Labour’s uncivil war digs a deeper hole

IT’S going to get a lot worse before it gets better for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party.

Record falls in the economy will be followed by a relatively big bounce.

The easing of Covid restrictions, allowing drinkers inside pubs and summer holidays, will raise spirits.

But don’t expect a return of hugging any time soon in a party having an uncivil war instead of a postmortem.

Reconnecting emotionally with parts of a working class mesmerised by Con-servative Boris Johnson was never going to be easy.

Landmark defeats in Hartlepool, Tees Valley and West Midlands made it harder.

Complaints I hear from MPs about Starmer’s misfiring operation, including one that his office is as incompetent as Jeremy Corbyn’s, are cemented by scapegoating deputy Angela Rayner.

Turning Labour into a party on the path to government is a Herculean task after four general election defeats. Disappointment at the PM’s false promises will eventually kick in and sleaze might bite. The seat-losing Worthing council leader saying that southerners resent Johnson’s focus on the North exposes breakable fault lines in a new Tory coalition. But Labour must change rather than wait for a collapse. That doesn’t mean ditching popular left-wing policies. What it does mean is learning lessons. Why did Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram retain working class hearts and minds in North West England when they were lost in the North East? How did Labour win Tory mayorships in the West of England and Cambridgeshire? Why did Mark Drakeford do better in Wales than Labour in England? Starmer faces a rough ride and would be wise to start making friends. But remember, the Tories came fifth in the 2019 Euro elections. Reviving Labour will be tough but can be done if Starmer, an Arsenal fan and Sunday footballer, raises his game.