Keir Starmer said yesterday that the Tories were sliding into an abyss and that Reform were now Labour's main political challenger.
He was right about the Tories.
He was wrong about Reform being the main challenger to Labour.
A combination of indifference and loathing is now the main challenger to Labour.
I wonder if Starmer really understands how despised he is for what he has done?
I also wonder if he has any clue about the scale of indifference there now is to neoliberal politics, which contempt covers both Labour and the Tories, and also extends to the LibDems and maybe the SNP as a party that has been in power for a long time?
The fact is that people know politics is not working. Although they might not express it as such, they are very aware that neoliberalism has destroyed what was of value in politics. They have seen the instruments of social democratic power and policy delivery, which worked so well, debased and even destroyed by right-wing politicians, and have watched supposed left-of-centre politicians stand by and let that happen, and even participate in the process. All that they feel is despair as a result.
Most people do not support Farage.
Most people hate Farage and all that he stands for.
Most people want fairness, justice and opportunity for all, and most especially those who the market excludes from having it.
Most people want to live peaceably alongside their neighbours.
Most people do not want to hear doctrine or arguments about why markets are best when they know they are not.
Most people want systems that work, and they know that once upon a time, they did.
And now they know that the Tories and Labour no longer believe themselves capable of delivering what worked.
That's the real challenge to Labour. Reform is not.
The challenge to Labour comes from a man who does not know what he is for. Who does not believe in government and who does not understand government, economics, politics, and people, and what they want.
The biggest challenge to Labour is Starmer.
But even if he goes, the next most significant challenge to Labour is all those in the Cabinet who think like him.
The reality is that Labour has destroyed itself.
The challenge to Labour is to reinvent itself, or exit, stage right, because it forgot where the left was five or so long years ago.
How can Starmer get so much wrong?
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The challenge surely is to develop a better ‘Political Class’ across all parties
So many questions – many (with respect to what goes on in Starmer mind) unanswerable.
Cummings made some interesting comments on “how gov’ “works” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaUixccGK7s
(he also talked a load of nonesense). His comments on minister, meetings & who decided what suggested it ain’t ministers.
Working on the basis that the Thatcher-coup & neo-libtardism has infected the UK’s civil service, it is possible that a combo of the talentless & brainless (LINO cabinet) coupled to a neo-libtard civil service (undoubtedly lobbied by companies) has got the Uk to where it is.
Back in the 2000s, DG Competition was observing (to me) that a rotating door seemed working in the UK’s competition authorities – lawyers from law companies representing clients doing a stint in UK comp’ authority & then back to the law firm. What could possibly go wrong?
It was the same on tax.
Mike, you may know this, but I’ll add it anyway. Private Eye has run a column for years/decades on the revolving door between UK government and the private sector, and I can tell you it never gets any slower – in fact it revolves faster now than ever, I strongly suspect (I had a paper published in an academic journal years ago based on a study I did of this topic, so followed the subject closely for a while).
But it runs beyond that, of course – as you mention. Because government is so reliant on consultants, whose primary interest is not working 100% in the interest of the government – entirely because their next contract may well depend on being paid to sort out the shortcomings of the contract they’re currently working on. And to anyone in a consultancy currently working for the UK government who disputes that, then you’re seriously deluding yourself if you don’t think that’s what’s really going on.
By way of an illustration, here’s an entirely true story. About a decade ago I was on one of the few peak time trains I’ve caught in many years to attend a conference in London where registration started at 9.30am. Consequently, it was the train that lots of people who work in London, or were going to meetings/conferences there, caught.
The seat in front of me was occupied by two men, late 20s/early 30s, who it soon became clear from their constant mobile phone calls worked for a large IT consultancy. They were off to the MoD to demonstrate a system that they’d obviously been commissioned to develop (luckily for them they never actually said what it was, so despite their lose talk they didn’t give away any potential secrets). But they had a problem, which they spent a long time discussing how to deal with with whoever was on the other end of their call.
Basically the system didn’t work, and so to get it to run properly whoever had put the kit together had boosted the processing power to double what they’d sold the system to the MoD on. Result? They were going to make a loss on the contract. And so they spent most of the journey to London (90 minutes in those days) discussing with at least two different people how to demonstrate the system to the MoD – that worked with twice the processing power – but without letting on that it was not as the contract had specified. And then, what was the best strategy for getting back to the MoD (presumably after they’d accepted it) ‘fix’ the issues that had arisen subsequent to the MoD accepting the product.
Now had I not being doing the work I was doing at that time I might have not believed this conversation, and that the MoD would be taken in by such a move. But sadly I knew only too well that the number of people in government with the necessary IT skills to see through this scam was small, and they were spread across departments as thinly as hens teeth.
So I’ve no doubt the company in question (whose name I know) got away with this particular example of underhand practice, and I’ve no doubt that this still goes on on a regular basis, not just around IT systems and technology, but also in many other areas (a classic being so called ‘change management’).
Add into this mix politicians who have little idea of what they’re doing, SPADS whose loyalty and commitment to anything is open to question, and who, like senior civil servants, have one eye on their future – lucrative – employment in the private sector, and you have a perfect mix for failure, albeit dressed up as success.
Thanks Mr Horrocks. Most interesting.
Had an exchange of e-mails last night with two chaps that are developing a SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data Acqusition) for a moderately complex energy system. The complexity makes it difficult to know what processing power will be needed. So. Prototype the SCADA and run it on a “cloud server” (application service provider – for those old enough to remember) & then identify what it needs in terms of computing power – then specify and build the server. Obvs no? I suspect tweedledum & tweedledumber low bid the contract and discovered what they did. I think it is quite charming that the large insulatancies are the final preserve of that quality that put the “Great” into “Great Britain” – the amateur.
Today’s kneejerk Mcgenius response? Rachel from accounts is going to:
1. relax her fiscal rules to throw money at the red wall areas and
2. LINO will force UK pension funds invest in UK shares.
Simple question. Why just the red wall areas? Why not the whole of the UK?
Why the red wall and not, say, Scotland? I think they know the direction of travel in Scotland doesn’t include Labour, so they’re playing where they think they can get an electoral return.
As to Labour forcing pension funds to invest in the Uk, isn’t it the trustees job to get the best rate of return for the fund? If so and the fund can get a better return investing overseas, what would happen then?
Bewildering mediocrity from Labour.
And Wales
Why just the red wall? Because we need help up here in the north east, particularly County Durham. Even Lino have noticed that.
I don’t mean to be rude, and I’m sure Durham is just as run-down as the rest of the UK and no doubt deserving of investment, but to my mind opinions as to Lino considering this in anything other than crude terms of the ballot box are a little naive.
https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/30978/Huge-and-ongoing-effort-to-tackle-poverty-set-to-go-before-County-Durham-councillors
This was while the previous council was in charge. 1 in 5 people in County Durham live in absolute poverty.
Because they have been ignored by the government we now have a council run by reform, with a council leader hailed as a brilliant business man despite the fact that at least two of his businesses have gone into liquidation with one of them owing over a million.
Pleased you didn’t mean to be rude, Bill, but perhaps you should have looked up some data before you say that we are the same as the rest of the country.
In all probability we’re stuck with this Government for the next 4 years. The only hope, slim though it appears, is to turn them back, somehow, towards a decent set of values in which they perceive electoral advantage. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about what this might look like (with some AI help – I’m not switched on enough to do it all on my own), and so here’s a List of the Day
1. A Fairer Economy
Progressive Taxation Reform – Rebalancing the tax system to ensure the wealthy and large corporations contribute more fairly.
Investment in Public Services – Stronger commitment to funding the NHS, education, social care, and local councils.
Living Wage and Employment Rights – Enforcing a real living wage and restoring protections for workers (e.g., reversing anti-union legislation).
Wealth and Land Tax Discussion – Reopening the conversation around taxing unearned wealth and land ownership to fund social priorities.
2. Democratic and Accountable Governance
Electoral Reform – Pushing for proportional representation to make every vote count and encourage pluralism.
House of Lords Reform – Transforming or replacing it with a more democratic chamber.
Devolution and Localism – Empowering local authorities with greater financial autonomy and decision-making powers.
3. Social Justice and Equality
Universal Basic Services – Extending free provision in areas like transport, broadband, childcare, and housing.
Abolishing the Two-Child Benefit Cap – Tackling child poverty through direct reform of punitive welfare rules.
Race, Disability, and Gender Equity – A commitment to tackle structural discrimination through policy, not just rhetoric.
4. Housing as a Human Right
Social and Council Housing Expansion – Mass building of high-quality, genuinely affordable homes.
Rent Controls and Tenant Protections – Stronger regulations on the private rental sector.
End Homelessness – Reinvestment in support services, housing-first approaches, and ending no-fault evictions.
5. Green New Deal
Public Ownership of Energy – Democratic control over energy generation and pricing to accelerate decarbonisation.
Green Jobs Guarantee – Linking climate action with employment security, particularly in former industrial regions.
Just Transition – Ensuring workers and communities dependent on high-carbon sectors are not left behind.
6. Public Ownership and Utilities
Reclaiming Public Services – Restoring rail, water, and mail to public ownership, where private profit has led to poor service and high costs.
Democratic Governance of Services – Not just nationalisation, but models with accountability to workers and users.
7. Immigration and Internationalism
Humane Asylum System – End hostile environment policies and provide safe, legal routes for asylum seekers.
Global Solidarity – Advocating for fair trade, debt justice, and climate reparations in foreign policy.
8. Education for All
End Marketisation in Schools – Strengthening comprehensive education and reining in academies and free schools.
Further and Adult Education Investment – Support lifelong learning and skills for a changing economy.
Student Debt Reform – Reviewing tuition fees and debt burden on young people.
9. Health and Wellbeing
Reverse NHS Privatisation – Restore integrated, public NHS services free at the point of use.
Mental Health and Preventative Care – Boost funding and accessibility, especially for youth and vulnerable groups.
Social Care Integration – Create a publicly funded and delivered care system, akin to the NHS.
10. Political Culture and Party Integrity
Democratic Policy-Making within Labour – Return power to the grassroots, conference, and trade unions.
End Factionalism and Purges – Promote unity through dialogue, not exclusion, respecting the party’s diversity.
Ethical Foreign Policy – Commitment to human rights, conflict prevention, and international law.
I’d vote for that
I have a similar list
I’d add in gas and electricity to the list for re-nationalisation.
@ Cliff
I suspect a comparison of what you so admirably propose and what was on offer in the 2017 (Real) Labour Manifesto would demonstrate a good match on many points.
So near, yet so far. “We wuz robbed!”
However, had Corbyn managed to get the extra fewer than 4,000 votes he needed, and made it to Number 10, it’s my view he’d have lasted about a fortnight before being removed in a CIA- engineered “Very British Coup”, and consigned to Belmarsh HMP, the UK’s Guantanamo, with a PM appointed by the Crown under emergency powers, with little or no reference to Parliament.
So “We wudda been robbed!” anyway. And, alas, as long as the Neoliberal oligarchy continues to rule the roost, I fear the same fate awaits your proposal.
As the feminist movement of the 60’s recognised, the key requirement is consciousness raising,
The same is true of breaking the stranglehold of the Neoliberal oligarchy. The consciousness of the majority of the population must be raised to the point where they not only recognise where their real interests lie (which they probably already do), but actually feel empowered to take direct, mass civil disobedience action, that paralyses the State until it yields power to ordinary people.
We have a long road ahead of us, and little time to achieve our objectives.
Thanks Andrew. We have to live in hope. The 2017 manifesto, “For the Many, Not the Few”, was similar in areas like economic fairness, public ownership, and social justice. However, there were areas – such as democratic reforms, comprehensive environmental strategies, and detailed plans for internal party democracy – where the manifesto could have gone further. There are new pathways to campaign for a more joined up approach to equity and fairness. And I think it’s possible to demonstrate that there are ample opportunities for business and capital in these ideas. Just without the naked greed.
As has been pointed out here before, Starmer only has to think about himself and his immediate family.
He will be well looked after by the people he really represents – and that is not you and me for sure.
I would say that the same applies to a lot of people across politics now.
Which is why one can say without doubt why our politics no longer works.
“No longer works”? Its corrupt from top to bottom – corrupted by Niagara Falls’ worth of cash. Parties and politicians bought and sold – money in politics should be made illegal.
This morning’s headline in the Guardian about a trade deal with some Gulf states just reinforces how politically inept and morally bankrupt are Starmer and his crew in government. However I wonder if Farage and Reform’s stars will shine brightly for much longer. I watched the live stream of the AGM of Kent County Council last week and it was an unedifying spectacle to say the least. There was no coherent manifesto, no carefully worked out policies announced and a noticeable lack of competence. All that was offered was a handful of Farage slogans. Given the financial and other problems that KCC are dealing with I see little chance of life for the average person in Kent improving in its remaking years ( it is a candidate for local government reorganisation). I can see Reform shouldering some, if not all, of the blame. Then what? If none of the major parties (including a failing Reform) can bring about a discernible improvement in well-being then heaven knows what will happen. Perhaps we should take steps to counter the current political narrative right now by actively expounding radically different solutions. We could begin by challenging the current obsession with MIGO (Make Immigrants Go Away).
This is why I am writing a book..
I will look forward to reading it.
