The Doctor

Started on twitter, ended up on newsnight, GMB, in the independent and the big issue, including from a former labour mayor (Jamie Driscoll). Where it started isn't really a concern mind, "thatcher thatcher milk snatcher" wasn't a more valid label because the internet didn't exist yet. The guy laid out a commitment to maintain the 2 child cap and so keep thousands of kids in food poverty. He's backtracked on every single left of centre policy at the moment it gets the slightest push back in the press and kept to the right wing ones because the pushback isn't coming from media barons. Frankly, if someone tells you who they are, believe them, and Starmer has repeatedly told us he's a spineless red tory, and as a lifelong labour voter in a constituency that went blue for the first time in 2019, he's not getting my vote. That'll go greens/WEP if they stand, no vote if they don't

Starmer on LBC this morning: "Israel has the right to withhold power and water from Gaza". Geneva convention IV On Civilians 1949: "Article 33 - Individual responsibility, collective penalties, pillage, reprisals No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited." Withholding power and water from a nation is a collective penalty and is a war crime. If the only way to be electable is to claim nations have a right to commit war crimes if they really want to, then democracy is long past dead and it's time to stop trying to prop it up

Problem is he's given no indication that he actually will given he keeps backtracking on any policy that actually would do so out of fear of being called woke by the daily ****ing mail. Like, not convinced a guy who's policy positions has lead to the name "Sir Kid Starver" is gonna make significant change to the current state of things

I mean if lying to get elected and advocating for violations of the Geneva convention is normality maybe normality is bad

I mean given in the same interview he was suggesting countries have the right to violate the Geneva convention, and he's already abandoned every pledge he made in the leadership election without facing a general election, hard to say he has either of those.

Some proper Lib Dem Bar Chart energy.