UK Politics

I'd be genuinely surprised if he got that passionate about anything.

I know they need to win back Red Wall Labour voters but with the bold green policy Ed Miliband favours, they might get more young people enthused and out to vote which could be crucial in a lot of constituencies. I can't see why they wouldn't vote Green and voting intentions show quite a few people on the left leaning that way.

I really hope this is something that Miliband and the rest of the party can work around. A party is not the leader, but we cannot go through another decade with leadership not giving climate change the incredibly serious treatment it requires.

Starmer is a proven lawyer.

Starmer “wasn’t interested in hope and change”.

With each passing day Starmer becomes repugnant to someone like me who was a traditional Labour voter. A right-wing Starmer government could enable decades of future neoliberal Tory ones.

Around 2010 a friend of mine made noises about getting into politics. They said they'd join the tory party not because they sided with them on policy or liked their ethos, but because they'd be "winning for a long time so that was the only way to have any impact". At the time it put me off my friend, but really I should have taken this as a lesson about where politicians come from and their motivation. Starmer just seems like a prime example of someone who sees the game as more important than the people of this country. Is that definitionally true of "centrists"? I can't believe a principled person can look at the state of the nation and think. Yes, we need to very urgently make no major changes.

I find myself largely in agreement with him.

It seems you can now categorise environmentalists into two distinct groups:

Group 1 prioritizes preservation over progress, insisting on halting all developmental projects to protect every speck of biodiversity. This includes everything from rare newt species to broader environmental concerns, which are used as reasons to oppose various forms of green energy initiatives such as battery factories, solar installations, wind and tidal turbines. The ironic consequence of this approach is that despite protecting individual species in the short term, long-term survival becomes more precarious as global warming accelerates unchecked.

Group 2, which I personally identify with, holds a more pragmatic view. This group acknowledges the inevitable environmental impact of green technologies, such as harm to individual species and certain ecosystem disturbances. Yet, they firmly believe that without expediting the implementation of green technology, we risk compromising the planet's overall sustainability.

While I understand and appreciate the intent behind the preservationist approach, I feel frustrated. In my view, their well-meaning actions might inadvertently exacerbate the very environmental crises we're striving to mitigate.