When the UK voted the Labour Party into office at the beginning of July, Keir Starmer told us they’d inherited the worst economic circumstances since WWII. They then proceeded to cease all parliamentary activity for over a month for the ‘Summer Recess‘. Some would argue that politicians deserve four weeks off every summer; others would say that a situation so supposedly dire warranted immediate action. As it turns out, these others far outweigh the rest.
On Monday 2 September, the Labour government will finally return to parliamentary activity. The ‘nasty surprise’ mentioned in the headline refers to the steep drop in polling they’re returning to:
🚨 BREAKING: Labour poll lead drops to 4% 😬
🟥 LAB 30% (-3)
🟦 CON 26% (+2)Via @BMGResearch, 29 Aug (+/- vs 5-7 Aug) pic.twitter.com/QKw3u6t5yt
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) August 31, 2024
Given that Labour’s overarching plan is to fix the problem’s caused by austerity with more austerity, the economic situation can only worsen, and their popularity can only continue to plummet.
In other words, Starmer’s government seems to have fucked it already, and the public are painfully aware of that.
Starmer: the poll story
It’s been a bad week for Labour’s polling, with their disapproval levels shooting skywards like a ski jumper:
🚨 BREAKING: Majority of Brits disapprove of the Labour government's record, says @YouGov poll.
✅ Approve 23% (-3)
❌ Disapprove 51% (+4)Amongst over-65s, Labour has a WORSE net approval rating (-56) than the previous Tory government (-43). pic.twitter.com/XTD1kb0vb7
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) August 28, 2024
Labour’s problems are even worse in Scotland:
Latest @YouGov poll:
“61% of Scots now believe that Labour have “little to no” understanding of the issues facing Scotland”
Starmer approval rating also plummeting
As I said previously……people are waking up to their lies #LabourLIES #LabourAreDangerous
— Robbo 🏴🇪🇺🇵🇸 (@Davyjrob67) August 29, 2024
Remember when Starmer promised to clean up corruption? Well it looks like he hasn’t so much washed it away as absorbed it into himself like a super absorbent kitchen towel:
This tells you everything about Keir Starmer – and what he represents – that you need to know.
Even before he became PM, he'd accepted more gifts, freebies and junkets than every Labour leader since 1997 put together.
New column 👇https://t.co/39mZjRNngH
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) August 31, 2024
And guess what? Labour’s actions are not going unnoticed:
🚨 NEW POLL: 53% of voters say Labour is corrupt.
🟥 Corrupt ~ 53%
🟩 Not corrupt ~ 47%Via @Moreincommon_, 24-27 August 2024 pic.twitter.com/1X2bNYar0D
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) August 27, 2024
The latest polling is from Opinium:
Rishi Sunak’s approval ratings have stayed on -30%, which has been stable for most of the post-election period. pic.twitter.com/4zLwRB9zwG
— Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) August 31, 2024
Labour have tried to put a positive spin on their appalling polling, seemingly thinking they can trick the public into thinking they’re anything other than a bunch of Billy Bullshitters:
Not true. Two months after winning an election:
🟥 Blair's net approval was +59
🟦 Cameron's net approval was +23
🟦 Johnson's net approval was +3
🟥 Starmer's net approval is -16Source: @IpsosUK / @Moreincommon_ https://t.co/1APgGCXQSu
— Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) August 31, 2024
More nasty surprises for the new nasty party
It’s not just the public, though; the media is also attacking the new government from all sides:
Why are Starmer and Reeves so determined to bring Britain down? | William Keegan https://t.co/MAV0SshaIs
— The Guardian (@guardian) September 1, 2024
Saturday's front page: Labour is not doing enough to help with energy bills, poll reveals #TomorrowsPapersToday
Exclusive from @singharj: https://t.co/QmNwPal8LL pic.twitter.com/Vu2vJF6vlS
— The i paper (@theipaper) August 30, 2024
Although, admittedly, not all media criticism is worth paying attention to:
Outrage as Starmer backs genocide in Gaza.
If we had an even minimally functional press that would be the front-page of every paper.
Instead we get this dross.
It’s all about keeping people distracted. pic.twitter.com/qt5XpTxs2h
— Matt Kennard (@kennardmatt) August 30, 2024
Unpopular with the public and barraged by the media – just who is Labour for? Well, it’s certainly not the charities who are incensed by Labour’s plan to freeze your nan this winter, as reported by the Observer:
The Observer has learned that the country’s leading charity for older people, Age UK, has written to Reeves with a specific proposal it believes will be fairer and that would prevent around two million pensioners being deprived of a payment it says they badly need.
The UK chancellor revealed plans in July to introduce a means test for the winter fuel payment, where only those on pensions credit would qualify, as part of a push to plug what she said was a £22bn black hole in the public finances left by the previous Conservative administration.
But many Labour MPs have reported being bombarded with complaints from constituents furious at the plan, which was not in Labour’s election manifesto. Last week, on a visit to Scotland, Reeves was told by a group of anxious Labour backbenchers that they did not believe the plans were fair.
Labour keeps repeating that this is all the result of having to make ‘hard choices’. Once again, the public isn’t falling for it:
Using the same language as the 2010 coalition, given a set of 'hard choices to make', Labour will also choose to starve children, hurt refugees and leave disabled people without care rather than making the 'hard choice' of raising taxes on the wealthiest people in a rich country. https://t.co/LE7kYA4uCd
— Fiona Robertson fionaswriting.bsky.social (@FionasWriting) July 18, 2023
It’s all about ‘hard choices’ pic.twitter.com/o5hhYbmoOU
— Wayne Marriott (@WayneMarriott8) August 29, 2024
Is there anyone in favour of Starmer’s Labour? You know, besides alleged slum landlords?
Labour got rid of the previous MP for Ilford South because he stood on a picket line with striking workers and replaced him with someone who rents out flats with black mould and ant infestations. https://t.co/2LQDsljw3d
— Karl Hansen (@karl_fh) August 30, 2024
Oh wow I've heard it all now.
Labour MP Jas Athwal says he does
"not take on tenants on housing benefit to avoid conflicts of interest with his role as the local council leader." https://t.co/c2JqcAZgVw
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) August 30, 2024
@owenjonesjourno As a Housing Benefit manager for almost 30 years, I can 100% confirm that there would be 0% chance of a conflict of interest (not withstanding that most working age claims now go via Universal Credit at DWP anyway) and that this is disingenuous bullshit. https://t.co/KZWqFWJRGG
— MOT (@lufc1919ER) August 30, 2024
Forensically predictable Starmer
Who could have predicted that targeting pensioners then going on holiday would enrage the entire country? Not Starmer, it seems – perhaps the least canny political operator this country has ever produced.
The Tories were hated and unpopular, of course, but they were propped up by the mainstream media. Who does Starmer think will champion his cause? He seems to have made the mistake of thinking that if he caves into the demands of Britain’s wealthiest people, then the right-wing media would reward him. Instead, they’re going to keep pushing him to give more to the rich, knowing that the worst that can happen now is the Tories or Reform form the next government.
Perhaps the nastiest surprise for Starmer will be that he’s forced to confront his own ineptitude in a manner he never could have imagined when the easily-duped praised his ‘forensic’ intelligence:
Starmer’s got his gander up. He’s now Boris’s worst nightmare – an opposition leader with a calm, forensic, prosecutorial legal brain and, whether you like him or not, a reputation for honesty and personal probity & integrity. No wonder Labour is surging in the polls. #Marr pic.twitter.com/sMSHdBA0ku
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 12, 2021
Who could have seen it coming? Certainly not Starmer.
Featured image via Keir Starmer (YouTube)
