After suffering significant blows in the local elections, Labour leader Keir Starmer has insisted that “we get it” – and then ruined it by saying he’ll go “farther and faster” – in the wrong direction.
The party lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, the West Midlands mayoralty and council seats up and down the country, but Starmer’s response – and even the venue from which he made it – shows detachment from the public mood, refusal to engage with grassroots discontent, and even active complicity in appalling policies.
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Look at where he chose to deliver that message: a munitions factory that supplies weapons to Israel — a state widely accused of committing atrocities in Gaza, and currently facing an International Court of Justice case for genocide.
If there were a competition for the most tone-deaf political photo-op of the year, this one would be hard to beat.
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It made two things crystal clear:
-
Starmer doesn’t understand — or is choosing to ignore — the anger many voters feel about the UK’s arms trade, particularly in the context of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
-
He is sending a message — whether deliberate or not — that Labour under his leadership stands firm behind the status quo: militarism abroad, authoritarianism at home, and silence in the face of injustice.
It would be one thing if these decisions were merely symbolic missteps.
But they come at a time when Starmer is visibly shedding the party’s principles, its social justice legacy, and its base — all in a bid to appear “respectable” to the establishment and palatable to a handful of swing voters.
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The West Midlands was lost.
Labour councillors are bleeding out.
Reform UK is capitalizing on public disillusionment.
And instead of introspection, we get a press call in front of bombs.
Predictably, this has angered people across the political spectrum. Reform UK supporters may gleefully pile on Labour’s failings — wrongly assuming that every critic must be a “lefty” loyalist — but they’re missing a bigger truth: those of us on the left aren’t defending Labour.
We’re calling it out, because what Starmer is doing is not left-wing. It’s not even centrist. It’s hollow managerialism, dressed in a suit of moral indifference.
In his piece on Another Angry Voice, Thomas G Clark writes:
“Starmer’s decision to give a ‘we get it’ speech from a weapons factory was the perfect metaphor for his leadership — utterly tone-deaf, contemptuous of Labour’s base, and obsessed with sucking up to the warmongering establishment.”
He’s right. And Labour would do well to listen — not to its PR advisors, but to the millions of voters who are watching this party slip further and further from what it once stood for.
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Starmer said, “We get it.”
No, Keir.
You don’t.
If you don’t change course, the public may hand the country to Nigel Farage – and then we’ll all “get it”.
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Starmer’s takeaway from the ballot box: ignore the voters
After suffering significant blows in the local elections, Labour leader Keir Starmer has insisted that “we get it” – and then ruined it by saying he’ll go “farther and faster” – in the wrong direction.
The party lost the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, the West Midlands mayoralty and council seats up and down the country, but Starmer’s response – and even the venue from which he made it – shows detachment from the public mood, refusal to engage with grassroots discontent, and even active complicity in appalling policies.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Look at where he chose to deliver that message: a munitions factory that supplies weapons to Israel — a state widely accused of committing atrocities in Gaza, and currently facing an International Court of Justice case for genocide.
If there were a competition for the most tone-deaf political photo-op of the year, this one would be hard to beat.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
It made two things crystal clear:
Starmer doesn’t understand — or is choosing to ignore — the anger many voters feel about the UK’s arms trade, particularly in the context of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He is sending a message — whether deliberate or not — that Labour under his leadership stands firm behind the status quo: militarism abroad, authoritarianism at home, and silence in the face of injustice.
It would be one thing if these decisions were merely symbolic missteps.
But they come at a time when Starmer is visibly shedding the party’s principles, its social justice legacy, and its base — all in a bid to appear “respectable” to the establishment and palatable to a handful of swing voters.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
The West Midlands was lost.
Labour councillors are bleeding out.
Reform UK is capitalizing on public disillusionment.
And instead of introspection, we get a press call in front of bombs.
Predictably, this has angered people across the political spectrum. Reform UK supporters may gleefully pile on Labour’s failings — wrongly assuming that every critic must be a “lefty” loyalist — but they’re missing a bigger truth: those of us on the left aren’t defending Labour.
We’re calling it out, because what Starmer is doing is not left-wing. It’s not even centrist. It’s hollow managerialism, dressed in a suit of moral indifference.
In his piece on Another Angry Voice, Thomas G Clark writes:
He’s right. And Labour would do well to listen — not to its PR advisors, but to the millions of voters who are watching this party slip further and further from what it once stood for.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Starmer said, “We get it.”
No, Keir.
You don’t.
If you don’t change course, the public may hand the country to Nigel Farage – and then we’ll all “get it”.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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