Johnson's line that we're transitioning to high wage economy is different to most of his post-truth gibberish, because it'll be verifiable in people's real lives by the next election.
Usually his post-truth gibberish is based on the future, like the Brexit campaign, or cultural values, which aren't falsifiable. But in this case, people will come to their own conclusions about their quality of life.
That's a problem for him, because in truth there is no strategy. The higher wages schtick is a PR bandage job on a crisis they themselves inflicted. If you create a labour shortage amid ongoing inflation and reduced trade, people will in general be poorer.
Many people assume his argument will work with the public. Maybe it will. He's a damn sight better at communication than Starmer, who remains either mute or tepid on what's happening.
But there's a big difference between this and his usual bullshit: it relates to people's lived day-to-day experience. When we get to the next election, people will ask themselves: do I feel richer? And the answer to that, for most, on current evidence, will be no.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Ian Dunt

Ian Dunt Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @IanDunt

29 Sep
Well that's fucking weird conference right there.
It's still the case that Starmer should be much, much better at day to day attack, especially on the fuel crisis.
But today he dragged Labour into a position that could potentially win an election. He got them cheering for a vision which is palatable to the voters they need to attract without betraying their values. And that's a triumph, whichever way you look at it.
Read 4 tweets
29 Sep
Starmer speech starts in a bit - livestream here
There's a very short bit on the fuel crisis. Vague, lacking in detail, passion, or solutions. I hope that wasn't all he has to say about it, but I suspect it was.
Much better and tougher now. "To the voters who thought we were unpatriotic or irresponsible or that we looked down on them, I say these simple but powerful words. We will never under my leadership go into an election with a manifesto that is not a serious plan for government."
Read 30 tweets
28 Sep
Right, don't shit yourself, but I've got some good news about the Labour party. Nick Thomas-Symonds just did a very good speech on crime, which contained the kind of consensual politics the party needs to succeed inews.co.uk/opinion/labour…
I mean you look at the main news agenda and the party is an absolute state - mute on a national crisis, beset by internal warfare, hit by front bench resignations, losing unions, the lot.
But when you take a peek at the speeches from front benchers - particularly Thomas-Symonds and Rachel Reeves - you can see the outline of an smart, effective and confident policy programme for the next election.
Read 4 tweets
28 Sep
Quite telling that many Corbyn supporters think criticism of Starmer is a gotcha moment. It was their inability to exercise critical distance from their own leader which saw the project descend into hero-worshipping lunacy.
That was one of the most powerful moral instructions of the Corbyn period: A reminder of what happens if you let your critical faculties degrade in the name of tribal identity.
So yes, you can be sympathetic to Starmer, think he's a damned sight better than what came before and most existing alternatives, and yet still believe he's under-performing. It isn't difficult. You just need a little independence of mind.
Read 4 tweets
27 Sep
Stronger Future Together really is the worst kind of vacuous management-speak gibberish. Means nothing, has no resonance, doesn't penetrate the brain. Half a decade on from Take Back Control and progressives still struggle to learn from their opponents.
Blimey. "Cleaning up the Tories' Brexit mess". She said the bad word.
Honestly it took my brain a moment to compute that. By far the toughest I've heard any Labour frontbencher on Brexit since it happened.
Read 4 tweets
27 Sep
Fascinating to watch Shapps, IDS and the rest attempt their little post-truth 'it's all the RHA's fault' gambit over fuel shortages. Like a replay of 2016, except this time against reality rather than a warning of reality.
Thing is though: it's not working. Despite muted media explanation of the causes, silence from Labour and outright denial from the Tories, the public seem fully aware of why this is happening
And that makes sense. The Tory position is internally contradictory. If it's nothing to do with Brexit, why are you responding by opening up to foreign workers?
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(