Is British PM Starmer redefining labour, abandoning its values?

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*

The Labour Party and its leader, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, are highly unpopular, much like the previous PM, Rishi Sunak, and his Conservative Party. The latest YouGov poll result, released on October 8, 2024, reveals that more than six out of ten people in Britain dislike Starmer as Prime Minister, with 63% holding a negative opinion of him. Starmer and his leadership are now more unpopular than both Rishi Sunak and Nigel Farage. Such an ignominious fall is no accident but rather a result of Starmer's own making. His political positions are indistinguishable from those of other reactionary, right-wing, and conservative political leaders in the UK and across Europe. His leadership manifesto, electoral promises, and actions as Prime Minister suggest that Starmer is suffering from multiple personality disorder in politics. Starmer often says one thing and does exactly the opposite. No amount of political or ideological intervention will change the course of the Labour Party under his leadership, as he remains committed to his donors—his corporate masters.

The Labour Party government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has imposed austerity measures by cutting welfare budgets, including reductions to child benefits, winter fuel allowances for the elderly, and other welfare supports for vulnerable populations. However, while implementing these cuts, Starmer, as Prime Minister, enjoys personal gifts and support worth more than £100,000. Such entitlements for a PM are incompatible with the realities faced by the vast majority of citizens in Britain. While Starmer enjoys privileges beyond his means, the country grapples with increasing food bank use, rising unemployment, and escalating child poverty—threatening the basic rights of citizenship. This disparity reflects Starmer's lack of a moral and political compass to lead the country. Under his leadership, the Labour Party has also been significantly weakened due to his corporate-driven politics, which stand in stark contrast to the traditional labour values of working-class politics.

Working-class politics is rooted in a moral framework shaped by everyday life—stemming from and founded on principles of work, cooperation, solidarity, equality, justice, liberty, peace, prosperity, and the collective happiness of people, regardless of their backgrounds. These ideals form the foundation of internationalism, which is grounded in local working-class cultures and shapes the values of local, regional, national, and international politics through solidarity and cooperation. The working people of Britain have a long history of fighting against British feudalism, colonialism, imperialism, fascism, Zionism, and apartheid regimes, extending their solidarities beyond borders in the pursuit of justice, equality, liberty and fraternity while deepening democracy at home.

Labour Party government has imposed austerity measures by cutting welfare budgets for vulnerable populations

Such ideals and values have no place in the Labour Party under the leadership of Starmer, whose politics, "unburdened by doctrine," is far from value-free. In reality, he has betrayed and abandoned the working-class values and principles of labour in pursuit of corporate interests aligned with the demands of capitalism, all under the guise of promoting economic growth. Starmer’s politically untenable positions on NATO, nuclear weapons, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and the genocide in Gaza reflect his continued embrace and celebration of colonial, imperialist, and Zionist doctrines, all under the guise of politics and governance "unburdened by doctrine." Mr Starmer as a labour PM and current Labour Party is without any form of labour values. These further underscores the disconnect between his leadership and the working-class values of justice, equality, and solidarity that once defined the Labour Party. This political and ideological hypocrisy from a Labour leader breeds reactionary politics both in Britain and abroad.

There is nothing progressive about the Labour Party under Starmer’s leadership today. Labour leaders, such as Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield, have quit the Labour Party and exposed the hypocrisies of Starmer and his government’s "cruel and unnecessary" policies against working people. While resigning from the Labour Party is a significant political act, it is not enough to create alternative politics to revive Labour values and uphold the interests of the working class. It is time for working people in Britain to save and reclaim their values and fight for their citizenship rights by rejecting the politics and ideology of leaders like Starmer. The survival of life and deepening of democracy in Britain depends on the struggle of working people, as this is the only viable alternative to celebrate working class values in politics.

—

*Scholar based in UK

Comments

Former civil servants raise alarm over conflict of interest in Supreme Court's forest advisory panel

By A Representative In a strongly worded open letter to the Chief Justice of India, 60 retired senior civil servants from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and other central services have raised serious concerns over what they term a “conflict of interest” in the current composition of the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), tasked with advising the Court in forest and environmental matters. The signatories, all part of the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), expressed grave apprehension that the CEC—now comprising entirely of recently retired officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)—may lack impartiality in ongoing litigation, particularly those challenging the Forest Conservation Amendment Act (FCAA), 2023.

