It would be wrong to gloat. Mustn’t do it. And generally I don’t. But just for a moment, let’s celebrate the end of the paranoid, reactionary, self-righteous politics of the people who ran the Labour Party for the past five years. It was all over the moment Jeremy Corbyn announced he was standing down, but this was the week they knew it.
I don’t want to rub salt into the wound, because that would sterilise it and help it heal, but the sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey was one of those rare moments of shocking leadership. For those of us who think a broad-based egalitarian government would be a good idea, it has been a long time since a Labour leader has surprised us with such moral clarity.
It does not diminish Keir Starmer’s decisiveness that Long-Bailey brought it on herself. By refusing to delete her tweet praising Maxine Peake’s interview, with its antisemitic implication that Israel was to blame for the death of George Floyd, she made Starmer’s choice clear. Indeed, it makes the triumph of reason all the sweeter that the other side contributed to its own defeat with such a misjudgement.
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And I say this in no spirit of Blairite triumphalism. Or not much, anyway. One of the reasons I was always hopeful during the five years of darkness on the left was that I thought Corbynism would not survive Corbyn. Whoever became leader after him would not be so locked into the world view shared by his inner circle.
In particular, I thought Long-Bailey was both pluralist and competent in ways that Corbyn was not. This week, an anonymous ally of Starmer’s in the shadow cabinet damned her with faint praise as “diligent”, but I think she was better than that. At the time of the negotiations with Theresa May’s government over Brexit last year, she impressed civil servants with her grasp of the complexities of a possible cross-party deal.
But this week she condemned herself. She said, after she was sacked: “I completely agree with the need for us to intensively rebuild our relationship with the Jewish community and the wider electorate.” But by her actions she had proven that she did not.
And if anyone did want to rub salt into the wound, it was Starmer himself, who today, Armed Forces Day, launched a “Labour Friends of the Forces programme”. I hesitate to call this Blairite politics, although it was something Tony Blair was good at: taking positions at odds with voters’ assumptions about your party in order to show you share popular values. The contrast with Corbyn, who would rather not have a military at all, was loudly unspoken.
It is not the first time Starmer has done it. A month after he was elected leader, he won the front page of the Conservative (and especially pro-Johnson) Telegraph with an article saying we owe it to the VE Day generation, “many of whom protected our country in its darkest hour”, to protect them from coronavirus in care homes.
left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch.
1/50 26 June 2020Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
2/50 25 June 2020A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
3/50 24 June 2020A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
4/50 23 June 2020Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
5/50 22 June 2020A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
6/50 21 June 2020Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
7/50 20 June 2020National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
8/50 19 June 2020Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
9/50 18 June 2020Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
10/50 17 June 2020Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
11/50 16 June 2020Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
12/50 15 June 2020Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
13/50 14 June 2020People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
14/50 13 June 2020Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
15/50 12 June 2020A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
16/50 11 June 2020A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from “Extinction Rebellion” to protest the German government’s coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
17/50 10 June 2020A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue’s head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
18/50 9 June 2020Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
19/50 8 June 2020People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
20/50 7 June 2020A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
21/50 6 June 2020Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
22/50 5 June 2020A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
23/50 4 June 2020Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
24/50 3 June 2020A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo
AP
25/50 2 June 2020Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd
AP
26/50 1 June 2020Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd
EPA
27/50 31 May 2020A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand
AFP via Getty
28/50 30 May 2020Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reuters
29/50 29 May 2020A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece
Reuters
30/50 28 May 2020Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok
AFP via Getty
31/50 27 May 2020Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong
Getty
32/50 26 May 2020Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving
Star Tribune via AP
33/50 25 May 2020The aerobatic demonstration team ‘Frecce Tricolori’ of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus
EPA
34/50 24 May 2020Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
AFP via Getty
35/50 23 May 2020Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia
EPA
36/50 22 May 2020Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi
AFP via Getty
