No doubt the deal will be renegotiated by future governments; that's when rejoining might become a possibility. But it's years away.
No objections from me to Labour voting for the deal - despite my now being very much a Starmer sceptic. There are multiple reasons why Labour should vote for it.
1. We left the EU at the end of January. Leave v Remain has been done since then. Finished.
No doubt the deal will be renegotiated by future governments; that's when rejoining might become a possibility. But it's years away.
But right now, it's just about moving on.
It's wearisome I know. But most of us on here are far more political than most people.
- Appearing patriotic
- Backing the police and the armed forces
- Governing in the 'national interest'
On all three, Labour's position wasn't just bad under Corbyn. It's been worsening for a long, long, long time.
What I'd have done if I were Starmer is turn Labour into a post-Remain party, and seek a progressive, anti-Tory alliance. I despair of his lack of vision.
Does this run the risk of social liberals fleeing? You bet it does. But we can't win without social conservatives. Not under FPTP.
"How's he gonna win the Red Wall back? He's a Remainer!" He's already winning it back by pursuing this approach. And you can't win it back while remaining as socially liberal as Labour has been for decades.
Without those foundation stones in place, Labour won't get a hearing.
So many on here can't handle what that involves.
And THAT's why we've lost so much working class support. Because our values are not their values. Our values are those of the new working class: the young.
We couldn't win when we were too liberal; we'll have big problems winning by being much more Blue Labour.
What do we need? A progressive alliance. That's what we should all be campaigning for in my book.
You can't argue "we lost because of Brexit", then attack him for, er, supporting it.
Leaders with vision would recognise that. Starmer's just doing what he can within a bankrupt system.
I remember how I felt when reading the 2019 manifesto. How awesome I thought it was - because it made me feel so comfortable.
I remember @graceblakeley actually saying that she'd cried tears of joy when reading it too.
More from Politics
My piece in the NY Times today: "the Trump administration is denying applications submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at a rate 37 percent higher than the Obama administration did in 2016."
Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016." https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh
"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."
Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”
My conclusion:
Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016." https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh
"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."
Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”
My conclusion:
