Is Labour trying to lose the 2029 election? That's what it looks like. Growth has stalled, the NHS is failing, housing promises are broken, and the public feels ignored. In this video, I explain how Rachel Reeves, Morgan McSweeney, and Keir Starmer's Labour are pursuing a strategy that could end in political disaster.
Is Labour trying to lose the 2029 election? That's what it looks like. Growth has stalled, the NHS is failing, housing promises are broken, and the public feels ignored. In this video, I explaining how Labour are pursuing a strategy that could end in political disaster.
This is the audio version:
This is the transcript:
As I walked into this studio, Thomas, who prepares all these videos and edits them, said to me, "Why don't we make a video about Labour trying to lose the 2029 election?" because it seems to him that that's what they're trying to do. So this is my reaction to his suggestion.
Is Labour trying to lose in 2029?
I think it is.
I think it's obvious.
There is no way in which it's pursuing a winning strategy.
The so-called genius of Morgan McSweeney, that is behind everything that Labour does, is no genius at all.
There are few parties that have declined in the opinion of the public as fast as Labour has since it won the general election in July 2024. So what is it doing wrong?
First of all, let's be clear, it's got the economy wrong.
It promised growth, and there is no growth of any consequence. So far this year, it's about 0.4%, which is frankly neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things. And what is very clear is that what Rachel Reeves has done so far is making everything very much harder for everyone, particularly with regard to the increase in national insurance paid by employers because they are now reluctant to take people on, they're reluctant to make pay rises, and overall, that's reducing the rate of growth in the economy, and the chances of people getting a decent job.
So nothing has been solved by Labour with regard to the economy, but in many ways, things are worse than that.
The promise that things will get better is not in any area being fulfilled.
The claim that the NHS is better is nonsense, and we're heading for another reorganisation of the NHS, which is going to create more mayhem, and meanwhile, we know that there are doctors and nurses who are queuing for jobs and not getting them because Labour won't fund those posts, and as a consequence, there are still 7 million people waiting on waiting lists for appointments that they need, and which they could have if only Labour would pay up.
There are problems in our schools and, in particular, with regard to special educational needs and, lots of people have children who have those needs right across the income spectrum.
And there's a housing problem, and Labour's promise to build hundreds of thousands of new houses is so far looking like nothing better than a statement on a piece of paper.
The planning reforms are going to take a long time, if not decades, to come into place. There aren't going to be new houses at the rate they are promised, and meanwhile, there are people sitting on housing lists desperate for a decent home for their family, and even when they get a home, very often, they're substandard. Labour isn't putting the money into housing that could transform people's lives.
And all of that is creating anger, anger that is being fueled by the right-wing into anti-immigrant rhetoric.
They are blaming the immigrants for the fact that there is a shortage of appointments in the NHS.
They are blaming immigrants for taking up educational resources.
And most of all, they are blaming immigrants for taking up housing.
The fact is that all of those things are largely untrue because, in fact, immigrants are staffing the NHS, and staffing education, and are not getting prior access to housing. But that does not change their perception.
People are angry, and they're angry because they're not being heard. And that is the biggest reason why Labour is failing. It's not reflecting what people think on the ground or giving them the chance to make their voices heard.
It's ignoring its own MPs.
It's ignoring its own members.
It's ignoring the public
It's ignoring the pleading voices from the media
It's just doing what it wants to suit its donors, and they are frankly on the right wing and are neoliberal and want to crush the size of government, and that appears to be its sole agenda.
If they had sense, they would listen to people.
They would change the voting system, not to give 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds the vote, although I'm not in principle that worried about that move, but to give us proportional representation, so that parties would get a fair proportion of seats in Parliament, which they clearly have not got at present. And as a result, I know I am saying that Nigel Farage would have more seats in the next parliament than he does now, and if that's what the public wants, that's what the public should get. That's precisely what Labour isn't understanding.
Politics is a game of finding compromises. It's a game of winning arguments. It's a game of actually meeting the needs of people. And Labour isn't doing any of those things.
No compromising. No listening to the public. No meeting of needs. And lots of angry people as a consequence.
No wonder Labour is failing badly. And come 2029, who's going to be left to vote for it? There're going to be a few diehard enthusiasts, but frankly, I can see a very large number of P45s being issued to redundant Labour MPs whenever the election is that year, because no one is going to want a Labour MP in 2029.
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I think the only hope for the Labour Party is to replace Starmer after the local elections next year, which will be disastrous for Labour.
