Three Months in Government

September 29th 2024

On July 5th 2024 our headline on this page read, "We have been promised the earth by all Parties. Will Labour deliver?"

Well Kier Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and many other Labour MPs can say with hand on hearts that they have delivered ..... for themselves. They, as you all now know, have received gifts of clothes, free holidays, free accommodation and free tickets to sporting occasions, always in executive suites. What have we received? Up to now pensioners have lost their winter fuel allowance and those legitamately drawing benefits will be hammered just a Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did in the former incarnation of the new Tory inspired Labour Party.

No Democracy for the Labour Party they are going to be the "Let's ride roughshod over what the citizens want" party. For someone who was fundamentally opposed to Jeremy Corbyn's style of Labour Party Starmer seems to have taken on the doctrine of "My cronies and I are the only ones who have analysed Britains problems correctly and we have all the answers".

It is a pity that at no time has Starmer explained what all the problems actually are and what is the grand solution. All we know is at the last election the mantra of the Labour Party was, we are not the Tories and that was sufficient to get them elected. However they actually polled 560,000 LESS votes than they did in the 2019 election. People never swapped from the Tories to Labour instead they voted for other parties allowing Labour to win because their vote held up better.

The Labour Party now has a new mantra if we fail it is the fault of the Tories. That excuse is already becoming unviable as after only a few months into the new government it transpires sleaze is alright as long as it is registered even if declared retrospectively when details hit newspaper headlines. Bearing in mind most of the sleaze happened when Labour were in opposition what will they be like now they have absolute power. Well you all know the saying.

However we know that not only have the electorate grown tired of "Two Tier Free Gear Kier" but so have some Labour MP's. He felt he had to suspend seven Labour MPs from the party for six months each, only 20 days after the election, for voting in favour of scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

Now we have the personal slap in the face for Starmer by the resignation of Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield from the Labour Party. Her letter of resignation was a withering personal attack on Starmer including "I'm so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party". Damning and truthful words which will hurt Starmer on several levels.

Still he can take his mind off these problems for ninety minutes when he gets his next freebie at Arsenal in an executive box courtesy of the Premier League. To be fair this largesse from the PL and Arsenal started some time ago, in November 2021 to be precise. However it did coincide with threats from the previous government recently endorsed by Labour that football will be more closely regulated but with many of the details open to negotiation.

Who mentioned sleaze ... not us.