Blue Labour: under Keir Starmer, a once-great socialist organisation has become nothing but the Substitute Tory Party.
This is the dilemma facing voters who want change at the next UK general election:
Labour will tell Brits that it doesn't matter if we don't like Labour's right wing policies, we must vote for them to Get The Tories Out #GTTO
But as soon as Labour wins this will be presented as: British people endorse right wing Labour policies.
It's a scam. Don't vote Lab.
— Chris Corney (@ChrisCorney1) July 8, 2023
It’s a valid criticism. The truth of it is partially in the quality of the people Keir Starmer is attracting, after his changes (This Writer can’t call them reforms):
This really ought to be waving a big, red flag at us – this Tory is comfortable in Starmer's party. Starmer has turned it into a party that is indistinguishable from the Conservatives, such that this kind of floor-crossing is possible.
It's really just one big party. https://t.co/kjL8vaHKZf— simon maginn (@simonmaginn) July 11, 2023
And the truth of it is in what Labour will do, if it takes office after the next general election:
🚨 BREAKING: Labour will KEEP the Tories' policies on public spending.
The Sunday Times reports that the Shadow Cabinet expects "to have no more money" for public services.
The party has also ruled out raising taxes on the rich. pic.twitter.com/T3ym9WRy7N
— Stats for Lefties 🏳️⚧️ (@LeftieStats) July 8, 2023
In other words, Labour would follow Tory policy until such time as the economy improves (and you can bet that the economy won’t improve enough for Keir Starmer to introduce any socialist ideas, or indeed any measures that would improve the lot of the “ordinary working people” he claims to represent.
Think about what Labour has already said it will not do:
Things Labour have RULED OUT doing in power:
Fighting climate crisis
Controlling rents
Capping energy & food prices
Nationalising water to stop private companies profiteering and polluting
Increasing benefits to the poorest
Increasing taxes on the wealthyThey’re Tories
— Kerry-Anne Mendoza 🏳️🌈 (@TheMendozaWoman) July 11, 2023
Add to this the fact that Labour won’t build more houses:
"If you become chancellor, will you spend tax payers money building houses?"
Labours Rachel Reeves says no. #BBCLauraK pic.twitter.com/0qzPcDaOHA
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) July 9, 2023
This is while 1.2 million people are waiting for social housing.
Then again, Labour will continue the privatisation of the National Health Service in England, even though 7.4 million people are waiting for NHS treatment as a result of this progressive mismanagement.
Keir Starmer himself seems to believe he is above the concerns of the people he reckons should be voting for him.
We saw him, last week, shutting up young environmental activists who tried to speak out during his policy announcement on how Labour wanted young people to be able to express themselves in speech. And he lied to them; after promising to meet them after his own speech, Starmer ran away.
Is it because he hates “tree huggers”?
Genuinely intrigued how reactionary this man becomes as PM.
I quite like people who enjoy nature, it’s something which transcends left and right. And I don’t really trust people who don’t. pic.twitter.com/MEPxFW08Mu
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) July 9, 2023
He’s not interested in “hope and change”, you see:
Earth saw its three hottest days on record just this week pic.twitter.com/NHl821ocyy
— j (@jrc1921) July 9, 2023
The economist Richard Murphy has highlighted that Starmer’s “tree huggers” comment indicates not only that he isn’t interested in new economic and policy thinking about the issues the UK faces as a country, but that he and the rest of the Shadow Cabinet are far more right-wing than Ed Miliband – and Ed (bless ‘im) is himself hardly the socialist his dad was.
Reeves and Starmer: maintainers of the status quo https://t.co/TThCAyHG7z How did Labour come to be led by two people so profoundly conservative, as Reeves and Starmer so very obviously are on any issue you can think of?
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) July 9, 2023
In the article, Mr Murphy states:
This is the attitude of a prospective Labour Chancellor who questions whether we can afford to save the planet because it is instead better to crush the well-being of millions with unnecessary interest rate rises.
Reeves says she and Starmer are as one on issues. I suspect that for now that is true. It is deeply dangerous that such a reactionary pair are in that position and are described as the Opposition when it is so apparent that their goal is perpetuation of the status quo.
Link that with the words of Ian Hodson, below:
Democracy is not the option of voting for different parties that offer the same solutions. Democracy is the ability to vote for an alternative to the policy’s that created the crisis.
— Ian Hodson (@IanBFAWU) July 9, 2023
The consensus is clear: Labour is now nothing but a Substitute Tory Party. We should call it the STP from now on.
That’s one reason why this claim by the party’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, is hard to take seriously:
This week I’ll set out Labour’s plan to to clean up politics after 13 years of Tory sleaze and scandal.
We’ll put a stop to the revolving door – with tough rules and enforcement.
Labour will overhaul a broken system that’s allowed cronyism to run rife.https://t.co/pmL4zEBYIt
— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) July 9, 2023
Labour is itself riddled with cronyism.
Look at its attitude to the scandal of Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list: where once Labour had planned to get rid of the House of Lords altogether, it has shelved the idea – and in any case would want to keep the honours system and the possibility of gifting a place in the second House of Parliament to its… cronies.
It is clear that Keir Starmer’s (and Rachel Reeves’s, and even Ed Miliband’s) party will not be representative of the people of the UK and will not give us the change we desperately need – in fact it will deliberately frustrate any such aim.
It can do this because of the current “First Past The Post” electoral system that ensures each of the two largest parties in Parliament have “safe seats” that they can expect to win at every election. Knowing that, cronyism ensures that these seats go to those who most strongly support the right-wing views of the leaders – never mind what they’re saying to the voters. They don’t have to listen to us.
And that’s why the UK is regressing; our so-called leaders aren’t interested in building a dynamic, go-ahead nation with a restored economy – they just want to ride us all into ruin and then take what they can for themselves.
The answer is clear to those of us who can see it. We need to change the voting system to root out the rot.
Don’t vote Labour at the next election. And don’t vote Tory either.
Vote for candidates who support proportional representation.
Vote for independents who understand the needs of your constituency.
And make sure everyone you know does the same. Starmer’s treachery means it is your only hope.
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