Starmer’s strategy of commiting to nothing is doing Labour no favours
JVL Introduction
Can Starmer’s strategy of saying nothing, doing nothing, committing to nothing really work as he waits for the Tories to implode?
Phil Burton-Cartledge has his doubts. Labour is its usual 20 points ahead in the polls, but Starmer as leader isn’t. In fact, he and Sunak are more or less level pegging.
Even former Tory voters attracted to Labour, says Phil, want something more than managerialist vibes: “They want to know that Labour are going to fix the issues Sunak avoids mentioning, and offer a different way of doing things. Not the same old rubbish in a red rosette.”
Furthermore, “As I’ve long argued, alienating loyal Labour voters – particularly the new base built during the Corbyn years – is anything but clever politics”, reminding those who believe in Starmer that centre-left parties that have sacrificed their base have seldom managed to construct a new one.
Perhaps he will win nevertheless, but Starmer is doing a good job of making it that much harder.
__________
Soon after this article appeared Labour launched its new strategy of personalised attacks on Rishi Sunak, presenting itself as “the party of law and order”. We have added a short postscript below.
This article was originally published by A Very Public Sociologist on Tue 4 Apr 2023. Read the original here.
Why Keir Starmer is Polling Poorly
Loading article text…
The “adverts” put out by the current Labour Party is
a new low in politics – the dog whistle can be heard loud
and clear –
– all of which only high-lights the absence from the Starmer
leadership of any substantive policies.
Starmer is a dictator within labour, a ruthless unprincipled liar. I doubt many reading this will agree with me, but I think he will be even worse if he has control of the state (although maybe the deep state controls him, as it tries to do, mostly successfully, with all PMs). If he will attack Sunak in those, obviously untrue, personal terms, nothing is beyond him. He must be stopped.
What a careerist phoney Emily Thornberry’s turned out to be!
One wonders what the leadership would define as ‘success’ for this campaign; Lee Anderson defecting back to Labour perhaps?
As often said, Starmer is worse than useless. Starmer is a bully and a coward. In boxing terms, Starmer punches below his weight and usually punches low.
Unlike Paul Seligman I don’t think Starmer is ruthless or with any discernible political nous – a liar and hypocrite certainly – but simply a ‘yes man’ willing to obey those who have put him in place to remove any of hint of socialism from the Labour Party. Given the amount of ammunition he must have gifted the Tories to use when it will hurt most – particularly the latest ‘ads’ which I am sure will backfire big style as I understand Starmer was actually a member of the panel considering current sentencing guidelines – one wonders whether he is there to wreck it completely….
And yes Tim, what careerist phoneys a lot of them are turning out to be! So disappointing.
Starmer seems like a phony who stands for nothing and stands to disappoint even his supporters. It isn’t just lack of charisma that inhibits his poll rating. His eviction of long-standing human rights activists who believe in Palestinian rights is an indication of his duplicity. I find the most recent level of Labour campaign material demeaning.
The tasteless dishonesty of Starmer’s latest advertisement campaign should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed his hounding from the Labour Party of socialists and advocates of Palestinian rights. Jeremy Corbyn took pride in not making personal attacks on political opponents.
I felt that the author missed much about Starmer. The evidence is Overwhelming that Starmer is a Liar, a Fraud, a Dictator and a Traitor to Socialism and the People.
His attack on those that criticise Israel and fully supported Corbyn has been nothing short of criminal.
His campaigning for the local elections are sound bite statements, not clear policies.
My official complaint to the LP, that I made against Starmer (Sept 2021)!
They accepted the complaint and I received an email saying it would be going before the NEC.
As evidence, I pasted in my email to Starmer and Ashworth, saying he never replied or said anything about it in public, this is why I’m complaining. I added that I posted it on his Twitter account and his Facebook page.
Here’s the email I sent to him and Ashworth.
You are being handed a Golden Opportunity to attack this Pathetic and Nasty Tory Government, yet we hear nothing from you, Why? Let me help you, this is all researchable.
Tories, “The NHS is safe in our hands” and “We will never Privatise the NHS”. They Lied, they’ve closed Hospitals, Wards, Beds and A&Es, we are 40k nurses, 20k Dr’s and GPs short.
In 2018 the NHS paid £9 billion to Privuate Companies to run parts of it and that figure is accelerating year on year. All NHS Dentists are now run by Private Companies.
1.
Doctor Bob Gill video.
Telling you what is happening to our NHS in great detail.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2c3lQsvkZ4&feature=share
2.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/29/nhs-wields-the-axe-on-17-unnecessary-procedures
3.
https://calderdaleandkirklees999callforthenhs.wordpress.com/2020/08/22/please-say-no-right-now-to-withdrawal-of-routine-nhs-funding-to-31-tests-treatments-and-medical-procedures/?fbclid=IwAR3tb9WYA_g0iyyE2ECePImkmiYx-zczv-wJVYYiWfDwLEwlnUB1B3fiTTc