A defence of Labour was overdue, but Keir Starmer needs to listen to his opponents | Letters
Readers respond to Polly Toynbee’s article about Labour’s positive record in government Yes, Polly Toynbee, the Labour government has managed some worthwhile achievements, but its route to those achievements has been convoluted to the point of obtuseness (Let me tell you the good things the government has done in 2025 – because it certainly won’t, 22 December). Keir Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin has noted that Starmer is an iterative problem solver who gets the right solution, eventually. There are three problems with this approach; most importantly, when his starting point is too distant from the right solution he wastes time that could be better put to increase the number of successful achievements; second, he ends up looking weak to parliamentary opposition and the electorate because he’s reversed his position so often; and lastly, he causes anger, frustration and resentment within his own party. Continue reading...
Readers respond to Polly Toynbee’s article about Labour’s positive record in government
Yes, Polly Toynbee, the Labour government has managed some worthwhile achievements, but its route to those achievements has been convoluted to the point of obtuseness (Let me tell you the good things the government has done in 2025 – because it certainly won’t, 22 December). Keir Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin has noted that Starmer is an iterative problem solver who gets the right solution, eventually.
There are three problems with this approach; most importantly, when his starting point is too distant from the right solution he wastes time that could be better put to increase the number of successful achievements; second, he ends up looking weak to parliamentary opposition and the electorate because he’s reversed his position so often; and lastly, he causes anger, frustration and resentment within his own party.
Continue reading...