If anyone out there was a dedicated reader of International Thinking, you may have been wondering where the hell I have been this last year.
If I said I was busy, it would be true, but I’m usually busy, and I still used to make time for writing here. In truth, I may have let my apathy get the better of me as my party’s outlook darkened.
I spend most of my working day writing about politics in my role as an MP’s caseworker, and since my boss became part of the ruling party, I’ve been defending many of the Government’s decisions (or apologising for them) as part of my job.
Honestly, after a full day of that, the last thing I’ve wanted to do this past year is sit down at home and try to defend them again on my blog.
So that is not what I’m here to do.
As most people in this country would agree, I had very high hopes for Labour after the General Election (my subsequent article was titled “A More Hopeful Day”, for Christ’s sake). And in most ways, I still do.
If I had lost faith in Labour and what we stood for, I would not still be a member. I still believe in Labour, and I still believe in this Government. As of today, I still believe the ship can execute a 3 (maybe 5, or 7) point turn and acheive the popularity necessary to cling onto a working majority at the next GE and show the British people what national renewal really looks like.
But they aren’t making it easy for me to believe that.
There are things that this Government has acheived, remarkable things, that have not been noticed nearly as much as they should be. There are successes to be pointed to, but the Government has been so woefully ineffective at shaping narratives and beholden to the whims of the media that the acheivements get lost in the Westminster drama.
Change has not been forthcoming in the way I expected it to be. My Government is not as radical as it needs to be, let alone what I hoped it would be.
In terms of the scandals and the U-turns, Starmer’s Government is as effective as generating negative headlines as the Tories were, which repulses me. I knew that rags like the Mail and Express were going to take any chance they could to smear Labour, but I didn’t think we’d serve up so much ripe meat for them to feed on. In that sense, I feel utterly disappointed and let down by this Government.
Donations scandals. Rayner gone over tax sleaze. Ministers sacked for impropriety. U-turn after u-turn. Peter Mandelson? Now in what appears to be the twilight of his premiership, Keir’s lack of political judgement has shocked me.
I do think that Mandelson was given the job of US ambassabor (more specifically, ambassador to Trump) by Kier (more specifically, by Morgan McSweeny) because of his movements within the same…circles as Trump; something he and Trump could relate on. British Ambassadors in Washington are usually briefed to “get up the arse of Washington”. With Mandelson and Trump both having dealings in that underworld, Mandelson presumably already knew his way around Trump’s arse.
What Keir didn’t foresee, was that it didn’t matter about what kind of relationship his ambassador had with the President. Trump changes his mind like he changes nappies, and it wouldn’t have made the slightest difference to world affairs or the UK’s prospects if Mandelson was Ambassador, of if Keir had appointed Che Guevara.
Also what Keir didn’t foresee was that Mandelson might be subject to further scandals, given the Prince of Darkness’s history, which is pretty unforgiveable, in my eyes.
And now, what has become of this Government I had such faith in? Devolved into infighting and leadership questions, like the Conservatives before them.
Working people don’t care about the Westminster drama. They don’t care what the Cabinet thinks of leadership challenges, they don’t even care who is Prime Minister. They care about their energy bills. Their mortgage. Their food shop, their fuel prices, their children’s school uniforms. That is what the Government should be focused on as well, and when the Government is focused only on itself as it is now, it makes Labour look ridiculous. Just like the Tories looked.
I understand the crisis of confidence certain Cabinet members are having in Keir’s leadership. After the agonising local elections recently, and the parade of scandal and policy failure we experienced beforehand, I really do understand. But chopping and changing leader, as we have learned from the Conservatives, does not work.
That being said, I was incensed when Andy Burnham was blocked from standing in Gorton and Denton, and I will be similarly miffed if he is blocked from the upcoming Makerfield by-election.
Keir’s tenancy in No. 10 is over. That much is plain. Whilst I abhor that we have to have a leadership election, it’s clear we will be having one.
This is not a moment of excitement or optimism for me, I must make clear. There is a by-election to fight in Greater Manchester, and you can bet Reform and the Greens will be putting every last scrap of energy into contesting it. There is no guarantee of Labour winning, let alone Andy being allowed to run by the NEC.
Then, there will be a by-election for the Mayor of Greater Manchester. An opportunity for Reform to gain control of the second greatest city in the country (sorry Birmingham). Such an eventuality would not be worth Burnham in No. 10.
And there is also no guarantee of Burnham being an effective or popular Prime Minister. The greatest statesman in history would be challenged by the international circumstances currently engaging our Government. And I’ll expect a rapid decline in Burnham’s popularity figures a few months into any potential premiership. It is not an easy time to be leader of anywhere, let alone the United Kingdom.
Compounding my frustration with the Government’s naval-gazing is the fact that things genuinely are getting better. The economy is growing faster than expected, fastest in the G7, as promised. The NHS is seeing the biggest drop in waiting lists in 20 years. Hundreds of thousands of children have been lifted out of poverty. More worker’s rights, closer ties with the EU, regaining our place as 5th largest economy in the world. The plan is working!
So why, when things are just starting to get better, at a time when the world is as unstable as it has ever been, why the hell are we choosing to change leader now?
I don’t like Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, not any more. I’d much rather have Andy Burnham, but I don’t want to change the leader now when things are starting to go so well. But I don’t make these decisions. It seems Wes sodding Streeting does.
However, as I said at the top, despite it all, I am still hopeful. Whoever takes over from Keir, whilst Andy is my vastly preferred choice, the Cabinet hopefuls are all competent politicians who have each overseen successes in their respective departments. I have faith that any one of them will make a decent PM who can continue the good work for the good of the people and the country. But the fact we have to take this risk at all is deeply unsettling.
I dread that one day, if the world continues its trajectory down the u-bend, if Andy Burnham becomes a disappointing and ineffective Prime Minsiter, one day, I may come to miss Keir Starmer.
As an update on myself, for those who are interested, I have been selected as a candidate in the 2027 local elections in my city. My personal professional advancement is now dependent on the fortunes of this Labour Government, so bear that in mind when I write about them, and if my upload schedule becomes as woeful as it has been recently, also blame that.
I’ve also recently finished the final draft of my first fiction novel, which has been taking the majority of my creative juices this past year. But I feel to have regained my impetus to write about the world here as a break from fiction, so expect to hear more from me, about the world, about these lovely little islands I live on, and more!
stay safe
/e