The problem is that the centre-left can't win every election. And trying can make them cautious, when they need to be bold.

Really successful govts - Attlee, Thatcher, Blair - secure the things they believe in by forcing their opponents to change. But that requires a confident project of their own.

fundamentally the problem is that if you think "hotels are where I stay on holiday and I like being on holiday so living in a hotel must be fun and it's not fair others get to do it and not me" then you have the intellectual reasoning of a little child and it's going to be hard to engage with you

Imagine being beaten in a Tory leadership contest by Mel Stride.

this is the oldest i've ever felt in my life