The Guardian view on Keir Starmer’s control freakery: beating Reform requires risking power | Editorial
The prime minister says defeating Reform UK is Labour’s overriding task. Yet by blocking Andy Burnham, he chose self-preservation over the coalition politics needed to winJoe Biden repeatedly said that Donald Trump was an existential threat. Yet the former US president clung on to his party’s nomination when he ought to have allowed a better candidate to take on Mr Trump. What happened next is history. There is an uncomfortable parallel in Britain. Sir Keir Starmer insists that defeating Reform UK is the overriding priority. He warns of the “fight of our lives” against a party offering “racist” policies. But when faced with a choice between maximising Labour’s chances of beating a far-right insurgent and protecting his own position, he – like Mr Biden – chose the latter.By blocking Andy Burnham from being selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate for an upcoming byelection in Manchester, where he is a popular mayor, Sir Keir has mistaken authority for control. In politics, this desire for control usually signals fear of one’s own side. Cowardice would be to avoid risk. This is where prime ministerial pride has overridden purpose and principles. If beating Reform UK really mattered above all else, Sir Keir would deploy his strongest political weapon in the form of Mr Burnham, even if it threatened his own position. Failing to do so doesn’t just weaken the message; it reveals that the message was never really believed.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading… More
