I saw a cuckoo yesterday. Hearing them at this time of year is, around here, normal. Seeing one that was happy to sit on the top of a series of bushes for maybe a couple of minutes, much less so.
As a result I had to go through what my wife, with her medical background, calls the differential diagnosis of bird identification. Due to lack of everyday familiarity a cuckoo is not one of those birds that I can identify by what birdwatchers call its ‘jis'. That word abbreviates the term ‘it just is', because it just has to be whatever species it is because you've seen it enough to know.
The process was quick, nonetheless. Pigeon? No, too slim, but colour roughly right. So, not a collared dove, then. Wrong place. Colours wrong. A bird of prey? The colour and chest stripes are right(ish) for a male sparrow hawk but the shape and size are wrong. Very briefly, a small corvid (jackdaw?) in a weird light flitted through my mind, but that was just wrong. And only then was it obvious this was a cuckoo, and a rare delight. All that happened in a second or less as I first saw it flying.
Why narrate this? Partly, because such moments that take me from the world of political economy into a totally different place are of real value to me. They are one of the things that help ground me in nature, place, shared experience and wonder. They both make me feel part of a much bigger whole and make me feel apart from it when I realise the terrible relationship we have with the planet and its biosystems that support us.
Simultaneously, there is the endorphin release from seeing something so stunning so near home. I don't deny that such moments are exciting.
But then the political economy crashed back in.
The cuckoo is such a weird bird, laying its eggs in other birds' nests, and leaving them to bring up its young.
More than that, the newly hatched cuckoo chick knows it must throw the eggs of its newly adopted parents out of the nest it is now in so that it alone can be fed as the sole supposed offspring of those birds that will bring it up as its own. In the process, it will abuse the blind loyalty of those birds in whose lives it has been planted who will unwittingly bring into the world a bird entirely unrelated to them, whose priorities are entirely unrelated to theirs, and who will never offer them any reward for their thankless efforts.
This story is all about power relationships. The more powerful bird gatecrashes the lives of another pair of birds, has its offspring cull their offspring and then demand loyalty so that an agenda entirely unrelated to that of the birds that have adopted this unwanted chick gets precisely what it wants.
I could not help but think of Keir Starmer's takeover of the Labour Party when reflecting on this.
He shamelessly entered the party.
He was hard to identify for what he was.
He conned that party into accepting him.
He then culled those who opposed his presence.
Now he demands to loyalty of those who are left to deliver a policy agenda alien to all that Labour stands for.
Using a relationship where he started from a position of power as an establishment insider, he has used his strength to abuse the blind loyalty of some to Labour to disguise the fact that what he will deliver is anything but the government they expect.
Starmer is the ultimate cuckoo, and most are still being conned. He was always hard to spot, of a breed rarely seen. And once he had wheedled his way in, he disguised his agenda for long enough to occupy the territory, expel the natural occupants, and then con those people blinded by tribal loyalty into believing he is the real thing, abusing them on the way. Too late, when his government fledges, the reality will be apparent.
But in political economy we do have the opportunity to plan alternatives, having called out the falsehood. That is now the task to be pursued. People, the planet, the Labour Party and society, require that there be a political movement dedicated to social and economic justice, equality, saving the planet from our abuse, and the building of genuine opportunity for all. That is what has to happen now.
Starmer the cuckoo might have gatecrashed and taken over Labour, but there is no need to accept the result. The reed warbler, or whatever bird it might be that raises the cuckoo's chick in its nest, can have another go this year or next to have another brood of its own. So, too, can we have another go at creating political justice post-Starmer. We have little other choice.
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Well done Richard, some very clever analogies here. With regard to Starmer It often occurs to me how credible is he in making the most of his legal experience. What sort of a lawyer would need three weeks and legal advice to complete a beergate questionnaire. I see no evidence of him using the transferable experience you would expect him to have as a lawyer to pore over every detail of parliamentary rules and processes either, to use them to maximise Labour opposition and resistance to odious policies such as taking the UK out of the EHCR.
It’s brood parasitism. It’s usually the male we see and hear. The female has a different call. One way to spot it is if the call is reasonably close and you can identify the rough location is to wait a while, as it will soon fly to its next song post and you’ll see it.