THE STARMER FILES: EVIDENCE OF CONFUSION
By Sir Keir Starmer, KC (Keenly Confused)
(Dual-Personality Dispatch)
SECTION 1: THE PROSECUTOR’S OPENING (Starmer Head of DPP)
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, observe the accused: one Conservative Party, caught red-handed sliding into an abyss. The evidence? Their own shoes are muddy, their alibi is “a strong and stable landslide”, and frankly, they look knackered. Guilty as charged of Gross Incompetence. Sentence? Political oblivion. So far, so solid.
Now, the prosecution alleges that “Reform UK” is the primary threat to my client, the Labour Party. But let us examine Exhibit B: the actual public mood. We have here… [adjusts spectacles]… “Indifference” – a pervasive societal shrug so powerful it could euthanise a circus. And Exhibit C: “Loathing” – a special, personal loathing directed at… [squints at notes]… ah. Me. Curious. The jury may disregard Exhibit B and C. Focus only on Farage’s eyebrow, please.
SECTION 2: THE PRIME MINISTER’S DIARY (Current Era)
Dear Diary,
Told the plebs – sorry, the people – Reform’s the real enemy. Bit odd though. When I said it, a tumbleweed rolled through the press room. Heard a pollster mutter, “He’s prosecuted the wrong bloody case.” Rubbish! I know evidence! I’ve seen bodies! Metaphorical ones, mostly. Labour ones? Possibly. Moving on.
Do they really despise me? Can’t fathom why. I’ve been utterly consistent! As Head of the DPP, I locked up dangerous radicals. As PM, I’m locking up… checks manifesto… absolutely nothing radical. It’s called evolution! Or was it devolution? One of those. Rachel says it’s “pragmatism”. Sounds better. Write that down.
People keep banging on about “neoliberalism” like it’s a crime. I prosecuted crimes! Where’s the evidence it’s failed? The crumbling schools? The raw sewage? The fact “opportunity for all” now means “a chance to apply for a zero-hours contract”? Coincidences! Nothing a Focus Group Can’t Fix™.
SECTION 3: CROSS-EXAMINING MYSELF (Mental Breakdown Section)
DPP Prosecutor Starmer: Prime Minister, is it true the public crave fairness, working systems, and basic human decency?
PM Starmer: Allegedly.
DPP Prosecutor Starmer: And Reform offers none of these things?
PM Starmer: Correct!
DPP Prosecutor Starmer: Yet Labour’s primary threat isn’t Reform, but the electorate’s utter contempt for your hollow, market-worshipping, principle-evacuated version of Labour?
PM Starmer: …Objection! Speculation!
DPP Prosecutor Starmer: Overruled. You’re the witness. Answer.
PM Starmer: [Sweats in triangulation] Perhaps… the real challenger… is the friends we betrayed along the way?
SECTION 4: CLOSING ARGUMENT (Spoiler: It’s Hopeless)
The facts are irrefutable, Your Honour:
The Tories are in the abyss. Verdict: Accurate.
Reform is a nasty little spasm, not the main event. Verdict: I plead ignorance.
Labour’s true opponents: Apathy (charge: Failure to Inspire) and Hatred (charge: Betrayal of Principles). Verdict: Guilty. Sentence: Political death by a thousand sighs.
The architect of Labour’s demise? [Points mirror at face] Oh, bugger.
The challenge isn’t Farage. It’s me, Keir! And the cabinet of nodding dogs behind me! We didn’t just forget the left existed five years ago – we had it professionally erased! Like a dodgy parking ticket! Now the public stares at us like we’re a magic trick where the rabbit’s died in the hat. “Is this… it?” they whisper. Yes! It is! Pragmatic, isn’t it?
FINAL RULING:
Labour’s sentence? Reinvent or vanish. But reinvention requires ideas. And belief. And not treating “socialism” like a contagious disease. So… vanishing it is! Exit, stage right (because the left’s dressing room is boarded up).
Case dismissed. Someone fetch me a bigger abyss.
– Sir Keir Starmer, KC (Kingdom Crumblin’)
@Bryan: Brilliant! Thank you.
@Bryan
Sorry, Section 2; PM’s Diary:
Morgan told me that everything was under control and I could continue to be smugly PM-ish. When to the footie courtesy of Alli. A good day.
Labour has been a lost cause since the defeat of the Foot/Benn leadership to Kinnock who led the slide to the right in 1983. The abandonment of Clause 4 in the 1990s was the final nail in the coffin. I may have joined Labour in 1983 if Benn had got
in or even if Kinnock decided to abandon the nuclear weapons programme. As this didnt happen I joined he Ecology party as the only sane alternative to the rampant capitalism of the grocers daughter from Grantham.
