Keir Starmer trying hard - listen to the Newscast Podcast

I sometimes listen to the BBC Newscast podcast. It's quite entertaining. An informal look at the political issues of the day. Guests are interviewed in a very chatty style and often come across differently  to when they are getting a grilling my an aggressive interviewer.

Yesterdays Newscast was a Keir Starmer special - called Strictly Starmer as it was recorded in Blackpool and he met 12 members of the public who had all previously voted Labour but had, for one reason or another, not voted Labour recently. He was given the opportunity to pitch a few policy ideas to them and then have a chat with them about what it would take for them to vote Labour again in the future.

He chose to highlight 3 policies:

1. A package of investment for children who have been affected by the pandemic and missed out on education - to catch up

2. A jobs guarantee for anyone under the age of 25 who has been unemployed for 6 months - to be guaranteed a job or training

3. Buy British - to encourage consumers, the public sector and private companies to buy British goods as a way of stimulating the economy and creating jobs

The 12 were not shy in telling him straight what they thought of these ideas. He got a bit of a rough ride at times. The 12 also shared the reasons why they had not voted Labour recently. Most said they did not like Jeremy Corbyn. One guy said he lost faith in Labour in the Blair era due to the weapons of mass destruction issue. A unifying theme was lack of trust in the Labour Party and Labour leaders. Keir answered all the questions and came across quite well.

Afterwards, Keir was interviewed by Laura Kunesberg. He said he had enjoyed listening and talking to the 12. He said he was encouraged that at least some of them seemed to give the impression they wuld think about voting Labour. LK asked him about the Jeremy Corbyn situation and whether he would get the Labour whip back. Keir dodged the question.

Most people aren't actually that interested in politics.  That can come as a bit of a surprise to people who are "active" politically. Even though "politics" is a turn off for many. It doesn't mean that people aren't interested in good education for their children, care for their ageing parents, the NHS, good public services, good roads and public transport, recycling and green issues, climate change and would often like their government not to send troops to fight in illegal wars. It's often easy to find something that people are interested in and passionate about - even if they are not "interested in politics". The 12 voters involved in this podcast were picked by a polling company in some random way - they had to be former Labour voters. Several of the 12 had (literally) never heard of Keir Starmer. None of them knew what he stood for. By the end of the chat some of them had a bit more of an idea. Will all 12 vote Labour next time? 

If we all persuade 12 people to not vote Tory - it could be a landslide! Are we up for it?


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