Sounds like a rare magical moment. And I like the metaphor, so very apt.
Good analysis. The Guardian and Observer lamentably fail to identify the “cuckoo syndrome” in regard to Starmer’s takeover of the Labour Party. Andrew Rawnsley’s article in today’s Observer is a classic example.
He is their chief political commentator but reading between the lines his article is saying voters and Labour Party members should not hold Starmer to any kind of democratic accountability because the media itself is owned by very rich people who do accountability only to reflect their own narrow interests which largely boil down to one interest their greed.
In making this argument he entirely misses the point because of lack of reform in the ownership and the management of the mainstream media Starmer and other politicians like him (Blair for example) can play the role of stealth assassin and subvert political parties to their own ends.
In a nutshell Rawnsley is making a phoney argument and the Observer and Guardian management shouldn’t foster it like other birds are forced into fostering the cuckoo’s off-spring!
“Starmer the cuckoo might have gatecrashed and taken over Labour” are we looking at this the right way? B.Lair & Brown both went with the neo-liberal flow – with some minor sops to the Labour faithful (Sure Start). All trivial stuff – whilst they drove the main neo-liberal agenda forward (PFI anybody?). Brown & B.Liar have changed not one whit since being in power (witness the gradual beatification of St Brown in the Guardian).
Miliband never really stood a chance and then along came Corbyn. Oh dear, at all costs normal service had to be resumed. Starmer is a tool, like Brown and Blair. Colonel Smithers cited Brown @ the EcoFin meeting. Laying down the Washington line to other EU Finance Minister then taking off his head phones and doing other things – for him, they had nothing to say. Programmed men, Brown, B,Liar, Starmer. Like the cuckoo – they are programmed to do certain things and are functionally incapable of even questioning what they are doing. What they do, goes against everybody’s interests. A vote for LINO is a vote for neo-liberalism.
Your conclusion is right
The Conservative Party has been conning not a Party, but the whole British people, ever since it was formed: misled, misused and abused.
Excellent correlation. I would probably go as far as using the trrm parasitic when describing Starmer but that’s just me.
Interestingly I got into birding only this year (partly after reading your posts). I learnt that “brood parasites” ( I hate the term as its judgemental about nature) are in decline. It is speculated that as a strategy brood parasiting isn’t a successful strategy for species. It was an interesting program on the radio.
I very much hope Starmer’s parasiting will also prove to be an unsuccessful strategy.
I find birding a challenge because bird features vary by gender and season. So identification is not straightforward. But the beauty of these creatures is just so breathtaking.
I am in awe of the cuckoo because as bad as it’s strategy appears (or so that program said) how the heck did these birds work this out? The mind boggles with wonder and awe.
Can’t say the same about Labour though. Just the opposite. It fills me with despair. But I’ve now got nice pair of bins and as your blog has taught me, unwinding by birding is so good for the soul. Followed by a cycle ride home. Life doesn’t get better than that.
My advice on birdwatching is to persist with it
It takes three or four years, at least, to become comfortable with identification – and warblers are relatibvely recent reasonabvle mastery by me. But even this morning I was watching great whitethroat in flight and learning flight patterns I did not know before. It’s a continual learning process – and I really enjoy that. Having a partmer who has used it as part of her recovery process from long illness has also made it imprtoant for me.
Thanks for your last para: I really appreciate the comment. I taloed to several newish birders this morning down on the reserve I frequent, pointing out the obvious to people for whom it was not obvious – like marsh harriers – and sensing their excitement at seeing such a majestic bird. Really worthwile and something I really enjoy doing.
If I may, “brood parasite” is a technical term, not a judgement.
You may find an identification app helpful when starting out, particularly when you can only hear but not see the bird. “Merlin Bird ID” from Cornell University works in real time on your phone. There are others too.
The BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) has a project where you can log your sightings and locations called Bird Track.
Birds are a great source of pleasure, even for casuals like myself. It’s a great wonder every spring as more and more birds arrive, from goodness knows where, and others depart. I believe our winter robins (here in Scotland) come from Norway while “ours” go south.
