But suits and glasses paid for by a Labour lord are what really matters Ian, (at least to the Daily Mail et al). Never known a government do so much with so little recognition.
Hard agree - all a function of the fact that our media system is conditioned to talk only about the small p- politics of our political system, not the actual progressive and ambitious policy introduced by this government. We really need to start demanding more
Labour need a grassroots PR campaign. They'll never get coverage from the Daily Heil. They seem scared to shake up the current status quo in relation to the BBC. It shows huge ignorance on their part.
2 years of planning costing £1m in the bin due to NPPF changes, as we're told to start again. The following week, the Council is told it may not exist long enough to do the new plan it has to make. There's no thought. It's chaos.
Weirdly, quietly, unassumingly, a little bit (whisper it) Attlee. Though needs to tackle social care and local government funding/council tax to deserve the comparison
I like that they just crack on and get shot done with no great fanfare but it also seems to be working against them in so far as media and public awareness goes. Does that matter?
Of course it matters. If the billionaire agenda is realised we will see another corrupt Tory Government or even worse the far right traitors will rise.
Leveson 2 and proper comms are essential. Blair and Campbell understood the importance of positive messaging.
I lean towards the view that right now, before achievements are actually realised, that its not actually that big a deal, esp. with the ludicrous telegraph / sun / mail shitsheet consumption.
We need to clean up the shit on our streets. This class war is centuries old, but the old guard are being replaced by the tech billionaires, who don’t try to hide and their greed knows no bounds. Britain must act to save its democracy.
Maybe that is because the MSM - looking at you @skynewss.bsky.social #bbc @channel4news.bsky.social @itvnews.bsky.social only want to concentrate on the things @teamlabouruk.bsky.social are doing that manufacture public outrage. It doesn't help that the Labour comms are fairly shyte as well mind you
I said it before, the electorate will only accept things as delivered if they can see it or feel it.
In the old days, were much more visible. Images like the one above of a minister and PM visiting an existing development site means nothing. They need to be there for the ground breaking.
Labour still trying to cut off attack lines from the right-wing. This still colours everything. Labour are allowing the right to spew their guts early on as Labour can bide their time, get on with placing the building blocks of change that will start to dear fruit in a couple of years.
Starmer has played the same tactics on Johnson to catch his lies on Partygate. Starmer has also said he pays no attention to front pages of right-wing press. The Labour majority means they can ignore the noise for a year or so. Labour will slowly up the rate of positive news.
You're the only person I've seen posting about it and it's behind a paywall so I'm still none the wiser.Maybe you are the only one who thinks these initiatives are radical?
I can assure you, he’s not the only one. It’s ambitious but also practical. And perhaps most radical of all, it prioritises actually getting stuff done rather than getting stuff talked about.
You can read the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan here.
Thank you but I fear you may have overestimated my powers of concentration (any eyesight!) I’ll just have to take your word for it. Hope it contains plan for district heating, massive insulation programme and zonal pricing 🙏
This is where I fear that, even if everything goes right & they govern well like Joe Biden in USA - Biden had an envious record of achievement any incumbent would want - it won't matter because narrative matters & the media is against them. 😳
Oddly the Newspapers that are mostly owned by rich people who live abroad, and TV that is run by similar, or run by Conservative party appointees, are not interested in lauding Labour successes
We live in an age where facts do not matter, and Labour's answer is to avoid all attempts to fight back the narrative and to dodge taking steps on improving media or democracy.
It is for this reason that Starmer needs to hand out a few Christmas cards to his political advisors.
We should've had this investment in 2010 instead of austerity, and since then politics has mostly been about Brexit. But clean energy doesn't mean anything to people struggling to pay energy bills right now. If Starmer announced a wealth tax and energy bills discount, it'd be talked about much more.
It would, but if the Inheritance Tax changes are anything to go by, it would be talked about as if it's a terrible thing... because that's the way the billionaire funded RW press roll.
Agreed, but most people vote with their pockets, like when Reagan asked a nation “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” Most of us feel poorer right now! I certainly do…
See also: US public ignorance of almost every economic and environmental policy from Biden administration.
US and UK media are hooked on excitement of a) populism and b) infotainment.
Arnold Schwarzenegger recently wrote that he hated politics but loved policies. Especially being able to make them. Hadn't thought of it in those terms but bang on.
Too busy with 'make Brexit work' to appease the very people who do not report these things. If Labour got a spine, faced down these idiots, stopped backing idiotic Brexit & in general had much better messaging instead of robotic slogans & soundbites then there is a chance of getting somewhere.
I feel they did that so when the inevitable push back from the right and wealthy on policies that goes for their wealth Labour could counter ‘but the pensioners did their bit’. It’s the type of crass politicking required to counter right-wing MSM. Sad but necessary.