37/50 21 May 2020Indigenous leader Kretan Kaingang wears a face mask with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: “Get out Bolsonaro” during a protest demanding the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro outside the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, opponents have filed a request for Bolsonaro’s impeachment based on his mishandling of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
AP
38/50 20 May 2020People wait in line to undergo the coronavirus tests while keeping distance from each other at a makeshift clinic set up on a playground in Incheon, South Korea
Yonhap/AP
39/50 19 May 2020Firefighters fighting a fire at a plastics factory in front of a huge cloud of smoke in Ladenburg, Germany
dpa via AP
40/50 18 May 2020Ugandan academic Stella Nyanzi reacts as police officers detain her for protesting against the way that government distributes the relief food and lockdown situation in Kampala
Reuters
41/50 17 May 2020A woman sits alone on a bench in a park following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dublin, Ireland
Reuters
42/50 16 May 2020Crematory workers using protective gear are pictured at a crematory in Nezahualcoyotl during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico
Reuters
43/50 15 May 2020Healthcare workers, nurses and doctors, unified under the movement called “Take Care of Care” wearing face masks protest against the Belgian authorities’ management of the coronavirus crisis, at the MontLegia CHC Hospital
Reuters
44/50 14 May 2020A girl watches over goats on the banks of the Dal Lake during rainfall in Srinagar
AFP via Getty Images
45/50 13 May 2020Life-size cardboard figures with photos of football fans are positioned on the stands of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s football stadium for their next game, which will be played without spectators, due to the coronavirus outbreak in Germany
Reuters
46/50 12 May 2020Nurses wearing face masks take part in an event held to mark International Nurses Day, at Wuhan Tongji Hospital in China
China Daily via Reuters
47/50 11 May 2020Iraqi protesters gather on the Al-Jumhuriyah bridge in the capital Baghdad during an anti-government demonstration. Modest anti-government rallies resumed in some Iraqi cities Sunday, clashing with security forces and ending months of relative calm just days after Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi’s government came to power. The protests first erupted in Baghdad and Shiite-majority southern cities in October, demanding an end to corruption and unemployment and an overhaul of the ruling class
AFP via Getty
48/50 10 May 2020A man wearing a mask walks his dog in Madrid during the hours allowed by the government to exercise. Spain’s two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, will not enter the next phase out of coronavirus lockdown along with many other regions next week
AFP via Getty
49/50 9 May 2020Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation after laying flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Russia. Russia marks the 75th anniversary since the capitulation of Nazi Germany in WWII amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic
EPA
50/50 8 May 2020German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the German Parliament Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Council Bundesrat in Germany Dietmar Woidke and the presiding judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court’s second senate, Andreas Vosskuhle attend wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Countries in Europe are commemorating the Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day that celebrates Nazi Germany’s surrender during World World II on 8 May 1945
EPA
1/50 26 June 2020Hygienists inside a decontamination area in a coronavirus treatment centre that cares for positive patients that show little or no symptoms in Dakar
AFP via Getty
2/50 25 June 2020A seagull snatches a croissant from a buffet during a press conference at the headquarters of AP Moeller – Maersk in Copenhagen, Denmark
Ritzau Scanpix/AFP/Getty
3/50 24 June 2020A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country’s first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa
Reuters
4/50 23 June 2020Swiss acrobat Ramon Kathriner performs during the “Glacier 3000” Air show, an event marking the reopening of the Alpine facilities above Les Diablerets
AFP via Getty
5/50 22 June 2020A worker cleans volcanic ash off the stupas at the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, a day after Mount Merapi erupted in nearby Sleman, sending a plume of ash into the sky
AFP via Getty
6/50 21 June 2020Aerial view of a burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on June 21, 2020. – The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America’s worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases.
AFP via Getty
7/50 20 June 2020National Guards form a line in front of “Black Lives Matter” protestors in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Donald Trump was holding a campaign rally
AFP via Getty
8/50 19 June 2020Nurses, doctors, midwives and health care workers attend the fourth Zumba dance session organised by the Nursing Council of Kenya at Kenyatta stadium where screening booths and an isolation field hospital have been installed. The dance sessions have been organised to re-energise and uplift health care providers sprits during this pandemic
AFP via Getty
9/50 18 June 2020Alpha jets from the French Air Force Patrouille de France and the Royal Air Force Red Arrows perform a flypast over the statue of Charles de Gaulle on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris to celebrate the 80th anniversary of wartime leader’s appeal to the French people to resist the Nazi occupation, broadcast from London
Reuters
10/50 17 June 2020Activists from the Extinction Rebellion movement block a street outside the German Automobile industry association during a protest in Berlin
AFP via Getty
11/50 16 June 2020Barbers wearing protective suits and face masks inside a salon in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Reuters
