With there being plenty of reasons not to vote Tory, and very few to vote Labour, Jonathan Freedland’s excellent advice needs to be heeded (Here’s what we have learned: Starmer can’t dazzle like Blair, but might still rid us of Johnson, 6 May). Of course, they should “talk a bit less” about the Tories’ incompetence and “a bit more about what Labour will do” and, perhaps Freedland could have added, listen less to current advisers.
Why isn’t Starmer being properly prepared for interviews, so that, instead of Tory-like obfuscation and avoidance tactics, there could be clarity and detailed answers? Questions about how, in view of opposition to recent national insurance rises, Labour would raise the £12bn, or about the 10 pledges he made in the leadership campaign, are inevitable, so the answers should be practised. Didn’t anyone on his team watch The West Wing? How can they expect to overtake Tories as the party most trusted with the economy if their leader will not disclose any fiscal plans?
