# Keir Starmer tries to lead the UK **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 6, 2024, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805 "2024-07-06T06:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/121 "2024-07-29T07:21:26Z")
Meanwhile the government’s mood music in the preparation for the budget (expected for October) is to soften us up for what anyone with common sense already understood to be inevitable: > **[Rachel Reeves paves way for cuts and tax rises to fill shortfall left by Tories](https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/28/rachel-reeves-to-set-out-plans-to-fill-the-shortfall-in-public-finances-left-by-tories)** > > Chancellor will announce pause in work on a number of infrastructure projects, saying Conservatives ‘covered up’ true state of finances (We should know tonight who’s got enough nominations to go forward in the Tory leadership election) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/122 "2024-07-29T08:34:28Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > The pipe dream is the insistence that “running costs plus massive private profits” is cheaper than “running costs”, as the earlier discussion about trains already covered. The problem there appears to be not only that, in one case, there is a requirement to generate profit (as in staying in the black), but that the profits in a publicly-traded company tend to take priority over expenditure necessary to complete the job. Ultimately, in the case of public-gone-private industries, profit is generated by simply _not even trying to do the job properly_. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/123 "2024-07-29T09:41:40Z")
And as already noted, the penalties for not even trying to do the job properly are significantly less than the costs for doing the job properly. As the water companies are currently amply demonstrating. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/124 "2024-07-29T10:26:06Z")
Yeah, I was talking to someone the other day who had doubts that it would be legally possible to suspend bonuses and dividend payouts of a public traded company, to create a consequence for failure to perform a requirement, but I think the solution might just be to make the penalties sufficiently severe. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/125 "2024-07-29T19:20:41Z")
Almost certainly not, we don’t take much notice of Canadian politics these days. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/126 "2024-07-30T09:24:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > doubts that it would be legally possible to suspend bonuses and dividend payouts of a public traded company, to create a consequence for failure to perform a requirement Retrospectively not, that horse has bolted; but if the regulator has powers over other aspects of a provider company’s finances, they could be given the duty to ensure that executive remuneration policies and decisions on actual payments reflect the performance in service delivery. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2024, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/127 "2024-07-30T09:28:55Z")
Meanwhile, the government’s getting its bad fiscal news in straight away: > **[Rachel Reeves goes back to the future with her public finances statement](https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jul/29/rachel-reeves-goes-back-to-the-future-with-her-public-finances-statement)** > > The chancellor’s message was: this is going to hurt, but it’s not my fault. Haven’t we heard that somewhere before? And the nominated candidates for the Tory leadership are confirmed: > **[Who are the Conservative leadership candidates?](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/29/who-are-the-conservative-leadership-candidates)** > > Which Tory MPs will be taking part in the three-month contest to succeed Rishi Sunak? > **[Tory leadership candidates may want to think twice about trashing rivals -...](https://news.sky.com/story/tory-leadership-candidates-may-want-to-think-twice-about-trashing-rivals-they-could-get-a-yellow-card-13186937)** > > Those running to replace Rishi Sunak have been warned that nasty attacks on rivals will not be tolerated - as the party looks to learn the lessons from its crushing defeat. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/128 "2024-07-31T16:24:28Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > the effort required to replace a company doing a substandard job is far greater than just putting up with the shitty job they’re doing. I used to work for the NHS. NHS employees have much better pay and benefits than contractors and are much harder to fire. Nursing staff had many complaints about the employed cleaners and little was done to resolve the problems. Contracts have to be periodically renewed and if hospital managers are not enforcing the standards set out for contractors, why would you expect them to do better with employed cleaners? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/129 "2024-08-07T18:08:33Z")
Starmer seems to be facing the first big test of his leadership with riots led by the far right and fueled by social media misinformation erupting. I won’t pretend to have any insight on what’s going on here but welcome any perspective from our British Dopers. > **[UK far-right riots: Everything we know](https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-far-right-britain-lawyer-keir-starmer-violence-liverpool-muslims-cardiff/)** > > What has happened, who is behind the violence and how the U.K. government has responded. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/130 "2024-08-07T20:10:27Z")
