Steven Fielding

I’m not sure who she’s impressing, apart from herself. And Lord Gassman, I guess.

Thackery nails it again.

Yesterday I learnt that Wendy Richards was such a Conservative supporter, she refused to speak lines critical of the Thatcher government when she was in EastEnders playing poor beknighted Pauline Fowler.

👍🏿

I don’t think that would come as a surprise to Professor Shaw!

To be fair, you’re coming across as a bit of a plank.

I’m taking the piss.

I think you’re seeing a lot which isn’t actually there. I’m certainly not suggesting there is any equivalence between the two ‘extreme’ (sic) parties. No need to be so aggressive is there?

I haven’t got a problem with it being an entertaining film, but why people think it’s ‘political’ other than in the superficial subject matter is rather curious and sad.

🧐

Not extreme.

To try and calm your over-excitement, I thought it was obvious that I was being descriptive in the sense that by any calculation, reform are the furthest right in terms of major parties and the greens the furthest left, or on the ‘extremes’ as somebody might put it. I was not being pejorative.

🫡

I’m not laughing.

The irony being that it’s Starmer’s Labour which is his greatest gift.

He is certainly a phenomenon.

🤷‍♀️

It’s a puzzle.

It is certainly clear that Starmer doesn’t, which was for a time at least the only justification for him.

If the commentariat was subject to proper therapeutic analysis, I think the conclusion would be that most of them are completely detached from every conceivable interpretation of reality and completely possessed by an overwhelming desire for attention.

I think being surrounded by Blairites who didn’t get what was going on and were mooning for poor David didn’t exactly help.

Ed M in opposition had the same issue, he was constantly flitting from story to story but not giving any of them enough time to bed in. It was with him and with Starmer a sign of complete lack of confidence in themselves and what they wanted to do.

It’s not immediately important in terms of getting things done but it is important in giving coherence to what you are trying to do & so getting people on board for that. Labour historically is conflict averse - & Starmer esp so - but it has still been able to tell coherent stories - he’s not.

Starmer’s speech to the labour conference last year had the heart of a story but he hasn’t the will to take that part of being a politician seriously so of course it’s all gone with the wind.

Farage too. I wonder if this is something that only those on the extremes or with a recognisable core vote can do? Tho if only Starmer had employed people who might write stories for him and that he could deliver in even a half-assed convincing way it might’ve made a difference.

I find the reading 600 page William Thackery novels is something of an antidote to that kind of thing.

It at least made me look up the novel and now I’ve got it in my pile of books that I mean to read.

You aren’t. It’s okay, quite entertaining, and the visuals of the car chase towards the end are clever but it’s not a great film. It’s just an entertaining film with an empty hole at the heart of it.

History suggests that there are quite a few.

Indeed.