Frank Podmore 🌹✊ @frankpodmore@social.coop

The blog has now been written!

https://frankpodmore.wordpress.com/2022/07/01/when-binaries-are-ambiguous/

NGL, got a bit emotional watching the last scene of Episode 9 of #StrangeNewWorlds yesterday

pledges, so their argument is actually: 'Starmer lied about the platform you voted for, you should next time vote for [me/someone like me], with a platform you didn't vote for even though you could have done that before and didn't and I've done nothing to convince you that you should have done'.

They also won't switch because even if they care deeply about the pledges, by just shouting 'liar', you are providing no clear path to actually getting those pledges implemented. The current left argument is: 'Starmer is a liar! He shoudn't be leader! My plan for making that happen is [blank]. My alternative leader is [blank]. My plan for electing a leader with those pledges and then holding them to it is [blank]'.

Except it's worse than that! Because the left already dismissed those

... also say they'd lied.

Starmer's supporters are still on side, for now. They'll switch one day, but they won't switch because you keep shouting about lying and you *know* this because *you* also didn't (the great thing about this sentence is that it 'you' is literally everyone who has ever supported any politician, ever).

It is always bad when politicians lie. It's also bad when they hedge and wriggle out of things on a technicality. Also, this will never cease to be an aspect of politics. Screaming 'LIES! LIAR!' doesn't work and it *especially* doesn't work when the people you're trying to convince know that you wouldn't support this particular politician even if they always told the truth. That's why this tactic had such limited impact on Reagan Blair, Johnson, Trump *until* their allies started to

If not, why do you think that this same tactic will work now that you're the one employing it? Corbyn did lie, very often, when he was leader. Not just about the benefits cuts, either. Remember the wreath? Remember 'trigger Article 50 now'? Do you still think he wasn't 'technically' lying? Okay, cool. I'm okay with that. What I need from you is the realisation that that is *exactly* what most of Starmer's supporters think about the policy pledges, with the same amount of justification

The left opposition has now got the media questioning Starmer's integrity. Is that going to make him return to those pledges? No. Is it going to annoy people who just wanted Starmer to win a GE? Yes.

Again, this is something Starmer's opponents actually know already, because they have lived it, from the other side, WRT Corbyn and the benefits cuts. Did people shouting about benefits cuts change your mind about Corbyn? Did it make you think, 'Gosh actually he is a liar?'

My advice to people who dislike Starmer's leadership is to emphasise what they have in common with the membership (that they liked the pledges and that they want to win elections), not what they *don't* have in common (their view of Starmer's overall vibe/the likelihood he'll win). A well-organised left internal opposition could pressurise Starmer to go back to the pledges, but not by screaming about betrayal constantly.

... just as they don't really care about policy (like Corbyn's opponents), they don't really care about successful internal opposition, either. That's why they endlessly bang on about something that doesn't matter to Starmer's supporters. Most of whom, remember, are not super-engaged with detail and probably could not name a single policy pledge of Starmer's, from any stage of his leadership, and so also have no idea whether he's broken said pledges.

With some exceptions, most of the people now very upset about Starmer's promise-breaking... didn't support him anyway. Much as the people most vocally annoyed about Corbyn's benefit-cut pledges were never Corbyn supporters. There's a lesson here, and the lesson is: people don't give a shit about policy. Both examples are almost entirely people who opposed X anyway, but now have a specific stick with which to beat X. Starmer's opponents could learn from the mistakes of Corbyn's but...

Similarly, Corbyn's policy platform at his leadership election was quite different *detail-wise* from either of his GE manifestos. But, again, the vibes were the same. I would bet hard cash that most of Starmer's supporters felt his vibe was 'Guy who might win' and voted for him on that basis, not because of any policy pledges. As long as his vibe remains 'Guy who might win', most of his supporters won't feel betrayed, just as Corbyn's didn't feel betrayed over benefit cuts

On a similar note, very nearly nobody votes based on policy pledges. Corbyn's 2017 manifesto promised to cut benefits. Nobody gave a shit about that, because the *vibe* of the campaign was very much not a 'we're going to cut benefits' vibe. And the thing is, the vibe was IMO more accurate about what was likely to happen if Labour won than the actual policy detail.

I think it was wrong for Starmer to row back on his policy pledges. But the thing is, he also promised to win. What does he do if he thinks the policies and the winning are in conflict? I very much prefer the 'winning' bit of the platform and I suspect that, when pushed, so does everyone upset about him breaking the pledges (because, if he loses, he can't implement the pledges, so they won't happen either way).

What are you going to be under milquetoast 1930s-style social democracy? I'm going to be a faintly harassed suburban clerk who yearns for something, something different, something bigger, something more

If I really liked The Chemistry of Common Life by Fucked Up, but couldn't get into any of their other albums, what else should I listen to?

(To avoid confusion, I said 'we' here, because I've pledged to take part. I had nothing to do with creating the campaign!)

Whether you can afford the energy price hikes or not, taking part has the potential to benefit you, your neighbours, everyone (except the profiteering energy companies). If there aren't enough pledges, no one has to do anything. If we get enough, we'll win. So, what have you got to lose?

The campaign is modelled on the successful refusal to pay the Poll Tax in the '80s and '90s. That campaign worked. So could this!

#DontPayUK