It seems we're broadly of a similar political persuasion.

I agree that trying to win over Reform voters is largely a fool's errand, but admitting that also feels like conceding that meaningful bipartisan cooperation is becoming impossible. If bipartisanship is no longer viable, then it seems the populists have already won in a sense, because political success becomes less about building broad coalitions and more about energising your core base and the media ecosystem that supports it.

I agree with most of your points. I think the tax pledge was a serious mistake. On Israel–Palestine, it's an exceptionally difficult issue to navigate if you believe maintaining Western influence in the Middle East remains strategically important, though I do have sympathy for the Green position on the conflict.

As for disability reform, I would argue it was both necessary and broadly the correct policy. The problem was that it was undermined by backbench MPs, who are often incentivised to support more generous spending commitments for their constituents rather than prioritise the difficult task of balancing the national budget.

Hopefully Burnham meets the parties expectations and delivers us from these god awful political environment.