Unsurprisingly, the most important aspect of the Labour Party conference was Keir Starmer’s speech, hitting airwaves on both ends of the political spectrum. Other ministers and senior Labour Party officials addressed the conference in a very traditional manner, as expected, setting a broad trajectory of the next years of governance. In contrast, the Prime Minister knew that now, with the lowest opinion polls of any British PM, he had to set the battleground on which to fight for the survival of his job and his party.
His hour-long speech was a change from his usual droning of disappointing policy and tedious politics, to a moral and social outcry against racism and the far-right. It involved naming Nigel Farage as the enemy, not only of Labour but also of Britain, and stating “He doesn’t like Britain, he doesn’t believe in Britain,” to great applause. To me, and many others on the left, it felt like a relief to finally hear our ‘progressive’ PM label racism for what it is.
It is vital to point out racism and intolerance wherever it pokes its head out in society, but these feel like more Starmer tactics that aren’t going to work, because it’s his same old ‘us or them’ messaging. If he cared about the issue of racism, he would have called it out when the far-right marched on London, or when Reform called to end indefinite leave to remain. Only now does Starmer utilise this language for his political benefit.
He has done this before, and it has worked. Labour won 2024 with the biggest majority in British politics, not because the electorate loved Labour, but because they hated the Conservatives. Labour recognised the discontent towards the Conservatives and therefore ran on a message of ‘us or them.’ This worked because of how unpopular the incumbent government was, but Starmer fails to recognise the vital variable in deploying this tactic against Reform. Nigel Farage is the most popular politician in British politics. So, when millions hear ‘us or them’ out of Labour, they want ‘them’; they want Farage.
In many ways, this feels like the same political game played by Labour that we are used to, since Starmer’s rise to leadership in 2019. It has worked up until now, but its success is running out. Relabelling the enemy but playing the same game will not be enough against the storm of Farage. Unless Starmer starts to improve the lives of the working people of Britain, a Reform government is on our horizon.
“Keir Starmer, 2020 Labour Party leadership election hustings, Bristol 1” by Rwendland is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Labour Party Conference: Starmer Slams Farage, But Will He Act On It?
Unsurprisingly, the most important aspect of the Labour Party conference was Keir Starmer’s speech, hitting airwaves on both ends of the political spectrum. Other ministers and senior Labour Party officials addressed the conference in a very traditional manner, as expected, setting a broad trajectory of the next years of governance. In contrast, the Prime Minister knew that now, with the lowest opinion polls of any British PM, he had to set the battleground on which to fight for the survival of his job and his party.
His hour-long speech was a change from his usual droning of disappointing policy and tedious politics, to a moral and social outcry against racism and the far-right. It involved naming Nigel Farage as the enemy, not only of Labour but also of Britain, and stating “He doesn’t like Britain, he doesn’t believe in Britain,” to great applause. To me, and many others on the left, it felt like a relief to finally hear our ‘progressive’ PM label racism for what it is.
It is vital to point out racism and intolerance wherever it pokes its head out in society, but these feel like more Starmer tactics that aren’t going to work, because it’s his same old ‘us or them’ messaging. If he cared about the issue of racism, he would have called it out when the far-right marched on London, or when Reform called to end indefinite leave to remain. Only now does Starmer utilise this language for his political benefit.
He has done this before, and it has worked. Labour won 2024 with the biggest majority in British politics, not because the electorate loved Labour, but because they hated the Conservatives. Labour recognised the discontent towards the Conservatives and therefore ran on a message of ‘us or them.’ This worked because of how unpopular the incumbent government was, but Starmer fails to recognise the vital variable in deploying this tactic against Reform. Nigel Farage is the most popular politician in British politics. So, when millions hear ‘us or them’ out of Labour, they want ‘them’; they want Farage.
In many ways, this feels like the same political game played by Labour that we are used to, since Starmer’s rise to leadership in 2019. It has worked up until now, but its success is running out. Relabelling the enemy but playing the same game will not be enough against the storm of Farage. Unless Starmer starts to improve the lives of the working people of Britain, a Reform government is on our horizon.
“Keir Starmer, 2020 Labour Party leadership election hustings, Bristol 1” by Rwendland is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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