Next Labour Leader - Confirmed as Keir Starmer

[JonasB]

Frankly EU is going to be off agenda for a long while. Actually works in Starmer's favour: no questions as there are other more important issues like cv. Does EU really matter in current crisis?

Given that the transition period ends in less than 9 months, it has to be on the agenda unless you are fine with no deal. Even if the position is only "apply for an extension and let us sort it out later".

 

[Peter Bonner]

Given that the transition period ends in less than 9 months, it has to be on the agenda unless you are fine with no deal. Even if the position is only "apply for an extension and let us sort it out later".

Dates as a consequence of cv will I suspect be more flexible that you assume. Sure we will leave but atm surely there are other more pressing priorities. It means that Starmer's pro Europe stance in the past has a good chance of being forgotten or overlooked.

 

[talltim]

I’m well pleased. Just wish they’d made him leader a year ago.

 

[Cowley]

I’m well pleased. Just wish they’d made him leader a year ago.

Likewise, but maybe they needed to go through this last few years to realise once and for all what direction not to go down?
I’m feeling a lot more positive about Labour’s future now, which for me is one silver lining in this awful situation that we find ourselves in. And actually it’s a silver lining for the country if we have a decent opposition for the first time in a few years...

 

[ainsworth74]

We seem to have wandered back on topic but just a note to say that they we do have a thread about the impact of Covid-19 on Brexit which can be found here. Let's try and keep Brexit in that context to the dedicated thread. Brexit in terms of the Labour Party is probably fine but I would stress that it must be in the context of the Labour party not just a re-run of the same tired old argument's that we've enjoyed for the last four years.

 

[Pacerman99]

Tan Dhesi has been appointed Shadow Railways Minister. Interestingly, although the new shadow cabinet mainly come from the middle, soft left of the party, many of the shadow junior ministers appointed today are from the right wing of the party, with hardly any Corbynistas. So I guess that may signal Starmer's preferred direction.

 

[Peter Bonner]

Tan Dhesi has been appointed Shadow Railways Minister. Interestingly, although the new shadow cabinet mainly come from the middle, soft left of the party, many of the shadow junior ministers appointed today are from the right wing of the party, with hardly any Corbynistas. So I guess that may signal Starmer's preferred direction.

So what do you think the Labour Party attitude will be in future? Thet were waiting for Williamsreport but that has been overtaken by events. Will the recent change to franchising be the prelude to more change? More direct awards maybe in the contect of a fully integrated transport system? There's a chance here for a really radical change but not necessarily in a Corbynist form-Swiss model???

 

[camflyer]

What does this mean for their support of HS2? Starmer has voted against it in the past and it will directly impact his constituency.

 

[Peter Bonner]

What does this mean for their support of HS2? Starmer has voted against it in the past and it will directly impact his constituency.

It certainly will-good point! This cv crisis is really bringing into question the whole rationale behind so much business/work travel. With massive drop in rail travel and much unlikely to be recovered it certainly leads to more questions over HS2. In terms of cost too is it conceivable when. govt debt has risen astronomically? Starmer has some thinking to do!

 

[Bald Rick]

It certainly will-good point! This cv crisis is really bringing into question the whole rationale behind so much business/work travel. With massive drop in rail travel and much unlikely to be recovered it certainly leads to more questions over HS2. In terms of cost too is it conceivable when. govt debt has risen astronomically? Starmer has some thinking to do!

There’s other threads for this - but Business / work travel is only a small part of the HS2 passenger profile. Most of it - like all long distance travel - will be leisure / visiting friends & relatives / personal Business. If anything, that this likely to grow.

 

[jon0844]

There’s other threads for this - but Business / work travel is only a small part of the HS2 passenger profile. Most of it - like all long distance travel - will be leisure / visiting friends & relatives / personal Business. If anything, that this likely to grow.

If more people work from home, they'll be more likely to want to travel for leisure purposes (and also meet and socialise with work colleagues - which is vital as you can't be totally isolated from the people you work with). The advantage is that it may be easier to spread the load than the current peaks that cost the railway such money to manage, with trains carrying fresh air a lot of the time.

Looking at the current situation, people are going stir crazy and we run the risk of doing great harm by people going out too soon. That's what happens to a lot of people who work from home at any time.

