“All those contortions may yet make the Labour Party look both shifty and ridiculous” has aged pretty well

That is not what the entire election was hinged on. There was one brief 48 hour period after the first head to head debate where this was the lead issue. The main theme of the election narrative, for voters, parties and media pundits alike, was desire for change and unhappiness with Tory record

Great to hear! 😀

Voters consistently said they expected taxes to go up, and that taxes needed to go up to pay for stuff they wanted. So I would say the polling evidence, at least, points to the latter theory.

Yes, we make this point a couple of pages later!

The need was obvious at the time the pledges were made, and pointed out at the time the pledges were made - "Labour's manifesto offers no indication that there is a plan for where the money to come from to finance this." Labour made a choice to promise change without money. Now they pay the price.

Sure, though I suspect a similar political divide would exist in many trust ratings. Which isn't to say there's not a problem, just that it isn't necessarily unique to the BBC (or a consequence of BBC news/editorial choices).

The BBC really is facing some trust issues, as our surveys of over 11,000 people reveal.
www.trusttracker.org/pb_main.php?...

TBF I don't think Starmer gets to choose any of this, in fact Starmer and people in similar positions not calling the shots is the whole point of the BBC governance structure!

Every time I see his name I have to remind myself he isn't one of these guys