Starmer strikes the wrong note in trying to out-Tory the Tories
A once-great Labour Party has now ditched its principles and is letting down the country as people scream for real change in this crisis
Keir Starmer must surely know that trying to out-Tory the Tories cannot work.
Attempting to steal their clothes on everything from strikes, to Brexit, to immigration policy will not work – the Tories are the original brand and have now won four successive elections. It is thoroughly depressing to see this once-great party scrabbling round for ideas when people across the UK are crying out for better.
Recent polling suggests most people are pessimistic about the future direction of the UK and expect things to get worse.
Labour’s tough talk on strikes helps no one – not least their chances of getting back into Government in the UK. Respecting the right of workers to withdraw their labour ought to be fundamental to a party whose roots are in that very movement, but Keir Starmer has refused to commit to getting rid of the Tories’ anti-trades union laws.
I was appalled to see Wes Streeting, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, attacking the British Medical Association and suggesting that he wouldn’t promise extra pay for nurses.
His solution to the current backlog was to use the private sector – that comes at a significant cost, money which would be better spent bolstering the NHS.
By contrast, Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has done all he can to negotiate responsibly and constructively with the health sector in Scotland, despite the very tight constraints on the Scottish budget.
The reality facing John Swinney this week is that the current Scottish Budget is £1.7billion short due to inflationary pressures.
The offer of £1.5billion in Barnett consequentials over the next two years from the UK Government is too little, too late, and this has an impact on what can be offered to help public sector workers with the Torycreated cost-of-living crisis.
Instead of accepting that Brexit has been an economic disaster, Starmer has doubled down in saying he wants to “make Brexit work”.
Brexit cannot be made to work; it is costing us dearly and will continue to do so. Ending freedom of movement and making statements which make NHS workers who have come from other countries feel unwelcome is further harming our prospects. The recent paper by Gordon Brown fails to offer inspiration on this – there are no radical plans to address the many deficiencies of the distribution of power in UK. Labour has been promising to abolish the House of Lords for over a hundred years. Labour don’t seek to expand or protect the powers of the Scottish Parliament or abolish the powergrabbing UK Internal Market Act. One of the most interesting findings of the Redfield Wilton poll is that, for the majority of people, their views on the attractiveness of independence are not changed by the prospect of a UK Labour Government. Labour must recognise that the only way to have democratic credibility is to give the people of Scotland the right to have their say on their future.
The offer of £1.5bn over the next two years is too little, too late