Opinion: Labour’s Shift to the Right

By Isaac Smith, BA Liberal Arts

General Election campaigning, East Kilbride, Scotland, United Kingdom - 03 July 2024.

Kier Starmer has a chance to remedy a broken political system and reinstate trust in Westminster after 14 years of Conservative leadership, marked by chaos and dishonour. Though analysis of Labour’s performance since its coming to power douses hope of any meaningful change in the nation.  

Over a 14-year Premiership, the Tory party is stained by failure and tired drama. Chronic underinvestment in response to the 2008 financial crash leaves communities stagnant. Economic vitality in London masks national doldrum: low pay, insecure jobs, a farcical housing market.  

If the British public didn’t know before that its interests were not held in any regard by the Conservative party, after tax affair scandals, partygate ridicule, and Covid PPE cronyism, it will surely know now. On 4th of July this year, with all this in mind, the people came out to end this display of mismanagement and puerile. Labour now enjoys a strong majority government. But for those concerned with a fairer society, the prospect of Starmer’s premiership was void of any lasting excitement.  

Boasting in their manifesto that cooperation tax was to be capped at 25%, the lowest in the G7, the Labour party is unabashed in its neo-liberal ideals. It has fully distanced itself from Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, and his ‘radical’ idea of overhauling an unequal tax system to redistribute wealth. Perhaps ironic is that Corbyn, in the 2017 general election, won a higher vote share than Starmer in the most recent one – though due to the first past the post system this did not transpire into enough seats to form a government. 

In September Starmer continued to hammer his rhetoric of change into public domain. At a party conference in Liverpool a man shouted from the crowds demanding an end to arms sales to Israel. 

Starmer’s laughter was only interrupted by his insensitive retort: “this guy’s obviously got a pass to the 2019 conference”. “Whilst he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party”. His comparison is bleak, seemingly suggesting the Labour party under Corbyn cared about the indiscriminate murder of Palestinian children and adults, whereas Starmer does not.  

Regarding the conflict in the Middle East, Starmer makes no headway in proving himself as a humanitarian. Labour suspended some arms to Israel in September but continues to allow covert shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel from British air bases, as brought to light by investigative journalists at Declassified UK. It has been revealed one of Israel’s F-35 jets was involved in a devastating attack in Gaza on the designated safe-zone of Al-mawasi. 90 were murdered and 300 injured, 11 named women and children identified among those dead.

Rachel Reeves appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer by Keir Starmer, 5 July 2024

Concerning the Governments economic performance so far, it felt all too familiar as Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves enlightened us of a discovered £35.3 billion blackhole in government spending plans In July. Largely blamed on Tory improvidence, a series of cuts were announced to remedy this.

£2.2 Billion would be saved by scrapping Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation scheme, cuts like this are welcome. But after a decade and a half of bitter austerity, cuts to road and rail infrastructure, £6.3 billion in “efficiency savings”, abandonment of the building of 30 new hospitals, and plans to cancel a cap in adult social care costs, show the issue of public investment will in many areas intensify.

No doubt Reeves inherited an economy in disrepair: a chilling reminder of Liz Truss’ lead whereby after spooking the economy the pound plummeted. But her aim in apprising this financial blackhole to the public was seemingly to prepare us for more “difficult decisions” in October when the budget arrived.

Now delivered, the budget sits tepid at best. Reeves had the chance to take hold of an economy that is low in growth, suffering from resource shortages, geo-political instability, and an equally unstable environmental future. A bold redistributive taxation system, centred on compassion and care for the whole, remains quashed and unconsidered.

Short term pressures, such as the NHS winter crisis, will be alleviated by 3.5% increase in government spending across all departments this year. But come 2026, day to day spending will increase by only 1.3% a year. Political economist Richard Murphey points out the flaw in Wes Streeting’s smug new settlement, rumoured to be as high as £10 billion, for the NHS.

Though this might represent, before inflation adjustments, a real 5% increase in spending, the cost of employment will go up by £3.3 billion due to announced employers national insurance hikes. The 5% increase, in real terms, diminishes.

The ultra-rich in the country continue to be let off, a 1-2% wealth tax on assets over £10 million, which would affect 0.04% of the population, could raise up to £22 billion a year. This is, as expected, nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps in effort to console the working masses in the UK, Rachel Reeves explained that instead of uprating alcoholic drinks that are served on draught in line with inflation, she would be cutting draught duty by 1.7%, which means “a penny of a pint at the pub”. Throw the working class a scrap, and they won’t bite your hand off.

With these figures and averages discussed, one thing is clear: the Labour government in power will not direct itself towards the benefit of the majority. It will squirm and fiddle around insubstantial tax adjustments, dress up enervated spending programs, and continue to victimise itself against the backdrop of a Conservative nightmare to prop up the British elite and the lobbying corporations. The working mass will be expected to sit tight and endure it in the name of a ‘national effort’.

Now, months into its premiership, the warning of the disenfranchised echoes true. Starmer will accelerate the monolithic political culture that dare not address inequality if it will scratch the corporatism that flourishes. Vestiges, if any, of humanity and sensitivity inside the Labour party must speak loudly now more than ever if we are to observe any substantial improvement in our society.