> In my opinion this manifesto pledge could prevent Labour from regaining the Red Wall votes they lost to the Tories in the last GE.I don't think this is a concern at all. Labour are well on track to have a considerable majority in the next GE. Time is running out for the Tories as Parliament is due to be dissolved in December due to the 5 year term of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. Latest date for the next GE is 28th Jan 2025 barring some shenanigans for the current Government over-riding the FTPA.I'd wait to see what Labour put in their manifesto before worrying about whether people are flip-flopping. Although if the last 12 years are anything to go by even manifesto pledges are becoming token at best in modern politics.It will be really interesting to see the timings around calling the next GE. The Tories will be utterly eviscerated in today's local/mayoral elections. Does the party throw Sunak under the bus for the result? If they do who on earth do they turn to? They've had countless elections and leaders in the last few years and there doesn't look to be a huge pool of talent left to choose from.I wouldn't be surprised if, after the local/mayoral elections, Reform UK grab a whole load of the Tory vote share, and then grab a whole load of Tory defectors (e.g. the actual MPs). I would also not be surprised if the Tories come third (in either seats or % of votes) in the next GE. It wouldn't take much if the media backers switched their from the Tories to Reform UK which would have a huge influence on a GE result for the Tory party.The Tories have only themselves to blame, their infighting has torn the party apart and prevented it from having any coherent direction. Utterly ruinous episodes such as the Truss/Kwarteng tenure cannot be blamed on Covid, Ukraine, Putin, Labour, ULEZ, Sadiq Khan or anyone else.The biggest concern for Labour is that too large a majority will fuel the factions in the party and it too will start to rip itself apart. It's not going to be a simple term of Government for them, their hope will be that the opposition parties continue to bicker amongst themselves.Having political alignment between Parliament and the London Mayor will help resolve some situations though. Budgets and overall policy (primarily controlled by central Government) are often set at odds against the people in charge of implementation (city hall). We should also see a swifter resolution to problems such as pay rises for junior doctors and hopefully a negotiated end to the various strikes. It's going to cost money and that money is going to have to come from somewhere.I could go on about items such as the performative cruelty that is the Rwanda plan, but there's little point, as others say, it will never be implemented in any meaningful way before the Tories are ousted and then it can be thrown away. I'd expect the first thing a change of Government will do is seek to properly address the problem on the border of mainland Europe and put asylum processing centres in Northern France - something the French have offered constantly but the current Government has refused, mostly because actually dealing with the problem like this would not be a vote winner in the current political climate - but it is something Labour can do.Nothing will "stop the boats" as people will always try to subvert the system, especially if they have tried being processed properly and have their asylum claim denied legally. Expect the fact that some people still try to cross in boats as a stick the Tories will use to beat up Labour. It's a tactic as old as politics itself. When in power you claim you will do something that is pretty much impossible in the knowledge that it is impossible and you will never be in power long enough to even try to deliver it. Then when in opposition you can claim that the current Government aren't delivering it either, and "if we were back in power we would have delivered it".
John Kettlekey ● 419d