Thread by @swardley

Debate over the NHS was lost in the last election. We need to accept the electorate are unwilling to defend it. Focus should be "Given ongoing privatisation of the NHS, what safeguards will be put in place to protect the poorest and prevent inevitable corporate failures?" ->

https://twitter.com/JonAshworth/status/1364504237514833922

Labour must learn from the election that the electorate doesn't believe a national NHS, broadband, railways or free education or tackling climate change is possible. Reality is irrelevant, it only matters what the electorate believe. Win that and then show what's possible ...

... I must admit, I felt revulsion at the dark lord of spin, Peter Mandelson, returning to run Labour strategy. I now, on reflection, realise what a shrewd move that is and one that should be welcomed. Starmer is playing the right game here.

It's the old fishing with strawberries. I like strawberries but fish don't. You fish with things that fish like to eat.

So sell to the public what they believe in and then, once you have their confidence, show them what is possible.

That was Corbyn's mistake ... he tried to show what is possible but the electorate never believed him - hell, even some of his own party didn't - ... we must learn these lessons.

So forget about saving the NHS or providing national broadband or free education or tackling climate change or reducing inequality ... instead find the things the electorate believe in. Everything else comes after you've won power which is when you can show what is possible.

X : How do you feel about that?
Me : Loathe it. I believe in principles. But that's why I'm not in politics. Corbyn was a breath of fresh air but that didn't work. The problem is not with the politicians but with the electorate. We don't vote on principles, we vote on beliefs.