[spireitematt]

The reason Corbyn lost in 2019 was because the electorate didn't like him as leader and because the 2019 election was about Brexit and nothing more. Back in 2017 a lot of the electorate liked the manifesto and agreed with most of it but the 2019 manifesto went too radical in my opinion. In 2017 Labour said they would respect the Brexit vote and that they would look at a jobs first Brexit which meant staying in the single market/customs union. Where as in 2019 Starmer was the shadow Brexit secretary and he talked about a 2nd referendum and Labour talked about getting a deal with the EU and would offer that deal in a referendum to the British people but certain figures in the shadow cabinet and Labour said they would actively campaign against the deal and campaign to stay in the EU. So right there they sent mixed messages to the electorate.

Starmer is trying to be move Labour more to Centre-right and be more like the Lib Dems to appeal to Tory voters and try and win back voters who voted Tory in 2019 but by doing so he is alienating Labour members and Labour voters. He is listening too much to focus groups and not to the members or voters. It's like they are repeating the same mistakes of 2010 and 2015. As it stands you've got Labour members who won't vote Labour or who are leaving because they don't like Starmer and because Starmer when he was elected as leader he stood on 10 pledges and he has broken everyone of those pledges. Then you've got the FBPE (Follow Back Pro EU) campaign who say they won't vote Labour until Starmer comes out and says that Britain will rejoin the EU.

Since Corbyn got elected as leader back in 2015 you had centrist MPs in Labour who attacked him constantly from the off because they didn't and still don't want a left leaning Labour Party. They don't even say the S word anymore even though it says on the membership card that Labour is a Democratic Socialist Party and believes in Democratic Socialism. I do believe there are MPs in Labour who use it as a vehicle to get elected on the gravy train because if they stood for the Lib Dems or Tories in certain constituencies then they wouldn't get in.

Labour need to be Centre-Left on economic issues but small 'c' conservatives on social issues. There is a really big opportunity here now after leaving the EU to invest in Britain and when I say Britain I don't just mean London, I mean the North of England, Scotland, Wales etc and that means investing in jobs, creating industries, social mobility. Focusing on jobs, education, healthcare, housing, transport, climate change but more importantly investing in people. They need to inspire people to aspire and also need to champion small businesses and self-employed people.

There needs to be a radical plan like there was in 1945 after the war to get this country going in the right direction once Covid has gone. If Labour stick to the status quo of what the Tories are doing or talk about austerity or cuts to public services then they aren't going to form the next Government. They also need to look at giving more power to local Government and giving more power to the Scottish parliament and the Welsh assembly. I think money generated in local economies should then be reinvested into those local economies instead of going to central Government.