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Labour bigwig Emily Thornberry let slip a truth about Labour that many of us have known for years, on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg this morning (September 7, 2025).

She said the party’s problem is “not listening” to people of good faith who want it to succeed in government.

I would certainly agree with that. I have tried, on multiple occasions, to get Labour to do the right thing – only to be ignored.

Take social media: independent media like Vox Political are being crushed by algorithms and arbitrary decisions from the likes of Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Facebook. I have explained how this happens – every “recommended for you” post is one that steals from me – and I’ve even written to Keir Starmer about it.

But has Labour lifted a finger to defend independent voices against corporate control? Not once.

Then there’s disability benefits: millions stand to lose out under Labour’s policies – more than 3.2 million by the Department for Work and Pensions’ own numbers – and the party shows no sign of backing down. In April I set out the facts telling Labour to stop its attack on disabled people, but after more than a year in government it has carried on pandering to the worst narratives instead of standing up for justice.

On channel migration, the same problem appears: instead of challenging the cruelty and falsehoods behind the so-called “small boats crisis”, Labour has too often adopted the framing of the former Tory government – and Reform UK (in a desperate bid to stop the jackbooted march of Nigel Farage and his supporters. I and others have pointed out how political decisions, not desperate refugees, are to blame for rising numbers – but Labour seems more interested in looking “tough” than in telling the truth.

And then there’s tax and the economy: Rachel Reeves has repeatedly ducked the chance to deliver bold reform, even as evidence mounts that the UK’s shrinking tax base and rising inequality are unsustainable. I’ve shown how the current system is rigged, and how Labour must change it if it really wants to govern for the many. But again, the party won’t listen.

So yes, Thornberry is right.

Labour is not listening.

It is not listening to the people who care enough to point out its mistakes, who want it to succeed, and who would gladly support a party that showed some courage.

Instead, it turns a deaf ear – and risks losing the very people it needs most.

Emily Thornberry has given us the diagnosis. The question now is whether Labour will take the medicine, or carry on making itself sick.

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