Theoretically they are only making the well off and comfortable pensioners poorer, which is fine.
The threshold is too low but the spirit is correct. There are far more poor families than poor pensioners.
Everyone poor needs help.
And the definition of poor should be the same for everyone.
State pension is less than £13k. Half the minimum wage. Clearly there are very wealthy pensioners but the spin that anyone with a pension bigger than that is well off is criminally duplicitous. Making such people poorer is a betrayal of Labours founding principles
State pension may only be £13k but most pensioners don't just live off that - many will have occupational pensions on top. 74% of pensioners own their own homes outright (as compared to around 23% of working age people) - not having to pay rent or mortgage means you're thousands of pounds a year
better off. Pensioners as a demographic simply aren't poor - there are poor pensioners but you address that by using anti-poverty measures that target the poor better, not by chucking hundreds of millions of pounds a year EVERY YEAR at people who simply do not need it.
Many of the richest people, with the most influence, in this country pay little or no tax. A genuinely left of centre party might look to them to raise money before deciding that the lowest pension in the developed world makes someone rich
Exactly. The threshold is wrong.
However, with no mortgage or dependants, £13,000 an year will do nicely, thank you.
(When I take my teacher's pension in September I will be getting £12,000. There's just me. Too young for state pension. I will be fine.)
I've been part time for most of my career; as a single parent this was the best solution. So mine is about half of that after 36 years. But I've planned carefully, also get a tax free lump sum, and will get state pension too in 2033. All will be well 😊
It's not only complex news.
In the ever rolling small boats cycle, on Sunday Y Cooper was on LK (I believe).
I only listened to music radio Sunday, they have Sky News on the hour.
On the points discussed, they ONLY had Chris Philp wanging on.
I don't recall labour as only voice during tory govt?
Ah, but the media was far too busy filling the pages with contrary opinions regarding the nutritional attributes of sandwiches and whether they actually represent “proper food”
Until Labour appoint an experienced marketing communcation specialist they will continue to fall in the polls.
Their crucial fixes for 14 years of neglect will be reported by others (the press) to be aggressive lefty extremism.
Starmer knows there’s a communication problem, why doesn’t he fix it?
We should love the press and prosecute the democratic backsliders that lie to the electorate. Billionaires buy the press and journalism becomes propaganda.
If you read the clean energy plan you'll realise it acknowledges the work the SNP is already doing in the Scottish Government, and that Labour is dependent on. Mostly this is Scottish renewable energy that the UK needs. /
Also, it is full of the usual Labour weasel words ... "clean power by 2030" doesn't mean net zero by 2030 as you might think. NESO lets slip: this is actually a 2050 target. /
It hints at Labour's small nuclear obsession but fails to expand at all on that controversial part of the plan, simply dismissing this as a long term plan that will be "clearer over time". /
And of course what this "plan" doesn't do is provide the investment plan, or identify sources of funding. To that extent it's pointless. It's a series of political ambitions. And Westminster is so good at those.
Read a interesting analysis of decline in political reporting of substance, premise was ‘past 8 years had high octane politics, May’s tenure fraught with Brexit/ ERG/BJ sabotaging, BJ tenure one long psychodrama, +Tory leadership battles’, MSM no longer know how to do in depth political reporting.
You’re absolutely right in what you’ve written, Ian. The trouble is, you (and @pollytoynbee.bsky.social to be fair) are a voice in the wilderness as far as balanced political news is concerned. Labour’s messaging is poor, but that’s a lot to do with the media landscape being so hostile to them.
To be honest, I'm entirely fed up of the negative messages from print and broadcast media. The govs to blame too. We need some optimism, some up selling; if you like
Agreed! Nice piece. The clean electricity plans are on my beat and can confirm this is some really ambitious stuff. The proposals set out are also sweeping and it’s striking how credible they look given the task at hand. Was posting about this yesterday as it’s definitely no small feat.
A new variant of business as usual pushing economic growth at any cost to society? More initiatives to sell Britain down a polluted river to parasitic 'investors'? What's new? What's changed?
Thank you for writing a positive piece on @uklabour.bsky.social for a change. The MSM are continuing their doom and gloom rhetoric and a lot of us are just sick of hearing them. I have even stopped reading my usual papers because there isn’t anything to read that shows hope and promise!
The disconnect between the clean energy policy and the coverage is particularly acute. Granted, it is fiendishly technical. But it is also one of the most substantial initiatives in this area we've ever seen. It would be nice if news outlets at least tried to explain it to their readers.