I’m getting texts and video clips from one of my Muslim work colleagues in Walthamstow/Leyton area (NE London) right now. Earlier she said > [@](#): > > Local business have closed shop, boarded their windows, mosques on high alert with added security, bins taken off the streets and heavy Police presence here in Walthamstow/Leyton. Rioters landing in Walthamstow Central. But a little while ago she sent a video of a counterprotest and it was HUGE. So that is small ray of sunshine in all this gloom. Other affected areas are likewise closed/boarded up; I don’t yet know how widespread the counterprotests are. And the usual far-right suspects (Farage, Fox, Yaxley-Lennon, etc) are still spouting the same bigoted bullshit that caused this mess in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/131 "2024-08-07T21:29:03Z")
Thank you. The reporting over her in the U.S. ranges from these riots not being reported at all to the entirety of England being on fire. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2024, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/132 "2024-08-07T23:02:24Z")
Nothing happened tonight. We were told to go home early, but I didn’t. I went into Central London for a meeting. Traffic was light. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/133 "2024-08-08T06:40:51Z")
The Guardian has gone big on last night’s counter-rallies, but so have the papers of other political tendencies. > **[Thousands of anti-racism protesters take to streets across England to counter...](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/07/thousands-of-anti-racism-protesters-take-to-streets-to-counter-far-right-rallies)** > > Demonstrators form human shields in towns and cities, after 6,000 police drafted in to tackle disorder > **[Thousands of counter-protesters flock onto British streets](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13720171/Britain-fights-Counter-protesters-outnumber-rioting-thugs-towns-country-UK-braces-night-100-far-right-demos-biggest-police-mobilisation-2011.html)** > > Far-right promises to turn up at immigration centres, lawyers and refugee hostels at 8pm vanished into thin air - as hate mobs were seemingly cowed by a swell of anti-racist protesters. > **[I was at UK riots that never happened and it's got Putin's fingerprints all over](https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1933472/uk-riots-never-happened-putin-fingerprints)** > > EXCLUSIVE: Investigations editor Zak Garner-Purkis has been digging into the lists that encouraged more disorder on Britain's streets There was some rain on Tuesday, and the first few prison sentences will have had some effect, no doubt. > **[UK riots: Jail sentences handed to individuals involved in unrest | ITV News](https://www.itv.com/news/2024-08-07/uk-riots-jail-sentences-handed-to-individuals-involved-in-unrest)** > > More than 400 people have now been arrested in the wake of disorder around the country, according to police sources. | ITV National News ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/134 "2024-08-08T10:46:08Z")
I’m not sure if it’s quite soon enough to point and laugh, but some of the troublemakers bring it on themselves: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0Qau8bFBO28/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHmAoAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCl9p8QP6ruWycPqmJZ78HOVSZTCA "UK Riot Olympics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qau8bFBO28) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/135 "2024-08-08T10:49:10Z")
Wondering who the brick magnet in that clip was. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/136 "2024-08-08T11:12:49Z")
So’s he, I should think. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/137 "2024-08-08T13:03:11Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Wondering who the brick magnet in that clip was. “No, no, you twits, I said I’ll stand close to the line, aim the bricks **over** me, not **at** me!” “Terribly sorry!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/138 "2024-08-08T22:31:34Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I’m not sure if it’s quite soon enough to point and laugh, but some of the troublemakers bring it on themselves: Okay, the dude getting hit by _two_ bricks is hilarious. The first brick- well, not funny, but the shot to the groin- comedy genius. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/139 "2024-08-08T22:52:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The first brick- well, not funny, but the shot to the groin- comedy genius. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QutKEFNwsHM/maxresdefault.jpg "Man Getting Hit By Football") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QutKEFNwsHM) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805/140 "2024-08-20T22:22:53Z")
> **[Rachel Reeves planning to raise taxes and cut spending in October budget](https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/20/rachel-reeves-planning-to-raise-taxes-and-cut-spending-in-october-budget)** > > Chancellor insists she still has large black hole to fill despite stronger than expected growth in first half of 2024 Cut spending? I don’t understand: I thought a major Labour argument was that government services such as the NHS were being starved of funding. I expected major spending increases in a lot of areas while other areas maintain funding as previously. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keir-starmer-tries-to-lead-the-uk/1003805.md?page=8)