Do you not think that's a problem with Labour though? The idea of 'lets not say anything too wild' as time will take care of things for us? It will bite him in the arse once in power and the knives start coming out i think but it kinda shows how bad we are politically. I mean, not one of the parties is even talking about Brexit as no one wants to rock the boat - it's been the most uninspiring run up to a GL that i can remember. I know Labour pals, like yourself, who think Starmer is holding 10 aces up his sleeve from the 5th July but you'd have to be very naive to think he is.....
I know you're dismissive of Reform and people dismissing them have compared them to UKIP in the past with no seats etc but as Lewis Goodall pointed out, at their height they still got 5m votes plus. There was a piece, in the Guardian i think, that if this continues unabated, labour/the left could have a real problem in 5 years and i get concerned that shouts of: at least the Tories are out, could come back to bite them on the arse.
I think where I'm at with it now is see what they do once they're in power. Whatever criticisms one can make of Starmer (and I have loads), he's turned the Labour Party from being essentially unelectable in 2019, to being on the cusp of government, in one electoral cycle - you can't really argue with that in terms of results.
For example I've always found his reticence on Brexit massively frustrating (not least because he was a strong Remainer), but his long game has played out really well, just wait to the side and let Brexit fail on its own terms - (which it was always going to do because it's flawed at a fundamental level and its promises were always going to be broken) - and have people realise for themselves that the Tories have fucked them on it, whilst he (and Labour) steer completely clear of the 'BREXIT BETRAYAL' narrative that the Doolally Mail and Torygraph had waiting to launch at the slightest provocation.
Is it an inspiring strategy? Certainly not. But has it worked? Apparently so.
Starmer is no Boris Johnson, he doesn't have the gift of the gab and he doesn't do rousing speeches, exude charisma and all the rest of it, but they're not qualities we need in a Prime Minister. Boris Johnson was great entertainment, but a disastrous Prime Minister, I used to love it when he hosted Have I Got News For You, he's funny and articulate with that curated bumbling English gent air, but that doesn't mean I'd want him running the country.
At this point I think I'd just settle for some basic competence, even if it is delivered via Starmer's rather centrist and uninspiring manifesto. By all accounts Starmer ran a steady ship at the DPP and was well regarded as a boss, and someone who could get stuff done, and make sure it was all done by the book - which after what we've seen since 2016 from a hapless Tory government, would represent a massive positive change all by itself.
The fact that crossing such a low bar sounds so refreshing is a testament to how fucking awful the Tories have been.
But let's look at one solid commitment that Labour have made, which is to immediately ban Section 21 'no fault' evictions. The Tories promised this back in 2019 and still haven't done it. Guess what, a lot of Tory MPs are landlords and didn't fancy legislating against their own ability to do whatever they wanted to their tenants (and make as much money as possible), so the legislation was repeatedly delayed and watered down. (Private Eye have been covering this for years.)
Those who've been subjected to Section 21 evictions often find the experience extremely traumatic and difficult, as well as financially ruinous, landlords often use them to get rid of tenants who've done nothing wrong just to get rid of them and get someone else in who can pay more money. They can also use them in retaliation if a tenant dares to complain about any defects in the property they're renting, and all sorts of other immoral reasons.
We've never been affected by this as a family, and we're not going to be, we're lucky enough to own our own home, but this is one I'm watching closely as I believe it's a very 'easy win' for Labour to show that they're going to stick by their commitments, and I also believe it's fundamentally what the Labour Party is for, to be on the side of the 'little people' or just normal working folks if you will. It doesn't surprise me that the Tories have never got round to ending Section 21, but I'd expect the Labour Party to honour their commitment to ban them as soon as possible after entering government.
I guess that's a very long-winded way of saying that as dull as this election campaign has been - (well, apart from watching in awe at the Tories' endless ability to self-destruct) - it looks like the end result will be a Labour government, and given that's the case, let's see what they do in their five years and judge them on their merits.
But to get back to your original point, yes, they're going to need some bigger and bolder ideas than we've seen so far to really start to turn things around, because 'basically the same in a lot of ways but we'll be nicer' (which is kind of where they are now) won't be enough.
The most obvious win they can score economically, to give themselves the room to spend where they need to, is on our relationship with the EU, specifically on trade. They can't really go there now because it'll be LABOUR WILL STEAL YOUR BREXIT (even though by all accounts that's what a majority of people in the UK now want!), but maybe once they're in government, they'll find a bit more courage.
Or maybe not..... I guess we're going to find out!