 

[underbank]

There’s other threads for this - but Business / work travel is only a small part of the HS2 passenger profile. Most of it - like all long distance travel - will be leisure / visiting friends & relatives / personal Business. If anything, that this likely to grow.

But we could see a fall in population, what with Brexit and now Covid, people may be staying/returning to their home countries/families etc. I also think countries will start to develop their own manufacturing bases again rather than relying on cheap imports, which could provide work out in the regions rather than concentration in a few large cities, thus spreading people out more and reigning in the commuter flows to those cities. Our neighbour works in a Uni who usually get huge numbers of Chinese students coming to study and staying in the UK - she says they noticed a big reduction in applicants for this Autumn's intake even before Covid and virtually none have so far accepted places - so they're going to be a few hundred students short and are already looking at reducing number of courses, reducing staff numbers etc. I genuinely think the Covid will massively change the country in so many ways. At the very least, HS2 needs review after Covid is over, to see whether it's still needed in view of whatever passenger flows are by then and the political/industrial/economic landscape. It can't just carry on regardless "because we've started it".

 

[Bletchleyite]

At the very least, HS2 needs review after Covid is over, to see whether it's still needed in view of whatever passenger flows are by then and the political/industrial/economic landscape. It can't just carry on regardless "because we've started it".

I think that's fair but we have to remember we're not building it for the next 10 years, we're building it for the next 100 years.

 

[37424]

Tan Dhesi has been appointed Shadow Railways Minister. Interestingly, although the new shadow cabinet mainly come from the middle, soft left of the party, many of the shadow junior ministers appointed today are from the right wing of the party, with hardly any Corbynistas. So I guess that may signal Starmer's preferred direction.

I think the jury is very much out on that one. Yes I think there will be some movement to the right but I think it will still be substancially to left of Blair. Now whether someone like myself who would be described by Momentum as a Red Tory could ever go back to voting Labour remains to be seen.

 

[Bald Rick]

But we could see a fall in population, what with Brexit and now Covid, people may be staying/returning to their home countries/families etc. I also think countries will start to develop their own manufacturing bases again rather than relying on cheap imports, which could provide work out in the regions rather than concentration in a few large cities, thus spreading people out more and reigning in the commuter flows to those cities. Our neighbour works in a Uni who usually get huge numbers of Chinese students coming to study and staying in the UK - she says they noticed a big reduction in applicants for this Autumn's intake even before Covid and virtually none have so far accepted places - so they're going to be a few hundred students short and are already looking at reducing number of courses, reducing staff numbers etc. I genuinely think the Covid will massively change the country in so many ways. At the very least, HS2 needs review after Covid is over, to see whether it's still needed in view of whatever passenger flows are by then and the political/industrial/economic landscape. It can't just carry on regardless "because we've started it".

In the current circumstances, it is impossible to predict what demand will be in 2 months time, let alone 2 or 20 years! If HS2 is put on hold, so will the entire investment programme for capacity enhancements.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Noting what Keir Starmer says about the parliamentary recall, coupled to the Covid-19 minimum distance apart requirements, how would it be envisaged to allow matters to take place and would there need to be a different place in which this recall would need to take place?

 

[Typhoon]

It looks like the standard bearer from the left won't prove to be too much of a thorn in Starmer's flesh.

The Labour MP Richard Burgon hopes to relaunch the socialist Campaign Group as a leftwing rival to the Fabian Society, as Corbynites seek to regroup following Keir Starmer's leadership victory.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...es-seek-to-regroup-after-keir-starmer-victory.

Apparantly his dream job would have been shadow Foreign Secretary; dream for him, nightmare for most, I suggest.

 

[37424]

It looks like the standard bearer from the left won't prove to be too much of a thorn in Starmer's flesh.
https://www.theguardian.com/politic...es-seek-to-regroup-after-keir-starmer-victory.

Apparantly his dream job would have been shadow Foreign Secretary; dream for him, nightmare for most, I suggest.

Well I would hope they re-invent themselves outside the Labour Party although I guess that's not likely, If Momentum polices are so great they should stand as an independent party and lets see how many votes they would get, of course it wouldn't be that many and they know that, hence lets try and take over the Labour Party. I really hope that under Starmer they effectively become a spent force, because I don't believe that the majority in this country want a Corbyn style Labour Government, but the country does need an effective center left alternative to the Tory's.