Normally I'm not too bad at reading the tea leaves, but at the moment I just don't have a clue what's going on. Consequently, I'm not sure what I want either. Will Starmer go? Will he stay? Will we be better off for him going? Will we get something worse? Will that something worse get us to a general election quicker, and therefore somewhere better in the long run?
I don't know.
I also struggle with the methods. I'm just not cut out for the whole sneaky politics thing. So, as much as I dislike the things Starmer stands for, I don't like the idea of ousting him. It doesn't sit well with me. I don't like the shenanigans. It's not cricket. We saw all this with Boris and Truss getting ousted. It was obvious the people doing the ousting there did it because they had a different political worldview and wanted their guy in. Instead of saying that and appealing to the public though we had, "..but Boris ate cake!" or, "The bond markets!!!" etc, etc..
In a word lies. Or rather false dealings. Maybe Boris did have some cake, but that's not why you want him gone. That's just a convenient wedge you can feign some outrage over.
I'm one of these people that believes, perhaps incredibly naively, that honesty is the best policy; and that, in the long run, it's for the better.
There are arguments in my favour too. After all, the very clever and cunning people were telling us just two years ago that Starmer would bring stability. That the 'zero seats' strategy would be fine and dandy as Starmer would fix the potholes, bring down immigration and do the sensible things that needed doing. Things the Tories couldn't do, as they didn't have the civil service onside. Now, as we sit here, that hasn't quite worked out. We have drama on a par with the Tory drama.
So I guess my instincts are to just let Starmer get on with it. Suffer the next few years. Keep fighting the good fight, and hope for a Reform government after the next general election.
However, once again, maybe I'm just naive. Maybe if you just sat back and let him govern we'd be far worse off. Plus, perhaps there are darker things on the horizon. The other story competing for space at the moment is hantavirus. (!!!) Whatever's going on with that, it's hard to imagine a response anywhere near the covid response. People are now immune to virus fear mongering, if you pardon the pun. Still, who knows what's going on?
Returning to reading the tea leaves, I should note that I've been wrong on this Keir Starmer issue. For a while now I've been saying (on Twitter) that Starmer won't go. That the method that removed Boris won't work with Labour. As things stand today that's looking quite incorrect. So I'm not someone who can bring any enlightenment. I am indeed a spectator.
Finally, I should note that the person I fear should Starmer go is Andy Burnham. He's one of those people that women and pensioners like. He comes across as sincere. By politician standards he's fairly good-looking. Of course, it'd be like putting Gary Neville in charge of the country (and not just because of the accent), but that's by the by really. The point is he could potentially win a greater vote share. Making it harder for Reform. He's also just as pro-EU as Starmer and would probably be a better salesman for it.
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