What will Keir Starmer really do if Labour wins the election?

Labour have launched their manifesto with just two things on the cover - a picture of Keir Starmer and the word “change” - but how much change are they actually offering when it comes to the big issues of the day such as Brexit, Ukraine, the housing crisis, climate change and the economy?

Labour appears to be on course to win power with a safety first strategy that promises relatively little, leaving us relatively little to hold them to account for. And now the Conservatives are warning of the dangers of a Labour “supermajority”.

Joining Krishnan Guru-Murthy to discuss this on The Political Fourcast are Labour’s Stella Creasy, the Green Party’s Sian Berry and Channel 4 News’ senior political correspondent Paul McNamarra.

Produced by Silvia Maresca, Calum Fraser, Rob Thomson, Nick Jackson.
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[nevertoolate]

Hilarious that Tories are saying a majority is dangerous when they've had landslides and loved it. They had every means of changing the country and of course they did, to the benefit the super-rich and getting Brexit done (for the super-rich).

[kerrynewnham]

Stella Creasy says with no irony whatsoever “if your best at argument for being elected is youre not the other guys” after spending her opening sentence stressing repeatedly the value of The Labour Party simply not being the Conservatives and the relief that would bring.

[davidlundrigan]

Id love to know how you get growth without spending and putting money into peoples bank accounts. I agree with the Greens on this and voting Labour is the same as voting Tory. As a life long Labour voter, this may be the first time I vote elsewhere.

[kokliangchew]

I'm a Malaysian working in Singapore. Both countries are in the Commonwealth and have millions of investment in the UK but most, if not all of them were prior to Brexit. This was due to the familiarity of the language, laws, culture and much more due to being former colonies of the British. In short, we were used to the British and found it easier to invest in the UK because of that, and as a gateway into the EU. Post-Brexit, businesses here are concentrating on investments in the EU directly, and bypassing the UK, despite the different legal systems and languages. Oh, and Malaysia and Singapore are part of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asia Nations), which aspires to integrate their economies like the EU.

As for the Brexiter's dream or aspiration of becoming a Singapore-on-Thames, well, Singaporeans are more pragmatic and realistic than Brexiters. They had to be in order to create the modern and successful Singapore that Brexiters want to emulate. Ask them if they want to exit ASEAN or exit the EU if they were part of it, the answer would be a resounding NO.

Almost everybody here that I talked to about Brexit thought that it was financial and business suicide for the British. And most if not all, put it down to the UK harking back to the days of the British Empire. It wasn't helped by the fact that many Brexiter politicians and businessmen thought that the Commonwealth and the World would gladly trade with the UK on an individual basis. Why should they? And what advantage is there to trading with the UK when it is not a gateway into the EU? Business is business, and it would always look at the bottom line. Brexiters seemed to have forgotten that, or totally ignored it altogether.

[Elspm]

Stella Creasy saying everything is a choice as Labour make no apparent choices and refuse to tax the richest & asset management funds is pathetic.

[goonerboz]

Starmer has said theres more money for the military but no money for the public

[litetaker]

Is Stella here to pick a fight or to discuss like a grown up?? She is doing a terrible job and if she is this attacking all the time, even with people who should ideologically be allies of Labour, then she is a damn hypocrite for bashing on Tories. I loved how Krishnan said what I was thinking - the way she was attacking the greens in many ways sounded like Tory talking points! Jeezus, may we all have the blessings for a more sensible govt than this lot. And I don't mean Tories or the damn Reform loonies. I just want some sensible policies to fix this country

[k_rez]

Stella: Deeply insulted for the green wanting to push labour more “left”. How insulting is a “we are not Tory” argument.

[profdrrameshkumarbiswas]

As he has reconfirmed he will not try to reverse brexit, kicking the green policies into the long grass, his one-sided Israel policy and his commitment not to raise taxes, the question now is, - is starmer actually a tory?

[nevertoolate]

Labour double-denim spokesperson here appears ultra-obnoxious in her behaviour. In misinterpreting much of what Sian Berry says, she comes across as not that bright. Is she Labour's Liz Truss? Every point Sian Berry makes is valid and progressive, as is needed. The 'establishment stooge' energy of Labour here is alarming. I'm so angry that FPTP forces me to vote Labour to keep Reform & the Tories out, but tactics is tactics 😢

[fuckbankers]

It's good to see the Greens getting some coverage rather than that Farage grifter.

[danh]

Nobody talking about Brexit is super weird. The permanent reduction in UK economic growth is the elephant in the room.

[kerrynewnham]

I’m sad that this version of Labour suggest that borrowing to invest is just the same as borrowing for tax cuts for the rich. I believe that the labour party after the Second World War borrowed to invest and of course once upon a time Starmer was saying that his party would lead a government similar to that government in impact. Was that “horrific” too?

[digglerdudeuk]

The UK is now a poor place with a few thousand grotesquely rich people in it, almost all of them in London.

[JimP-tcgg]

Anyone who thinks there is going to be dramatic change after Labour get in are living in a fantasy world. We will remain as we have for the last 2 decades: Low growth, paying high interest on debt.

[coppershark]

If they’ve broken this country that badly then they should be prosecuted.

[jcanyiam]

My business has gone bust due to BREXIT!!!

[Kwippy]

14 years of the British public voting Tory has left the UK too broke for Starmer to fix. You get the government you deserve.

[Geckok]

Why is it bizarre to talk about Brexit/wrecksit?

We've had an economic decline with quickly rising prices for some years due to Brexit.
We need a close relationship with the EU.

[dwdei]

Wow, that aggressively deaf Labour representative really made an unsightly mis-step in showing herself unable to distinguish between Truss-style borrowing to swell the bank accounts of the rich (stealing from the public realm) and borrowing to repair or rebuild the public realm.