One of my projects during Covid was to photograph as many different birds that came to our (fairly large) country garden.
I foubnd BirdTrack reduced my enjoyment
The same as bird counting did
But it is each to their own
That was pretty damn powerful. It’s rarely a story so perfectly fits what’s happening right now in the Labour Party like this one did. But I’m not sure we can get rid of him now. Only if we lose.
If we win he will be a god for about 3 years probably. Even then the way he has changed the party its tough to take him down from the inside either. I personally think it’s a very bad situation we’re in & in 5 years it could be a damn sight worse when Farage’s Nu Conservatives fight back…
For anyone not familiar with it, this piece details Starmer’s links with the CIA and his period of active membership of the Trilateral Commission whilst Shadow Foreign Secretary. His biog continues to feature in the ‘People’ of the commission’s website.
https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmer-joined-secretive-cia-linked-group-while-serving-in-corbyns-shadow-cabinet/
Thought Richard was escaping into psycho – geography/birds – but he couldnt fully escape the Starmer-ridden political economy!
Whether or not the cuckoo analogy is appropriate – How far was Starmer’s entry-ism carefully planned or was it merely a product of his pre-programmed behaviour embedded in his cuckoo DNA?
So depressing that our constitutional setup not only allows this but also encourages it . Factionalism is fostered by unfettered money sloshing around funding factions, – no rules for intra party democracy, and by all the surrounding elements of the elected dictatorship – FPTP etc.
But everyone – Res Foundation, OBR, IFS and Richard and people here – say both Parties projections of tax and spend are a fiction.
When the sh**t hits the fan after the election – the poor reed buntings on the Labour benches will not be able to sustain this cuckoo chick without radical transformation – investment spend, doctors/nurses pay , more on courts, etc etc minimum wages, benefits, etc will all have to increase.
Lets see.
My most magical bird-watching moment was hearing a cuckoo and then looking up and seeing him sing while he flew overhead. It was a much larger bird than I imagined.
Pigeon sized…
Fun, though
My most magical bird watching moment was taking a group of school kids up Askival on Rum, and us all sitting on the summit watching two white tailed sea eagles circle the peak but below us. This was July 1980, only 5 years after they had been reintroduced.
Brilliant
Starmer the cuckoo is a quite brilliant analogy, Richard: thank you. I’ve been attempting to identify just such a representation since Charmless Starmer was elected. (Incidentally, all mention of Jeremy Corbyn’s time as Leader has been deleted from the Labour website – I find that chilling. As it happens, I took a screenshot because I had a feeling something like that would happen).
I can’t work out what drives Starmer. Is it simply power for power’s sake? A great many people were leery of him when he became Leader; I suspect because he cannot hide his fundamental insincerity. People with innate, unshakeable values are quick to spot those who do not have them. Those without innate values show themselves for what they are rather speedily; they are unable to maintain consistency in their positions because they have no “moral tether” holding them to the line. They are shape-shifters.
Much against my will, I read Weasley Streeting’s comments in the Sunday Telegraph about what he’s going to do to the NHS. A sudden tide of fury swept over me – not at the fact that Streeting is an overpromoted barrow boy, but at the outrageous lack of ANYONE representing those in poverty, or disabled people, or people who have no hope. It struck me forcibly that we MUST change this – and soon. I don’t know how, yet. But it’s nearly too late.
Richard, one useful tip for identifying cuckoos when they are perched – their long wings extend below their bodies. I think they are the only bird with this characteristic. That’s the clincher when it comes to jis.
Oddly I saw another one – probably the same bird – yesterday. Again, it was in flight, and those long wings are a giveaway.
Richard, I’ve always understood ‘jis’ to be GISS, General Indicator of Shape and Size.
Not amongst the people I know – mut maybe one is a corriupion of the other.
I admit, I prefer the version I know.
[…] Starmer, the cuckoo Funding the Future […]
A little late but relevent.
The Diederik Cuckoo, summer visitor to South Africa is parasitic on the Masked Weaver.
As a fledgling it is so much bigger than its foster parents that the only way for it to gain it’s freedom is to destroy the nest.
(The nest is entered/exited by a tunnel)