Yeah, but sandwiches 🤷♂️ that was the primary news story last week. World Class Journalism deepening the nations understanding of its challenges and potential solutions. Media are as culpable as Westminster for the demise of this country. Fact!
I get so frustrated by the lack of coverage of the energy transition. I guess it’s harder to write about things like policies, improvements over 5-10 years than scary disasters or arguments about new wind turbines. @chrisnelder.bsky.social is good on this
@hayleygullen.com @iandunt.bsky.social Absolutely correct and you’ll be happy to know that we will be covering that very framework on @TransitionShow.bsky.social!
Energy independence is the #1 economic issue for our country. Balance of trade ruined after 2003. Everything since has been finance. Should be HUGE in the media. Although Milliband probably grateful that it’s under radar so he can get on without stupid attacks on his personality.
The idea of inform, educate & entertain has become "turn them all against each other and watch while it all turns to poo. The media is owned by people for whom an educated population is not an ideal scenario.
Sandwiches & steak lunches is much easier to comprehend & take an extreme position on.
The technical details on the environmental & economic implications of govt policy on energy provision isn’t anywhere near as entertaining. And what’s the news for if not to entertain us?
I have been scratching my head as to why the low key msm response to such a promising radical policy? It feels like the green agenda is almost off limits for them at times.
The disease has spread from America. Is there no one left in the mainstream media, or indeed social media world, who is prepared to report facts as news? The press needs to re-educate society to read past the headlines again. Producing journalism worthy of the name would be a good place to start.
But only because the news has been successively dumbed down over decades. Whilst sorting through a box from my parent’s loft, I recently discovered a page from the Daily Mirror from the 1970s and it was as detailed as anything you’d read in a non tabloid paper today.
It’s the human interest angle of much of the news that annoys me. There is no attempt to set the story in a wider context that would enlighten people about the reasons behind the story.
Comments
https://12ft.io
Glad to see some people saying this.
Labour are getting on the job and delivering the foundations for proper positive change
Niche media sitting behind paywalls isn’t the answer.
Leveson 2 and Alistair Campbell would be useful at this point.
Leveson 2 has been left ignored. I wouldn’t be surprised if Campbell has offered to advise him on his comms.
Starmer needs to up his game to counter Billionaire backed propaganda.
Quiet and firm describes my morning shit.
Leveson 2 and proper comms are essential. Blair and Campbell understood the importance of positive messaging.
https://bsky.app/profile/reecedinsdale.bsky.social/post/3lehvxoqxt22t
https://bsky.app/profile/politicsnewsusa.bsky.social/post/3lcvxahz5bc2a
Maybe that’s why no-one knows anything about stuff 🤔
In the old days, were much more visible. Images like the one above of a minister and PM visiting an existing development site means nothing. They need to be there for the ground breaking.
You can read the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan here.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/675bfaa4cfbf84c3b2bcf986/clean-power-2030-action-plan.pdf
All we hear from MSM is them copping for the Tory balls-ups.
Lots of people on the left (pro-EU types especially) even think it's a made up problem, lol
Maybe it's a good thing flying under the radar for a while.
It is for this reason that Starmer needs to hand out a few Christmas cards to his political advisors.
Price code P45.
Kuensberg... this means you, too.
US and UK media are hooked on excitement of a) populism and b) infotainment.
The threshold is too low but the spirit is correct. There are far more poor families than poor pensioners.
Everyone poor needs help.
And the definition of poor should be the same for everyone.
However, with no mortgage or dependants, £13,000 an year will do nicely, thank you.
(When I take my teacher's pension in September I will be getting £12,000. There's just me. Too young for state pension. I will be fine.)
In the ever rolling small boats cycle, on Sunday Y Cooper was on LK (I believe).
I only listened to music radio Sunday, they have Sky News on the hour.
On the points discussed, they ONLY had Chris Philp wanging on.
I don't recall labour as only voice during tory govt?
Their crucial fixes for 14 years of neglect will be reported by others (the press) to be aggressive lefty extremism.
Starmer knows there’s a communication problem, why doesn’t he fix it?
Billionaire backed media and think tanks allowed to spout propaganda.
Paywalls hiding articles.
It’s all cuntary.
Councils given unattainable targets
Developers don't want to build social housing
No thought given to who will live in them & how afforded
No reduction of social rent level
Planning forced through without regard to local planners or community
#Radical👍🏻
They are so used to the scandal and BS of the last half a dozen years that it’s as if they can’t remember what government should be like.
They are also too fast is following the propaganda spewed by the printed press.
Opinion pieces are easy and cheap.
A process which has been debunked by some , as pandering to the fossil fuel industry.
The technical details on the environmental & economic implications of govt policy on energy provision isn’t anywhere near as entertaining. And what’s the news for if not to entertain us?