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I guess the past links the present and the future. I am certain Starmers approach with this would be slightly different if Jez hadn’t come first.

I can’t see them ditching Sunak now, with Bojo gone there is no knight in shining armour waiting in the wings. I don’t get the impression there is a massive push to get rid of him.

You can add me to the not sure category, I don’t think the evidence is there at the moment to convince me. It’s possible Corbyn has seen evidence I haven’t, but at present struggle to see how he backs up his tweet. I also agree we can’t always believe everything Israel or Western governments say, neither should we automatically never believe them. We would all hope for a ceasefire, the path to one is less clear. As I have said I don’t think Sunak (or a future PM Starmer) are going to have a huge influence.

The 100 percent pro Palestine stance would never work in this situation. Maybe he is correct that the Israelis bombed the hospital, but I think if you are still supporting the claim you need evidence to back up your point. I think it’s fine to not be sure.

The right may be guided by evidence, but I feel too often they cherrypick evidence to fit their ideology, to me this is not the approach of a boring scientist like myself. I fear the left are going down this route as well. I don’t think Starmer as PM will be rash in terms of decision making, I think he will be measured and come up with the decisions based on the information available, not just ideology. I voted against Corbyn for labour leader (voting for Cooper and Smith) but voted for labour in the election knowing the choice of PM was an awful one. This is a situation Corbyn would have handled terribly, so lucky he isn’t there.

I think my thoughts were not about you, I mean we all get things wrong and are hasty to jump to judgement at times. However as I have pointed out a high profile left figure like Corbyn still has a tweet suggesting that Israel bombed the hospital , no evidence and no criticism from his supporters. I say this as someone who voted (twice) for him to be PM, but thank god he isn’t PM now. I feel (maybe naively ) the left should be the people who are guided by evidence and will change as facts change, rather than jump into conspiracy theories. It’s why I think Starmer will succeed as PM as I think he will take a more thoughtful and evidence based approach.

My thought was though why would Israel bomb a hospital, that immediately signals me to wait for verification. Something many on the left are very quick to ask for if it’s claims against Hamas, but less quick against Israel. As someone who will happily admit myself to be on the pragmatic centre left, I fear the direction of some of the left at present. As I said Corbyn the most high profile left wing figure in this country still has a tweet up about Israel air strikes on a hospital. The likes of Owen Jones have retweeted stuff about why we should doubt the Israel account, which in isolation is reasonable but no real examination of the evidence as you would expect of true journalism. I worry the left are joining the right in the world of conspiracy theories and think that’s not healthy.

I only read bbc news, maybe the lesson is to take multiple sources. However interestingly I did see one left commentator (think Bastani but not sure) literally in the week before saying how he would only take news sources from particular agencies and then ignoring his own advice!

We were always taught as historians we have to question and think. What was the motive for Israel to blow up a hospital. I mean I wouldn’t rule it out, but I think we take a step back. Social media dictates we need answers now, but sometimes waiting is ok.

If that’s the case maybe people should stick to online like me! They definitely stated claim from Hamas (automatic alarm bells) and waiting for confirmation.

The mainstream media I read clearly said the claims have not been verified, so it’s fair to wait for verification.

I agree it’s a problem with people taking responsibility, my point was them trying to use the media to deflect from themselves. However I disagree with your second point on people not jumping to conclusions based on anything other than the events. I say this because if Israel had been first out to pin the blame on Hamas, many of the same people would have just assumed it not to be true. So people preconceived views are playing a big role here. Also not everyone just took it as true, I know as I was one of them! The (many years ago) GCSE history student in me said can I trust the source? Hmmm Hamas could there be any scope for bias? Then when it said we are unable to confirm these claims, my initial thought was let’s wait for confirmation. We can talk about fast news, but there is nothing wrong with taking “I don’t know approach “ and waiting for new information. As I said earlier I fear the left could be getting as bad as the right with a belief of fake news. Take Corbyn he tweets about the Israeli attack on the hospital. Evidence comes out that this may not be the case, no tweet deleted, no follow up. I would criticise the right for this, so the left deserve the same.

While it can be, it’s also an easy scapegoat. If person A believes what they want to believe and if proven incorrect just blames the media, person A is not accepting any responsibility.

I think the media are something the easy get out clause.

Is he going to be joined by Liz Truss I her tank?

Following the Trump years, I thought it was mainly a thing of the right, I’m starting to think right and left are as bad as each other in this respect.

The trouble is many people don’t want to analyse the facts and come to a conclusion. They want the conclusion first and then look for “facts” to fit. I am seeing so many people use terms like “evidence “, “genuine”, “ trusted source”. Funny thing is they are all things that support their preconceived views. Not seeing much I previously thought A, but have seen evidence B and now think C

I listened to an interesting podcast about people’s views on foreign affairs. Basically said that most people don’t really understand the issues, so take the lead from politicians they respect. What does slightly concern me is the feeling things are so polarised that when things like yesterday happen, i get the impression some are more focused on political point scoring than the dead people. I haven’t got a clue what happened and may never know, but it’s a dangerous road if we just look for “facts” that support our view of the world.

I can see how it could be Israel, could be Hamas on purposes, Hamas by accident or someone trying to frame either side. Conclusion I don’t have a clue, but it’s a really sh*t situation.

Unfortunately we are in an age where people will believe what they want to believe and if it’s something they don’t want to believe will just question its validity. Whatever’s happened it’s tragic to see more unnecessary deaths, hopefully some good can come of the tragedy and it starts off a move to peace. Unfortunately I can see it getting worse before it gets better.

While Biden is president and the likely successor also going to have a similar view, the war crime argument is off the table. We can only hope America are leading some kind of diplomacy behind doors which will save some lives. Unfortunately what Sunak or Starmer think (public or private) will have little influence in to how this plays out.

Wales have got England in 2 of the last 3 international tournament, it’s a duff draw and hope we never play them again! I hope that Scotland get through the group, seeing Wales beat Belgium is one of my favourite football moments and hope Scotland get a moment like that. I also hope you will join us Welsh and Irish fans in dismissing Southgate not wanting the hosts to get automatic qualification for euro 2028, as a Welsh fan we can’t be picky! On a connected note after years of seeing Wrexham get every duff Scottish player going, in Stephen Fletcher we finally have a good one!!

I have to admit I have taken to the nations league. I didn’t care when wales got promoted, nor did I care when we got relegated. To add to that it makes the play offs very contrived and hard to follow. Now to add to my dislike of the competition, I hear that Republic of Ireland are more likely to qualify for the euros if they lose their next game than win it. Surely this completely ruins the integrity of the game.

I think it’s not just (admittedly he is incredibly whiny)the anger, but the fact he can’t accept the views of anyone different to him. If your not Corbyn left your a stupid, racist person who doesn’t care about Palestinian kids dieing. Interestingly he used to do quite a few interesting interviews with people (centre left labour or torys) who disagreed with him. Now I watched his video from Tory conference and it’s pretty much just mocking Tory’s.

I don’t think so. As I said the likes of Bastani and Sarkar have pretty much the same perspective, but can deliver a more intellectual and articulate argument. I have always liked hearing from people I disagree with, feel it’s good to have your views challenged .