Winning from Opposition is hard. Labour is entirely right to face towards the future and to have a laser-like focus on winning votes. But it should recognise that giving Johnson space to create a narrative that says the pandemic caused all the harm and Brexit is our ticket to a bright new future will only harm Labour’s chances.
An new poll shows that voters in the red wall are deserting the Conservative Party, with many returning to Labour. The two standout reasons given for their views by voters, were the government’s mishandling and lack of clarity over pandemic restrictions, and Dominic Cummings’ famed trip to Barnard Castle.
The next four years will be dominated by the damaging results of Brexit. As the harm becomes clear, the public will be looking for an alternative. Labour needs to be in a position to offer it – not hampered by voting for a deal that it knows already is bad for Britain.
This was not the election we thought it would be. An election night that was supposed to be a walkover for the Democrats, not just for the White House but also for the Senate and individual elections at state level, has instead become tortuous and drawn out. Even if – as seems likely – Biden […]
Boris Johnson was never going to extend the transition period, pandemic or no pandemic. It was never politically tenable to win an election on the back of ‘Get Brexit Done’ only to go back on his word six months later. An extension would be attacked as betrayal however it was dressed up, all the more […]
The Conservatives have few pressure points in June 2020 but they do exist. They bowed to pressure to extend children’s food vouchers because the justice of the cause was so eloquently and apolitically made clear by footballer Marcus Rashford. Johnson seems to become more terrified of Sir Keir Starmer with every passing week of prime […]
Freedom of movement was always the most personal right won through EU membership. It made EU citizenship feel real, the thing that meant we could – almost – get on a plane to Spain and not worry about whether we would ever need to come back. This was never entirely true – it was always […]