Aaron Bastani: At this point Starmer has either...
At this point Starmer has either gone mad or is a Reform deep sleeper agent. Also, Burnham just won a by-election in a constituency where Labour were smashed 6 weeks ago!
Aaron Bastani: Reform and the Greens change...
Reform and the Greens change everything in our system. It’ll probably break FPTP. It’s a system designed to stop outsiders highlighting the distance between the rhetoric and reality of two major parties.Aaron Bastani: Given the price of tickets...
Given the price of tickets these guys are likely to be affluent Iranian-Americans. They just want to watch a football match! The media has tried to tell western audiences that the hectoring psychos are virtually everyone of Iranian heritage overseas. Borders on misinformation.Aaron Bastani: I’d have tax allowance lower and taper...
I’d have tax allowance lower and taper it off at £200k, not £100k. People earning 100-125k pay an effective rate of 60%. Obviously mental. A couple, both on the median income, who work full time - meanwhile - get a decent deal on tax and benefits, particularly re childcare.Aaron Bastani: If Burnham loses in Makerfield…
If Burnham loses in Makerfield the media will somehow paint it as a win for Starmer. BUT Burnham is Labour’s most popular figure. If he loses, to a weak-ish candidate in Robert Kenyon, while Restore come 3rd, we need to start talking about single digit Labour MPs after next GE.Aaron Bastani: I spoke to dozens of Labour…
I spoke to dozens of Labour voters in Makerfield today. ONE said that Burnham wasn’t a factor in their decision. Even multiple Reform voters said they liked him. Maybe talk to these people @Keir_Starmer ? Leave the bunker?Aaron Bastani: Britain’s perennially failing police…
Britain’s perennially failing police find yet another excuse (this is from a staff survey where 1 in 7 respondents said this. Hardly significant). Must be pretty bad if Hampshire police are leaking stuff like that….Aaron Bastani: I opposed this stuff with right…
I opposed this stuff with right wing figures - unless they’re literally inciting mass violence and murder - precisely because the state will happily use the same powers against anyone. Utterly mental.Aaron Bastani: London is a hugely diverse city…
London is a hugely diverse city. And Arsenal fans have flooded the streets to celebrate their first title in two decades. The contrast with Paris is striking, which is obviously a huge credit to them, the capital and Britain. Saying that might upset some people. Tough.Aaron Bastani: 100% Unregulated social media made...
100% Unregulated social media made a fair few people - particularly kids - mentally unwell. E-commerce and Amazon nuked the high street. Social platforms basically killed local news. All of it could have been managed much, much better. Why does NOBODY tell him this?Aaron Bastani: Very common. I’ve seen whole carriages…
Very common. I’ve seen whole carriages where every single window is smashed. British transport police basically don’t exist anymore. If you want more people to use trains this stuff should anger you.Aaron Bastani: No alternative, but also no enforcement…
No alternative, but also no enforcement of the rules. If rules aren’t ever applied they don’t exist. A classic example of Britain’s ‘placebo state’.Aaron Bastani: A country with 2/3rds the population…
A country with 2/3rds the population of *Russia*, a highly cohesive ruling class forged in adversity and struggle, overseeing an advanced economic and technological base. But because it’s brown, Washington and Tel Aviv thought it would fold like Venezuela. No deeper than that.Aaron Bastani: Notice Lib Dems & Greens working together…
Notice Lib Dems & Greens working together in Birmingham. There’s huge range of councillors, of all parties, across country. This is just childish and petulant. Labour either think locals are best placed to shape their politics, or they don’t. People are tired of London diktat!Aaron Bastani: Labour really need to snap…
Labour really need to snap out of doom mongering and just using project fear against opponents - to their left and right. The central party tried this before May elections. It’s killing them! Just years of depressing people.Aaron Bastani: Housing insecurity is a reality…
Housing insecurity is a reality for almost everyone under 45. Even homeowners will have seen wild volatility with mortgage deals in last 5 years. Which is why many of them are….voting for the Green Party.Aaron Bastani: Britain gets lots of hard things right…
Britain gets lots of hard things right, and lots of easy things wrong. A country of world leading biotech research while outsourcing companies charge local authorities £120,000 to create a zebra crossing (actually true).Aaron Bastani: A leadership challenge *the day after*…
A leadership challenge *the day after* a kings speech makes a mockery of the system, & the monarch (I’m a republican, but I don’t think Streeting is!) Labour leadership hopefuls do appear to be this universally stupid, so it’s possible he’d torpedo his political brand like this.Aaron Bastani: The Labour right would 100% prefer…
The Labour right would 100% prefer being in opposition to a Reform majority govt, with all the accoutrements, than losing 50 seats to the Greens. Increasingly clear. One is temporary, the other is a long term threat. The kind of thing the ‘soft left’ and liberals never grasp.Aaron Bastani: Questionable how healthy it is for politics…
Questionable how healthy it is for politics in the long term that Labour are making the *local elections* about….the NHS. People aren’t daft.Aaron Bastani: Keir Starmer thinks a retweet…
Keir Starmer thinks a retweet should disqualify someone from leading a political party, but that appointing the best ‘pal’ of the world’s most notorious paedophile, as Ambassador to Washington, shouldn’t. Be serious!Aaron Bastani: The role of British and Welsh...
The role of British and Welsh identity is increasingly central to understanding politics in Wales. Critical to grasp as Labour, who’ve come first in every Westminster election there since 1922, collapse.Aaron Bastani: Starmer saying he’ll stay on…
Starmer saying he’ll stay on - and win - genuinely feels like he’s lost his mind. You can find provincial Reform councillors with a much bigger FB footprint than most of the cabinet right now. A tsunami is coming!
22, April
Aaron Bastani: I’ve had enough…
I’ve had enough. Even if I was in Preston, with amazing candidates, I’d not vote Labour at this point. I’m sick of these incompetent morons calling anyone they disagree racist/evil/devoid of humanity etc They are awful, and Labour needs a lesson.
22, April
Aaron Bastani: The idea that a moderately affluent family…
The idea that a moderately affluent family (by national standards) with two kids is going to be keen to live on a year to year basis in London’s private rental sector is obviously absurd. Why is no major political party standing up for these people? Neither Labour or Tories.
20, April
Aaron Bastani: The latest missive in Iran’s cunning information…
The latest missive in Iran’s cunning information war to win over nationalists and right populists in the West: anti health and safety propaganda.
17, April
Aaron Bastani: True story…
True story. These aren't nation-states, as we understand them. They are as close to provinces of the Roman Empire as is possible in the modern world. The regimes are personalist, but not charismatic - & rest on legal-political authority that rests on a foreign hegemon.
17, April
Aaron Bastani: Given the challenges facing Britain…
Given the challenges facing Britain & social democracy, not least the likelihood of Reform being largest party at the next election, blindly pushing Mandelson to be the Ambassador to Washington - regardless of the costs - is completely unforgivable. The Labour right are awful!
16, April