12/50 15 June 2020Siegfried White raises his hand as he protests outside a burned Wendy’s restaurant on the third day following Rayshard Brooks death. The black man was shot by police in the car park in Atlanta. The mayor ordered immediate police reforms on Monday after the fatal shooting by a white officer
AFP via Getty
13/50 14 June 2020People take part in a Black Lives Matter protest march in central Tokyo
AFP via Getty
14/50 13 June 2020Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against police brutality and racism in Paris, France. The march was organised by supporters of Assa Traore, whose brother Adama died in police custody in 2016, in circumstances that remain unclear
EPA
15/50 12 June 2020A pro-democracy supporter shouts at riot police during an anti-national security law rally in Mongkok district in Hong Kong, China. Protesters heeded online calls to gather as the city marks the one-year anniversary of the major clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators over the controversial extradition bill
Getty
16/50 11 June 2020A section of the River Spree next to the Reichstag building coloured green by activists from “Extinction Rebellion” to protest the German government’s coal policies in Berlin
AFP via Getty
17/50 10 June 2020A woman poses in front of a decapitated statue of Christopher Columbus at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston Massachusetts. The statue’s head, damaged overnight, was recovered by the Boston Police Department, as a movement to remove statues commemorating slavers and colonisers continues to sweep across the US
AFP via Getty
18/50 9 June 2020Ivy McGregor, left, reads a resolution during the funeral for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church in Houston. George Floyd is being laid to rest in his hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism
AFP via Getty
19/50 8 June 2020People raise their fist and stand on their knees as they demonstrate in Nantes, during a Black Lives Matter protest
AFP via Getty
20/50 7 June 2020A woman looks on during a protest against the killing of George Floyd in Osaka city, western Japan
EPA
21/50 6 June 2020Demonstrator raise their fists at the Lincoln Memorial during a protest against police brutality and racism in Washington, DC. Demonstrations are being held across the US following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota
AFP via Getty
22/50 5 June 2020A handout photo made available by 2020 Planet Labs shows an aerial view of the large diesel spill in the Ambarnaya River outside Norilsk in the Arctic. Russia has managed to contain a massive diesel spill into a river in the Arctic, a spokeswoman for the emergencies ministry told AFP. Environmentalists said the oil spill, which took place last May 29, was the worst such accident ever in the Arctic region
Planet Labs Inc./AFP via Getty
23/50 4 June 2020Activists hold a candlelit remembrance outside Victoria Park in Hong Kong, after the annual vigil, that traditionally takes place in the park to mark the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, was banned on public health grounds because coronavirus
AFP via Getty
24/50 3 June 2020A visitor walks in Odaiba as the sun sets in Tokyo
AP
25/50 2 June 2020Activists of the Socialist Unity Centre of India shout slogans in Ahmedabad in solidarity with protests against the recent killing of George Floyd
AP
26/50 1 June 2020Activists take part in a Black Lives Matter protest in Zurich after the recent death of George Floyd
EPA
27/50 31 May 2020A black man and a white woman hold their hands up in front of police officers in downtown Long Beach during a protest against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died while being arrested and pinned to the ground by the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. Protests sweeping the United States over the death of George Floyd reverberated on the other side of the globe when thousands marched in solidarity on the streets of New Zealand
AFP via Getty
28/50 30 May 2020Police officers are seen amid tear gas as protesters continue to rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Reuters
29/50 29 May 2020A boy holds a sign as refugees protest outside the UNHCR offices against a government decision that they should leave their accommodation provided through European Union and UNHCR funds by the end of May, in Athens, Greece
Reuters
30/50 28 May 2020Cloud iridescence, an optical phenomenon where light is diffracted through water droplets, is pictured at the edge of some clouds before a summer thunderstorm over Bangkok
AFP via Getty
31/50 27 May 2020Riot police try to control pro-democracy supporters at a rally in Causeway Bay district, Hong Kong
Getty
32/50 26 May 2020Protesters and police face each other during a rally after a black man died in police custody hours after a bystander’s video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and had stopped moving
Star Tribune via AP
33/50 25 May 2020The aerobatic demonstration team ‘Frecce Tricolori’ of the Italian Air Force flies in formation above the Milan Cathedral. Starting from 25 May, the Frecce Tricolori will perform every day in the skies throughout Italy as part of the 74th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Italian Republic and to pay homage to the areas most affected by the coronavirus
EPA
34/50 24 May 2020Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca during the early hours of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday which starts at the conclusion of the holy fasting month of Ramadan
AFP via Getty
35/50 23 May 2020Tamika Eastley, left, and Anthony Ragusa work out as the sun sets over the Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane, Australia
EPA
36/50 22 May 2020Firefighters spray water on the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed into a residential area in Karachi
AFP via Getty
