In my second video of the morning, I address an important issue.
Criticising Labour has nothing to do with wanting it or any other party in power. It has everything to do with wanting Labour to deliver for the people of this country when it really does not look like it will at present.
This is the video (and yes, a typo crept in, too late to be noticed):
This is the audio version:
And, this is the transcript:
People keep asking me, why do you spend your time criticising Labour? Do you want a Tory government?
And the answer is, of course, I don't want a Tory government. The Tory government that we've had for the last 14 years has not been good for this country. That is an objective assessment that has nothing to do with party politics.
I stress, I also criticise Labour. Not because I'm a party politician. I'm not. I criticise Labour because someone needs to. Because as a party, it's not doing what this country requires. And I believe it is the job of the person who sits in academia, in public life, or whatever else it might be, who's willing to pop their head above the parapet, as I am, to criticise politicians for what they do.
I'm not here to promote a party. I'm not here to promote the SNP, or the Greens, or Plaid Cymru, or any other party either, let alone the Lib Dems. I'm just not going to do that.
What I'm going to say is what is right and wrong with what anybody has to say. And I criticise Labour most of all, because Labour is likely to be in government, and I think Labour's going to fail, and I'm not just getting in my agony early by saying it now. I'm getting in the comments now to say there are other ways to deliver policy that if only Labour was willing to adopt them, then it might do what the people of this country need.
It has to.
It has to cut tax on those people who are paying too much on lower levels of income.
It has to end child poverty.
It has to end things like the bedroom tax.
It has to solve the problems with things like carer's allowance.
It has to fund the NHS.
It has to fund education.
There are problems with defense and we know it, especially if Donald Trump comes into office in America.
And so Labour has things it's got to do and at present it doesn't appear willing to do them.
Critiquing it now is not to say don't elect Labour if that is your choice, because I'm not asking you or telling you how to vote. It's just saying, there is no panacea if they win. They are creating their own pile of problems that need to be addressed.
And I'm going to warn you about what they are now, and warn Labour about what they are now, because I hope that they might take notice, and might do things better than they are currently planning to do.
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Thanks Richard for that very clear and reasoned statement, with which you may (or may not) be surprised to hear I totally agree.
I share the view that constructive criticism in the hope of changing things for the better is the way to go, rather than the current tiresome and unrelenting Starmer-bashing by many of your commentators here of whom – on the basis of their many excellent & thoughful posts on other topics – I would have expected better.
With the Taxing Wealth Report you have rightly concentrated on presenting ways to fund the things any incoming government faced with the disastrous situation they will inherit really must do if they want to make life in the UK better for most of the population. I have always retained a glimmer of hope (and it appears I am not completely alone in that) that Labour at least may – regrettably late in the day (for reasons I can understand) – at last be approaching the point where they can & will openly adopt some of your excellent recommendations. And I see increasing signs that this may indeed be the case. Maybe I’m eternal optimist, but hope springs eternal!
That said, I see no hope whatsoever that the current bunch of Tories who have wrecked untold havoc over the last 14 years would do anything other than make things even worse.
Sadly Anrigaut I do not share your even mild optimism whilst Rachel Reeves remains his intended chancellor.
Since reading some of the other well informed and seemingly closer to the action commentators on this blog it is clear that Starmer is not sufficiently aware economically to realise that he is having economic smoke blown up his legal derriere.
He may be a great barrister, but he is not a good political leader. He allows people with very specific agendas – Reeves, Mandleson, Akehurst etc etc which are not aligned with Labour’s founding purpose and ethics – to contol his policies and seemingly his thought processes.
He – like the tories – means to get into power whatever it takes, including dropping pledges like sweet papers and treating Keir Hardie’s Labour party (rather than personal) loyalties to be disposable commodities.
So no. He could be presented with a gold leafed copy of Taxing Wealth and those vested interests which are working him Harry Corbett style would tell him its socialist propaganda. He’s a follower, not a leader.
FWIW. I do think that when it all turns to custard (Col Smithers your warnings are really worrying) and Starmer does eventually realise how played he has been because of his blind ambition, he will be truly, truly sorry for how he has let people down. In that way he does differ from the current bunch of tories pushing this tanker on to the rocks.
He will be very rich by then, so I doubt it
Plaid Cymru is pronounced Plied Cumree!
I know
Thomas berates me about it
And I stil, get it wrong
I must try harder……..
I don’t support any political party like a football team; I support policies which reflect my values and interests. The choice now seems to be between more of same under either – worse under the Tories, but, if LINO win, the kind of policies I’d vote for being off the table altogether (since LINO will take a big win as vindication of their neoliberal turn). The latter seems to me the greater evil.
So I’ll do as Richard has suggested and either vote for another party or spoil my ballot paper.