There is no one on the current front bench who isn’t tainted by this debacle, and none of them have any leadership skills anyway, they are there because they do what they are told.
Maybe they could tempt Andy Burnham to stand in a by-election (I wouldn’t blame him if he wouldn’t). What they would need is a leader who will restore the whip to all the disenfranchised Labour MPs and invite Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana back into the party, then perhaps pursue an alliance with the Green Party.
I would vote for that.
Otherwise I can see Labour being annihilated in 2029 and the dreadful possibility of a merger of Reform and the Tories getting into Government.
You refer to “the Labout Party” – that ceased to exist in +/- the early 1990s with the B.liar/Brown takeover. What now exists is a carefully controlled corporatist/zionist party that caters for the interests of the rich & Israel. Trying to reform such an entity is almost impossible. The kindest thing would be electoral elimination and I’d suggest this is coming down the track next year in Scotland and Wales. There is just enough time between now & 2029 for a new party to organise and have an impact. But it needs to focus on areas of interest/concern to UK citizens and it needs a good narrative. As for inviting Corbyn & Sultana back in: short of a night of the long knives event in LINO (ALL the Starmerites and zionists ejected) I do not see them ever being invited back neither do I see such a reforming event (all the starmerites out). It thus rests with Scotland & Wales to show that it is possible to eliminate a political party (that is under the control of non-UK based orgs).
If Scotland & Wales are to lead the way there would need to a quid pro quo. Like a clearly defined route to secession and no broken promises (like the infamous vow promised the day before the 2014 referendum and torn up the day after).
I think the question should be in a past tense.
Answer: I think so.
The other prognosis is that they are really hurting the concept of politics, never mind themselves.
You rightly point out that Starmer’s Labour government are harming the concept of politics. This is by design on the part of their donors and default by those out of the donor controlled cartel. The ideology of what has become popularly known as the Tech Bros, one where nation states cease to exist to be replaced by global corporatocracy, is informing this UK Murdochian style mediated political narrative. In simplistic terminology, we are seeing the consequences of neoliberalism’s destuction of the social good by financial imperatives. Those who have benefitted from these past gruelling forty plus years of the ruthless carving up of place and peoples for personal profiteering have become physically spoiled (arrogant), emotionally detached (smug) and intellectually narrow minded (wilfully ignorant). The complex demands of the postwar rule of law nation state politics will be experienced by such hollow individuals as nothing more than outdated byzantine rules, unnecessary rocks in their road. Metaphorically, the building of bridges by engineers has been deemed too detailed and so is being replaced by the brute force (wealth) of Strong Men in a hurry (progress as infinite growth). Was it Arendt who presciently wrote that our futures postwar were to choose either socialism or barbarism ? The US and the UK ruling class have chosen the latter.
I think the best hope for Labour lies in your final paragraph- the threat of the P45 to large numbers of Labour MPs. The benefits bill fiasco has whetted the appetite of the PLP for rebellion and Kier Starmer’s lack of personal popularity will weaken him in his attempts to discipline it. I do not see how Labour can go into the next election without adopting PR. Staying with FPTP cements the narrative that the Labour party are a party of the status quo and Reform the party of change. That would be disastrous. If Starmer wants to save himself he should demote some of his rightwingers ( e.g. Mahmoud, Reeves, Phillipson), promote some of the new intake and for God’s sake take the fight to Reform, instead of copying them. Apparently inevitable election defeats can be turned round ( think Canada, Australia). To copy them Labour will need to dump Trump. Finally be careful what you wish for. I have no doubt that this government, whatever its disappointments and many faults is preferable to a Reform government under Farage. My vote in 2029 will be cast for the party/candidate most likely to avoid that outcome.
Fat chance any of the parties will be what the country needs. One way or another they all subscribe to “mumbo-jumbo money mechanics” which denies the country the government spending it needs not to mention making market capitalism more equitable in its share-out of profits.
Is Labour trying to lose the 2029 election? Doesn’t seem logical to me (unless of course Starmer is a plant…). Blowing its chances of ever winning the the 2029 election? Undoubtedly.
Clearly the Starmer government doesn’t understand how grifting and optics go together:-
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rayner-housing-labour-tax-property-hove-b2813332.html
In 2010, Tribune magazine printed an article which suggested that Mandelson et al aimed to create a ‘centre left party of permanent majority’ (after Karl Rove). That required undermining Brown’s election campaign sufficiently to necessitate a coalition with the Nick Clegg. The next step was to remove the Left and make a formal arrangement with the LDs to create a new party.
However, as we know, Clegg sabotaged the plan by entering into coalition with Cameron/Osborne (and virtually destroying the LDs for the next 14y). Mandelson then disappeared until in 2015 when Corbyn was elected. Mandelson resurfaced, boasting (correctly) that he would work every day to get rid of him.
By now, it is a widely acknowledged truth that there was an extremely well funded conspiracy to oust Corbyn. As Rory Stewart said on his podcast recently “Labour MPs put their careers on the line to stop (Old Jezza) becoming Prime Minister”. In other words, a number of Labour MPs were deliberately chucking the election to Boris Johnson at the time in 2019 and also implies that many reporters and commentators were actively lying to the public.
Add in the repeated purges of LW LP members, the fixed selections of prospective LP MPs and ultimately the removal of Corbyn and subsequent suspensions of McDonnell, Abbot, Sultana, Begum et al, adopting policies totally unacceptable to socialists and the course is clear for Mandelson’s plan. All that is now needed is to finally destroy the LP and remove any remaining vestiges of internal democracy.
I can’t prove it, other than providing circumstantial evidence but it makes more sense than other explanations.
Will there be an NHS in 2029?
https://jujuliagrace.substack.com/p/does-behaviour-like-this-from-politicians
By then ‘NHS’ will be well on its way to just being a brand name, thanks to the privatising efforts of Streeting and his predecessors.
Great video, Richard. I think Labour is a busted flush at this stage… as are the Tories. They will probably both poll in the region of 20% of the vote at the next election, with the Lib Dems on maybe 10% and Reform and the Red-Green alliance (Greens plus “Your Party” or whatever it’s called then) on about 25% each. With a few percent (in terms of the GB vote) for the SNP and Plaid. Could be an extremely confusing electoral picture.
Agreed
A paragraph from an email sent from my MP, Luke Akehurst, who ought to lose his seat now, not wait until 2029.
I support action to ringfence money for investment in water infrastructure so it cannot be diverted for bonuses or dividends. I know Ofwat has also announced £104 billion of private sector investment over the next five years to build and upgrade water infrastructure across the country. It will help create thousands of jobs, build 1.5 million homes, support major infrastructure projects and power new industries.
What does that have to do with Ofwat? How can Ofwat help build 1.5 million homes?
This was all in regard to a letter asking him to support renationalisation of the water industry.
Akehurst knows no answers to any useful questions
ironic isn’t it- that it’s ‘Labour’…
but since the accelerated aim over the last 15 years, has been to enslave the waged, whether we consider ourselves ‘working class’ or not, it makes the point succinctly – there is no democracy; you are not politically represented, and any remaining pretence is over right about now.
Follow the money.
Neoliberalism favours far-right-wing governments. They hate government, and seek to privatise all public services.
Since World War II, the USA/CIA have been doing just that, even overthrowing democratically elected governments, and installing right-wing governments that are friendly towards the USA (Friendly = allowed to exploit the country)
The Tories are not right-wing enough, and would have outvoted Reform every time. But not now.
Labour was right-wing enough, but has been influenced by the USA and other actors so they are not now electable.
The BBC seem to favour Reform, just look at the disproportionate number of times that Farage appears.
A good proportion of the mainstream media favour Reform.
And I think this was the game plan all along.
Britain may not have minerals, but it has a population reliant on services (energy, property and finance), and privatising the NHS is worth £billions.
There’s a new lithium plant opened up in Weardale, County Durham.
Labour is not that bothered if it wins in 2029 or not. It seems to me it’s working to its backers’ plan of paving the way for Reform…
Not to mention declaring war on nature.
Probably, as alluded to by an earlier comment, I believe that starmer is an establishmnt plant (security services) put in to break any chance of a mildly left wing government. In many ways it is the only explanantion for what has occurred. Starmer is known to have links to MI5, was firmly behind the incaceration of Assange and has set about eradicating any hint of social democracy from the party. He has also gone fully backing Israel and obstructing any moves to sanction.
This interpretation certainly fits the evidence to date. Especially the strange recent importation to Great Britain of General Kitson’s Northern Ireland Operation Banner’s successful ongoing counterinsurgency social balkanisation tactic of the use of conflict inducing local gangs placing territorial ‘flegs’. If true, I despair for the future of all people in Ireland. As long as there remains a Zionist neoliberal extremist British Intelligence controlled North no one anywhere on Ireland is free or safe to express divergent political social ideas.