37/50 21 May 2020Indigenous leader Kretan Kaingang wears a face mask with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: “Get out Bolsonaro” during a protest demanding the impeachment of President Jair Bolsonaro outside the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. As Brazil careens toward a full-blown public health emergency and economic meltdown, opponents have filed a request for Bolsonaro’s impeachment based on his mishandling of the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
AP
38/50 20 May 2020People wait in line to undergo the coronavirus tests while keeping distance from each other at a makeshift clinic set up on a playground in Incheon, South Korea
Yonhap/AP
39/50 19 May 2020Firefighters fighting a fire at a plastics factory in front of a huge cloud of smoke in Ladenburg, Germany
dpa via AP
40/50 18 May 2020Ugandan academic Stella Nyanzi reacts as police officers detain her for protesting against the way that government distributes the relief food and lockdown situation in Kampala
Reuters
41/50 17 May 2020A woman sits alone on a bench in a park following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Dublin, Ireland
Reuters
42/50 16 May 2020Crematory workers using protective gear are pictured at a crematory in Nezahualcoyotl during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico
Reuters
43/50 15 May 2020Healthcare workers, nurses and doctors, unified under the movement called “Take Care of Care” wearing face masks protest against the Belgian authorities’ management of the coronavirus crisis, at the MontLegia CHC Hospital
Reuters
44/50 14 May 2020A girl watches over goats on the banks of the Dal Lake during rainfall in Srinagar
AFP via Getty Images
45/50 13 May 2020Life-size cardboard figures with photos of football fans are positioned on the stands of Borussia Moenchengladbach’s football stadium for their next game, which will be played without spectators, due to the coronavirus outbreak in Germany
Reuters
46/50 12 May 2020Nurses wearing face masks take part in an event held to mark International Nurses Day, at Wuhan Tongji Hospital in China
China Daily via Reuters
47/50 11 May 2020Iraqi protesters gather on the Al-Jumhuriyah bridge in the capital Baghdad during an anti-government demonstration. Modest anti-government rallies resumed in some Iraqi cities Sunday, clashing with security forces and ending months of relative calm just days after Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhemi’s government came to power. The protests first erupted in Baghdad and Shiite-majority southern cities in October, demanding an end to corruption and unemployment and an overhaul of the ruling class
AFP via Getty
48/50 10 May 2020A man wearing a mask walks his dog in Madrid during the hours allowed by the government to exercise. Spain’s two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, will not enter the next phase out of coronavirus lockdown along with many other regions next week
AFP via Getty
49/50 9 May 2020Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation after laying flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall in Moscow, Russia. Russia marks the 75th anniversary since the capitulation of Nazi Germany in WWII amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic
EPA
50/50 8 May 2020German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the German Parliament Bundestag Wolfgang Schaeuble, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Council Bundesrat in Germany Dietmar Woidke and the presiding judge of the German Federal Constitutional Court’s second senate, Andreas Vosskuhle attend wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, at the Neue Wache Memorial in Berlin. Countries in Europe are commemorating the Victory in Europe Day, known as VE Day that celebrates Nazi Germany’s surrender during World World II on 8 May 1945
EPA
Most successful parties do it, and it is one of the things Boris Johnson is good at too. Recent research suggested that his promise of 50,000 more nurses for the NHS was twice as important as getting Brexit done in winning over red wall seats last year.
Johnson served notice that he intended to fight for a second term as a Tory Blairite, building the widest possible coalition among voters of all classes and regions. Now Starmer has shown that he will be fighting for the same ground. This is a Blairite moment.
That is not to say Starmer is a Blair replicant. One of the most tedious charges against the Blairites is that we think Blair did nothing wrong, or that his prescriptions stand for all time. I am partisan enough to think that he should have had longer in office – outlasting Margaret Thatcher’s 11 and a half years would have been fitting – but I fully accept that the party had to find new ways of advancing the cause of social justice; it’s just that I don’t think Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband or Corbyn got it right.
Nor by proclaiming this a Blairite moment am I claiming that a divisive style of politics cannot be successful. Thatcher showed that it can be, and Corbyn came close to winning in 2017. My argument would be that a divisive approach can succeed only when the other side is weak. Corbyn had a chance of winning only because Theresa May was so inept. One of the many things I have learned in the last five years is that the argument against Corbynism is not that it cannot win, but that it should not.
Thankfully, now it won’t. By Starmer’s skill, and the weakness (derived from rigidity) of the higher nomenklatura of Corbynism, the eternal Blairite verities have been reasserted. Or, if we wanted to avoid being triumphalist about it, we could call it a return to normal democratic politics, in which the two main parties try to situate themselves close to the midpoint of the electorate’s values and then to lead the nation towards either left or right.
It would be wrong to gloat, because five and more years have been wasted, but it would be all right to be secretly pleased with the way Keir Starmer is leading Labour.
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk