Labour is lining up its excuses – and hasn’t even lost Batley & Spen yet
He’s gone through the book of excuses – several times – but Keir Starmer still won’t take the hint and clear off if Labour loses the Batley & Spen by-election on Thursday.
That’s the message coming from Starmer’s supporters – nowhere more clearly than in a Huffington Post article that not only tries to excuse a loss that hasn’t happened yet, but tells us that Starmer will only go after the Labour Right have rigged leadership elections to ensure that party members can never elect a leader who is capable of winning a national poll.
I’d go through the article for you – but I don’t have to. Alex Nunns has done it for me:
This article is a goldmine of stupidity. The quotes from Labour MPs and officials show a bunch of people flailing around as they drown, unable to understand the situation they're in.
But amid that, it contains useful glimpses of the Labour right's aims. >https://t.co/OFkOOM0YY4
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
The justification? "MPs represent millions of voters, whereas party members represent only themselves."
Nah MPs get elected as Labour reps. The idea they're all brilliant individuals whose sheer talent wows voters is quickly disproved by all the quotes from MPs in this article.
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
Whoever gave this quote should really have kept schtum. I hope Keir reads it.
The Labour right knows he's is a dud and will dump him as soon as it's safe to. This isn't a Catch-22 for Keir—if he has any sense, which is doubtful, he won't build his own gallows. pic.twitter.com/DW2KTxxGod
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
Great advice! What Keir has been missing is the "drama" of a fight with his own party.
He suspended the former leader, for God's sake. How much drama do you need?
Since then Keir's and Labour's polling has collapsed.
You wonder if these MPs are actually trying to sabotage him. pic.twitter.com/Z9vpsSNRLY
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
Kinnock's best general election result was 34% in 1992, way behind Corbyn's 40% in 2017.
In the other general election Kinnock fought, he achieved 31%, less than Labour got in 2019.
Ironically these people accuse the left of being stuck in the 80s. pic.twitter.com/X7Rv4e5XBa
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
Starmer would be doing great if it wasn't for the rule of six. pic.twitter.com/lpFSlX9H7u
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
This is my favourite bit. The biggest thing Keir has got going for him—the BIGGEST thing—is that he's so invisible no one knows who he is. pic.twitter.com/5epKDMr1aF
— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) June 28, 2021
The messages are clear:
- If the wider electorate has abandoned Labour, it’s because the party’s own members don’t understand that the party doesn’t represent them any more – and should be disenfranchised before they can take power away from those it now represents: suits and haircuts devoid of any policy or direction who are simply holding place to ensure the UK remains in the hands of fascists.
- Centrists and right-wingers in the Labour Party are backstabbers who will ditch Starmer as soon as they think they can without turning over the leadership to a popular left-winger like Jeremy Corbyn who could win an election if current party officers were replaced by members who support what Labour originally represented.
- Starmer’s supporters think that attacking left-wingers – including with mental health slurs about “loonies” and false accusations of anti-Semitism, for crying out loud – appeals to the wider electorate, even though the evidence of the last 15 months demonstrates the exact opposite. Left-wing voters aren’t stupid. They recognise a gang of shifty, treacherous liars when they see one.
- The Labour Right are determined that Starmer is a prime minister-in-waiting and if the electorate disagree, then the electorate are wrong. The problem is, at a general election, it is the electorate who have the final say – not swivel-eyed right-wingers squatting in a party where they don’t belong.
- Starmer’s people reckon he’ll be able to demonstrate that he’s a man of the people once lockdown ends – even though he has already proved, categorically, that he isn’t.
The reason?
- Starmer’s people also reckon that his best quality is the fact that nobody knows who he is or what he stands for.
Taken as a whole, these people are so contradictory that they are committing political suicide in front of us all. And they call the Left “loonies”!
And what do we think of their excuses? Well, here’s one take:
If Labour lose #BatleyAndSpen:
It's not the fault of Kim Leadbeater. She shouldn't have been put in this position.
It's not the fault of George Galloway. He's the symptom, not the cause.
It's not the fault of Muslim voters. They've been ignored.
The fault is Keir Starmer's.
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush🥀🇵🇸🇾🇪 (@OwenPaintbrush) June 29, 2021
Following on from that, though, here’s another:
Starmer will not go when Labour loses ….if you think he will, you don't really get what's going on
— Jackie Walker – HRH, MP, MBE, ABC (@Jackiew80333500) June 28, 2021
I reckon that’s accurate – for reasons identified by Alex Nunns:
The aim of the Labour Party under right-wingers like Starmer is not to win elections; it is to keep control away from socialists who would derail their gravy train in favour of running the UK in a competent way that is fair for everyone.
So, after Starmer loses Batley & Spen, he will concentrate on rigging internal party elections to ensure that no socialist can possibly win – and on stuffing the party machine with right-wingers who will cripple the efforts of any left-winger who, by some miracle, actually succeeds anyway.
But here’s a big question:
How does he expect to convince party members to support any changes when his constant demand that he is right and they are wrong has been shown to be false all the way down the line?
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). 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
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.
The Livingstone Presumption is now 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: