Skip to main content

Conservative in letter and spirit, Keir Starmer is Labour leader sans labour values

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

Keir Starmer, as the Labour leader, pledged to create a better future based on several progressive policies, including nationalization, higher taxes, and cancelling of tuition fees. These policies were crucial to persuading Labour Party members to elect him as their party leader. However, Keir Starmer has abandoned the policy promises that helped him win the leadership position. If u-turn is a political character, Starmer defines it in both letter and spirit.
Laissez-faire attitude of the Labour leader baffles many and amuses Tories. Under Keir Starmer's leadership, the Labour Party has completely abandoned its commitment to the progressive transformation of politics, society, and the economy in Britain. Starmer argues that he is not ideological about progressive policies, such as public ownership over national resources, which matter to people and their well-being. Instead, he focuses on "growth, growth, growth." However, he does not define the direction of his growth trajectory, leaving many questions about who benefits from his policies and which path he will take to achieve growth.
Starmer's approach sounds like that of a committed conservative leader who is following in the footsteps of reactionary Sunakianism or Trussonomics, which only work for a few. This is neither an ideological free zone nor political junk; these are clear political projects to uphold the political and economic hegemony of the ruling elites over the working masses. Keir Starmer promised to uphold social and economic justice by ending the cruelty of Tory politics in Britain. However, his current political positions defy any logic of progressive politics to ensure social and economic justice. His political positions on the free movement of people and migration sound like those of an entrenched reactionary Tory. He has abandoned the progressive policy promises on the nationalization of rail, water, and energy in the UK. This is why so many Tories love Starmer like a true Conservative.
The National Health Service is crumbling under pressure, with doctors, nurses, and other health workers overworked and underpaid. Schools, colleges, universities, and other educational institutions are also in a state of ruin, with teachers, researchers, and educational workers struggling to make ends meet on low salaries. Public services are becoming directionless, while banking and financial institutions face crises on a daily basis. Train travel and utility bills are a daytime robbery of working people, and the falling living standards are the legacy of decades-long practices of neoliberal economics and conservative politics. The question remains: does any of this matter to the Labour Party under Starmer?
As the cost-of-living and climate crises loom large, nationalisation is the only available policy framework that can help countries recover from economic crises and work for the working masses. Public ownership and control help stabilise the economy and protect the strategic industries, infrastructures, and assets crucial for the economic security of the country and its people. Nationalisation injects stability, innovation, and an entrepreneurial spirit into the economy, whereas privatisation is a legal plunder of national resources that breeds inequality, exploitation, and marginalisation of the labouring masses.
In abandoning nationalisation as a policy framework, Keir Starmer has not only abandoned working people but also taken the Labour Party to an ideological zone concomitant with the Conservative Party. Starmer's politics is not pragmatic but rather plays to the conservative gallery. His political pledges are like British weather, changing four times in a day and bringing four bankrupt seasons in politics. His dishonesty defines his politics of conservative populism. The list of his policy reversals is long, reflecting his regressive leadership practices. The rightward shift of the Labour Party under Starmer's leadership strengthens the Conservatives and destroys progressive potentials. Starmer's disdain for class politics reveals his attraction to amoral ways of gaining state power without the moral anchorage of the masses.
Keir Starmer's pursuit of power reflects a neoliberal conservative praxis that does not offer an alternative but a political and economic curse to everyday life in Britain. He lacks the ideological and political credibility to provide an alternative for the British people. The Labour Party needs a new leader and a new direction that aligns with the requirements of the people and the planet. In the conservative political and economic landscape of Britain, radical mass movements are the only options for working people to regain control over democratic politics and the economy for a progressive transformation of society.
---
*University of Glasgow, UK

Comments

TRENDING

Global Ambedkarites in deep shock over killing of Buddhist Ambedkarite youth in Nanded

Joint  Ambedkar International Mission and Ambedkar Association of North America statement on killing of an Ambedkarite Buddhist youth for celebrating Dr Ambedkar Jayanti (birth anniversary) in his village on 1st June 2023 in Bondhar Haveli village, Nanded, Maharashtra: *** Every single public event hosted by any social or political organization in Maharashtra is not completed without citing Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and yet an Ambedkarite Buddhist youth, Akshay Bhalerao was brutally murdered for celebrating Dr Ambedkar Jayanti in the village Bondhar, Nanded, Maharashtra by dominant caste goons. Caste Atrocities are common in such villages where the Scheduled Castes and Buddhists are daily humiliated, mocked, or abused with caste slurs and women subjected to sexual violence. 

How this top Maoist leader couldn't extricate completely from the Left adventurist line

By Harsh Thakor  On the 31st of May Katakam Sudarshan, known as Comrade Anand, breathed his last, at the age of 69. Anand was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoists) and an important leader of the revolutionary movement of India.