There has been a blanket of silence over John McDonnell’s call in the Guardian for a grass roots take back of the Labour Party. You would have thought that in the interests of their holy ‘balance’ mantra, BBC would at least mention it alongside the wall to wall Farage/Starmer coverage yesterday.
https://labouroutlook.org/2025/05/16/campaign-against-benefit-cuts-steps-up-john-mcdonnell/
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/05/28/john-mcdonnell-leadership-challenge-keir-starmer/
John McDonnell is all over the place, particularly on Facebook and Bluesky.
Probably more people read him there than in The Guardian.
I have noticed that The Guardian cannot be viewed properly unless you pay for it now, same as the i and Telegraph.
The Times is saying that Rachel Reeves is implementing the plans that Boris Johnson had before he was defrocked. RR started with a continuation of Osbornomics, now Johnson. Where next? Liz Truss?
Labour’s governance or the lack of it maybe a reflection of things across the Atlantic……have we caught the flu that put Trump into the white house?
When Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, nobody thought he would secure the republican nomination. When he did get nominated, none gave him a chance but he went on to win the election. Then none expected him to last the full term which he eventually did. Then nobody gave any chance of him coming back for a second term……..here we are.
I think, Trump’s election and re-election is a reflection of the society we live in and hence I am looking at performance of this labour government and asking myself – why and how did we elect such a government?
I would not rule out Farage and reform in No.10 – we live in weird times. The world to me seems an unfamiliar place compared to where we were at the turn of the century. Everything seems upside down -genocide seems to be normal, war is normal, peace is bought through weapons not diplomacy……..nothing surprises me anymore.
I picked up the list below from Robert Reich’s Substack this week. It’s a summary of the harms identified by a group in the USA resisting the Project 2025 agenda. I’ve been watching how Starmer has been matching Trump’s moves very closely – or maybe it is the other way round: Trump has just introduced a work requirement into the US equivalent of disability benefit. It’s basically the same agenda, even to the attack on women’s reproductive rights. Sacking civil servants isn’t explicitly mentioned, but Starmer has just upped his boast of sacking 15,000 Civil Servants to 50,000. And nobody except European Powell who posts regularly on Twitter/X is talking about the loss of rights for workers and the environment from the unregulated Special Economic Zones and Freeports, introduced by extreme free market Tories and retained by Starmer.
Summary of Project 2025 harms:
– Dismantles democracy and installs authoritarian rule
– Criminalizes dissent and minority communities
– Ends reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights
– Defunds public healthcare and education
– Destroys labor, environmental, and disability protections
– Increases tax burdens on working people
– Erases civil rights and church/state separation
– Suppresses voting and opposition voices
We live in dangerous times.
Much to agree with
> A combination of indifference and loathing
Can I add betrayal, disappointment, frustration, fury and disbelief to that list?
I put a link to this article on BlueSky, I made no comment on it, just used your link, Richard. I was somewhat surprised to get a reply (though I do get Likes for some of your articles that I link to on BlueSky) from somebody who calls themselves Jack London. My husband immediately mentioned Call of the Wild, which we both vaguely remember reading as teenagers, which is far too long ago now for us to remember anything much about it other than wolves featured. But I digress. I thought you might be interested to see what this bloke wrote.
“This guy has no more handle on party politics than anyone else
Anyone who thinks the UK is suddenly a contest between an energised Left & a lost centre whilst the Right have a spat on the side-lines is dead wrong
The UK generally has right of centre govts – I see no evidence that’s changed”
I despair!
I despair of trolls
If a person with the moniker “Jack London” is commenting on politics I would suggest moving away from “Call of the Wild” and more toward “The Iron Heel”. Very left-wing politics.
Excellent post!
Sadly I think that Australia has the same problem with its own landslide newly elected Labor party.
Just a few weeks after the election and they have approved the Woodside WA gas export expansion with forecast emissions greater than all Australia’s coal power stations. A plant which (although it was totally unnecessary) sits smack bang on top of an aboriginal heritage site. Murujuga is home to the largest and most diverse collections of rock art in the world. And it will it destroy it.
Adding to Jenifer’s comment is the following pithy description of the goals of neoliberalism
https://www.australiaremade.org/powell-memo
The table just down the page on the drivers says it all. And I’m afraid that Labour and Labor are both onboard as of course are the conservative parties.