Sighs of relief reached gale-warning levels when the Tories were ousted in July. However, that storm front fast lost its identity as the new reality was battered home by the son of a tool maker (did you know?). No one who understands politics or the sheer social carnage of Conservative maladministration this past decade and a half can have been expecting instant Nirvana. However, what we got, it seems, was a posturing PM who wanted to show he could be tough.
Not sure that’s what the electorate that bothered to
turn-out, voted for.
It’s to do with expectation. Somewhere at the back
of our minds we still think of Labour as more ‘caring’ than the Tories –
despite the dead-eyed stare and forced smile (grimace) of Wes Streeting.
Despite the treatment of Diane Abbot (and I’m no fan) by the party she served
for decades. Despite the enthusiastic, unnecessary welcoming into the folds of
Tory right-wing loon Natalie Elphicke earlier this year. Yes – that Elphicke. Not only extreme right
wing but took over her husband’s seat when he was accused of sexual assault. Her
defence of him being (and I paraphrase) these women chased him because he’s so
gorgeous. – Do look up Charlie Elphicke.
So the clear lack of empathy evident in initial decision
making in the early days, the bits folk will remember – have shaken people. An
equivalent would be the shockwave that reverberates through society when we
learn of a woman involved in extreme physical cruelty to a child. We all know
it’s a possibility but deep down it’s something we still on the whole associate
with men. Statistically that is a correct supposition.
There were expectations that Starmer’s
administration would be more compassionate than a Tory government and Starmer
could have made decisions that supported that expectation. He did not.
So – choosing to keep the two-child benefit cap brought
us up short – and it was a choice. Scrapping the winter fuel payments to the
elderly stuck in our collective craw.
Add that to Labour’s trotting along in the US tail-wind
regarding the soft touch on Israel’s ‘Trump’ - Netanyahu for nearly a year now
– despite the other 3 nations of the union calling for an immediate ceasefire
back when it might have made a difference - and we are already wondering what
is going on.
I would argue strongly Starmer’s Labour is acting
entirely true to form.
Blair’s New Labour chose to stick to Thatcher’s
fiscal programme for two years. It was the Blair administration that introduced
tuition fees – crushing generations under debt. It was New Labour that
introduced the private sector into NHS and Education infrastructure and of
course – it was Blair who served up the tragedy of Iraq, the nightmare that
followed and which reverberates today.
But step back further into the mists of time. During
the pre-Thatcher Labour years 1974 – 79, £750million worth of shares in BP were
sold off, there were extreme public spending cuts and the sell-off of council
house stock was sanctioned by the Labour government albeit it the sell-offs
happened in Tory-controlled councils.
What I’m saying is – Labour has ‘form’ and I’m not
just referring to the last Labour government.
Anyone surprised by Starmer’s Labour needs to dust
off some mental cobwebs.
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