Prof. Vidyut Joshi: Gujarat’s knowledge institutions have lost their soul, urgent reorientation needed

By A Representative In a thought-provoking column published in Sandesh , eminent sociologist and former Vice-Chancellor Prof. Vidyut Joshi has raised urgent concerns over the erosion of intellectual autonomy and social relevance in Gujarat’s leading research and academic institutions. Building on insights from the recent paper Secret of Creating High Performing Knowledge Institutions by development economist Prof. Tushaar Shah, Joshi paints a stark picture of institutions that have strayed far from their foundational vision.

Remembering Vasant and Rajab: The forgotten martyrs who died to protect India’s soul from communal hatred

By Hidayat Parmar How much do we truly know about the real history of Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s royal city? July 1st marks a date that shines a light on two of its noblest sons—Vasant and Rajab—whose legacy lives on as a powerful reminder of secular unity and fearless sacrifice.

Top civil rights leader announces plan to lead delegation to Pakistan amidst post-war tensions

By A Representative In a significant move, well-known academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey has announced the plan to send a 22-member delegation to Pakistan to engage in dialogue with its government and civil society. The delegation proposed to go to Pakistan under the banner of Socialist Party (India) as a fact-finding mission to help seek solution to continuing tensions between the two countries over the fallout of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Global recognition at UNHRC: A breakthrough for communities discriminated on work and descent

By Amit Kumar, Naveen Gautam* In a historic moment for global human rights, the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council opened with a powerful acknowledgment of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD)—groups affected by caste-like systems of exclusion, marginalization, and inherited inequality. This recognition was delivered by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his global human rights update, signaling a major shift in international discourse.

Climate action in rural India can go hand in hand with sustainable livelihoods: NGO shows the way

By Bharat Dogra Mobilizing an adequate response to climate change is often seen as an expensive task and then there is a lot of talk about who’ll bear the burden. However in rural areas both climate mitigation and adaptation can be integrated well with the promotion of sustainable rural livelihoods and in such conditions people become very supportive towards it. In such conditions climate response can progress much more smoothly without becoming burdensome.

J&K's Mallabuchan villagers symbolically cut Off pipeline in protest against ‘water injustice’

By A Representative In a striking act of peaceful protest, residents of Mallabuchan village in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district symbolically disconnected the Ahmadpora-Tangmarg water pipeline on Thursday, denouncing decades of official neglect and violation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) norms.

Organic food stakeholders oppose FSSAI's proposed regulatory changes, warn against undermining small farmers, safe food movement

By A Representative Over 130 signatories representing India’s organic farming community have submitted a strongly worded letter to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), objecting to key proposals discussed at a hybrid meeting held by the authority on May 7, 2025. The meeting, convened to review the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations 2017, reportedly considered drastic amendments that stakeholders claim will harm small producers and the broader movement for agroecological food systems.

Few Bollywood actors possessed Sanjeev Kumar's subtle detachment and sensitivity

By Harsh Thakor On 9th July, we celebrated the 85th birthday of legendary Hindi film actor, Sanjeev Kumar., known as Haribhai Jariwala. Sanjeev Kumar penetrated zones of versatility or acting craft, almost unparalleled in Hindi cinema. He was one one the very few who touched horizons of true genius, transcending regions in acting virtually unexplored. Rarely did any artist get stuck as thickly into the skin of the character. The diversity of expressions in his moves reminded one of the different water colours of a painting. Sanjeev manifested the ventures of an artist to tap the regions unexplored. He simply defied all conventions of Bollywood, making path breaking experiments. His acting had a subtle degree detachment and sensitivity, which few Bollywood actors ever possessed. He may not have possessed the drop dead looks of a Dev Anand, Dharmendra or Sashi Kapoor or the professionalism or star charisma of an Amitabh Bachan, Rajesh Khanna or Shah Rukh Khan. However in pure acting...

Search This Blog