What Keir Starmer needs to do to survive as Prime Minister
Labour needs to realise that fighting Reform UK on the territory of its choosing is a mistake
Rumours of the imminent political death of Keir Starmer may be exaggerated, but everyone can see his government is in deep trouble. How the Prime Minister responds will provide a measure of his skill as a politician, his character and his grit.
Clearly, there are many within the Labour ranks who are deeply unhappy with their leadership and they have good reason to be so. However, they should consider what will likely happen if they start fighting amongst themselves in earnest – the fall of the government and an election that could well put Nigel Farage in 10 Downing Street. Mainstream opposition politicians might also wish to ponder this outcome, if they have their country’s interests at heart.
Earlier this month, Starmer announced that his Cabinet was moving on from “fixing the foundations” to a new mission of “national renewal”. But such vague slogans, while slightly better than “change”, are never going to inspire anyone.
Comparing SNP Scotland and Labour England
If Starmer is to survive, he needs to create a more compelling vision of what “national renewal" actually looks and feels like and provide evidence that it is happening. In short, he needs to be able to provide evidence that the decidedly sickly NHS is getting better, that standards of education are improving and, most of all, that meaningful growth is returning to the economy.
In the context of next year’s Scottish Parliament election, he should be making unabashed comparisons between the state of the health service and schools in England and the situation in Scotland. Because of the ‘Union dividend’, the SNP has more to spend on public services like the NHS yet waiting lists for treatment are longer for many patients, while our schools have slumped far below England’s in the international Pisa ranking.
Labour also needs to move the central political narrative in this country to a discussion of these bread-and-butter issues and away from immigration – fighting Reform UK on the territory of its choosing is a serious mistake. In order to do this, he does need to ‘stop the boats’ – a source of constant bad news for the government – but endlessly talking about this goal while failing to achieve it, much like the Conservatives did, would be a disaster.
Above all, Starmer needs to stop trying to please everyone, be brave and come out fighting for what he believes in. Right now, no one is quite sure what that is.
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