i think we re in a better position on that front than we have been probably since we were booted out of office in 2010. but we don t take people for granted. you know what that sounds like? it sounds like caution, playing it safe, looking at the polls and seeing that after, frankly, unbelievable turbulence in the tory party and an economy in deep trouble the tories are sinking in the polls it sounds like a party and a leadership which is simply saying we ll do as little as possible, be as uncontroversial and as unchallenging as possible, and that way we mightjust win. it s that good enough? i don t think we would be quite as miserabilist about it. i don t recognise that characterisation. imean. andrew fisher, for example, who was a key figure in the labour party under jeremy corbyn, he says he looks at what keir starmer is doing now and all he sees is caution, caution, caution. i think it was andrew fisher who wrote a piece in the guardian saying, you know, where are all the crow
promising the earth that we can actually deliver what we will say at a time when trust in politics is at an all time low. interesting you put it that way. and this is the crux of the challenge facing left of centre parties right around the world, how to find a way to win but maintain a commitment to changing society in ways that matter to you. i would put it to you that right now keir starmer s labour party looks like it is riddled with caution. there are things that it could do, which it is refusing to do. one example a wealth tax. others in the green party, the liberal democratic parties, they re talking about imposing a wealth tax on the very richest people that would give you significant amounts of new money to spend on your health plan, your education plans, all those other things you care about. why will labour not go in that direction? well, i think there s more than one way to skin a cat. there s more than one wealth tax. i would argue that our non dom tax policy to fund nh
disruption to services. we ve had the chief nurse in england warning about the risks to patient care. it will disrupt the national health service in a very significant way. of course it will. and that s why i think. you absolutely think the nurses are right to go on strike? no, i think they re. well, i think i understand their position and i think they ve been forced into it by the government, and i think these strikes were avoidable. and the fact that they are going ahead means i don t blame the nurses, i blame the government, because i think the offer they made at the beginning of this week to suspend strikes if the government negotiated was the lowest bar they could have set for the government and the government didn t meet it. let s please be clear and logical if you re saying, i would have talked and the government should have talked, that means you would offer more money, because there is no point. it s dishonest to talk if there s no more money. so if you re saying, i woul
as we are turning away bright british students with straight a s, from studying medicine. this summer, 3,000 medical students or aspiring medical students were turned away from studying medicine at university, when we have a massive shortage. so we can t keep on pulling the immigration lever, because we can t be bothered to train our own home grown talent. it takes ten full years to train a gp. it cost hundreds of thousands of pounds as well. you could get gp s from europe. i mean, there are 130,000 staff missing from the nhs right now. there are, and of course that s why the government does have to rely on overseas recruitment. but i think it s unconscionable.. the labour party seems to be facing both ways at once. you know, you want to address the economic need for more workers, but you are very worried about upsetting some former labour voters, who you believe want to see much tighter controls. no. because of that, you don t know which way. i m worried about two things in relation t
it affects only a very tiny number of people. and it only raises, as you said, we could argue between 1.6 and £3 billion at best. i m talking about a way to redistribute within society and win you new revenues amounting to maybe tens of billions of pounds, simply by putting a new tax, a wealth tax on those who are the absolute wealthiest in this country. it s a form of redistribution. isn t that what labour is about? we ll set out our tax and spending plans in detail ahead of the next election. but let me just take head on this point about caution. i think we wear this as a badge of pride, if i m honest. do you? because when you look at other centre left parties in europe, north america, australia, new zealand, who find themselves in government now, i think they have understood that in order to win power, you have to reassure people in an age of cynicism and in an age of populism that you ve got a plan that can