Policy U-turns that the left interprets as surrender to a Blairite revanche are construed by the leader’s allies as rational choices by a man who wants to win an election, has looked at the evidence of how it can be done and will be ruthless in taking down obstacles in his path.
I tend to agree with this, Starmer is entirely pragmatic to a fault. Hes created a machine that is going to win ugly, hes not going to bother with friendly fire unless the membership force him to, in which case he will hold his hands up. The honest response to the Cameron and May government’s cynical approach was actually Corbyn who laid out a red blooded forehand smash, and the natural follow on to a horrific defeat to a hyper cynical monster like Johnson and Cummings has been to play that game as well. Because, as much as I want a proper left wing reply, it just wont get it over the line. It can only be a protest until we get into power.
The best politicians for me are totally cynical bastards who are also somewhat left wing. So, I’m quite pleased with the current Shadow Cabinet, up to and including Starmer.