Discussion on making school education meaningful to vulnerable communities

ActionAid note on workshop to boost National Curriculum Framework operations: *** Leading educationists and activists striving to make education meaningful to vulnerable communities gathered in Delhi to discuss the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE). Acting in response to the call of the NCF Steering Committee appointed by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, ActionAid Association had organised the meeting to gather feedback on the draft NCFSE. This is part of ActionAid Association’s commitment to promote inclusive and gender-responsive education. The two-day national workshop titled ‘NCF Perspectives: Seeking Feedback on National Curriculum Framework (NCF)’ on May 30 and 31, 2023, was held at India International Centre, New Delhi. The workshop aimed to ensure a structured approach to gathering feedback from key stakeholders and enhancing their active participation in shaping the response sought by the Government of India. Stakeholders representing e

Abrogation of Art 370: Increasing alienation, relentless repression, simmering conflict

One year after the abrogation by the Central Government of Art. 370 in Kashmir, what is the situation in the Valley. Have the promises of peace, normalcy and development been realised? What is the current status in the Valley? Here is a detailed note by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties , “Jammu & Kashmir: One Year after Abrogation of Art. 370: Increasing Alienation, Relentless Repression, Simmering Conflict”:

Release of dabang neta: Rule of law can't be allowed to be slave to political rhetoric

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  When we look to politicians for solutions and politics as the 'final solution' for every evil then we are disappointed most of the time. In politics, we knowingly or unknowingly become part of the propaganda tool of the ruling elite which exists everywhere across different castes. We often provide issues and talk about them in binaries which suit our elites. The minorities among the marginalised who have no political space and representation rarely get heard by these majoritarian parties whose agenda remain power communities. Every political party in today's time is following the 'successful' formula of 'democracy' which is keeping the 'powerful' 'jaatis' with them leaving aside the marginalised one. The BJP started this but yes they cobbled together all other communities too through a diverse narrative.

J&K RTI activist denied opportunity to address audience, bring forward critical issues

Statement by Er. Irfan Banka, Founder of J&K RTI Foundation and convener of the Nalae Ferozpora Bachav Movement, regarding the incident of official misconduct during the My Town My Pride Jan Abhiyan Program and communication to Raj Bhavan: *** Er. Irfan Banka, a prominent RTI Activist and advocate, has come forward to address an incident of misconduct that occurred during the My Town My Pride Jan Abhiyan Program held at Mugam Town Hall in  Budgam. Additionally, Er. Irfan Banka has communicated the matter to Raj Bhavan, seeking appropriate action. During the event, Er. Irfan Banka was denied the opportunity to address the audience and bring forward critical issues concerning the people and services in the community, including waste management, traffic management, and the achievement of sustainable development goals. The incident involved the Additional Registrar Co-operative Kashmir, who not only prevented Er. Irfan Banka from speaking but also subjected him to public humiliation. E

Why are 17 Indian cos, including Sterlite, blacklisted by Norway bank

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers may recall the gory incidents that took place at Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) in Tamil Nadu in the southern part of India on 22 May, 2018. Thirteen protesters died on the spot when the police opened fire to disperse an assemblage of thousands of local residents and representatives of civil society groups. They were protesting against the adverse environmental impact of the industrial operations of Sterlite Copper which runs a copper smelter plant in the area. Accusations against the company have ranged from polluting local water resources to plans for expanding the installed capacity of the plant without the necessary environmental clearances. A ground report published in The Wire recently, mentions the decision taken by Norges Bank a few years ago to not invest funds from Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) in Sterlite “due to an unacceptable risk of complicity in current and future severe environmental damage and systematic human rights violations

Sengol imbroglio suggests reason why Modi, BJP don't respect modern Indian history

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  The new parliament building opened on February 28. It looks it is not the Parliament but part of #Pratinidhisabhas ' started by earstwhile #princelystates in India. The #BJP for long has been acting as if India is a #Kingdom and Modi ji the new #King of India. Even at the coronations of Kings, you find a large number of people, and dignitaries but look at the opening ceremony we have only one face as if he build everything. Is it the dream of a republic.

Danger ahead: Smartphones making teens sexually smart, but mentally disturbed

By Harasankar Adhikari  We live in a digitally globalised society. Bombarded consumerism and imitation of foreign cultures and practises reshape our everyday lives. Life choices and lifestyles are the driving forces of modernity at present. People of almost all ages are within this realm and rhythm of consumerism for happiness.

Cave of Spleen - a feminist perspective: Status of women in early 18th century England

The Cave of Spleen: Aubrey Beardsley's illustration for Pope's “The Rape of the Lock” By Pragya Ranjan  "The Rape of the Lock" by Alexander Pope published in 1712 is a mock-heroic narrative which satirically glorifies trivial incident of cutting of locks of protagonist Belinda. This poem was written in the Augustan Era (1660-1784) which is marked by the period of scientific reason and rationality, whose effect can be seen on the writers of those times. This timeline is particularly important to analyse the episode of the Cave of Spleen.