinian people any good with this intense focus on Israel is a bit delusional I'm afraid. Yes, solidarity is good, but so is strategy, and there is zero strategic plan for the left of the Labour Party to help the Palestinian people at the moment or at any time in the forseeable future.

Always one of my less popular opinions, so do get the deckchairs out bystanders...

I would have loved hearing your mid-1980s views about boycotts and South Africa . Or maybe not.

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

she is the greg wallace to sir keithly shammer's monica galleti

Monica Galetti seems like a very competent person who has a very clear idea of what she's doing, so I'm not quite following the comparison tbh.

 

[two sheds]

Levelling up

Most deprived schools hit hardest by education cuts in England, IFS says

Spending down 14% in real terms at most disadvantaged secondaries, compared with 9% at least deprived

www.theguardian.com

 

[Raheem]

Levelling up just means "Research into ways we can hang on to constituencies that voted for us just because of Brexit, without upsetting Tory papers or spending much money, given that we haven't found a way to make the terf thing work and there's no way the prime minister is wearing a flat cap."