Beyond telling us about his “best of British”, “pebble-dash semi” upbringing, most mainstream media commentators assert that little is known about prime-minister-in-waiting Keir Starmer.
The Labour leader hasn’t revealed anything in the way of political programme or policy, these superficial hacks complain. The public doesn’t know what Number 10’s likely next occupant stands for, they suggest.
But for those with eyes to see, from day one, this knight of the realm has made it evident which side of the barricades he is on.
From his witch-hunt against Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters; to his refusal to back striking workers or Black Lives Matter protestors; to his support for Netanyahu’s genocidal massacre of the Palestinian people: Sir Kid Starver has been completely consistent in siding with the exploiters and oppressors against the exploited and the oppressed.
Added to this have been a string of U-turns, broken promises, and betrayals by the right-wing Labour leaders: refusing to scrap tuition fees; watering down pledges over green investment; and more recently, backtracking on measures relating to workers’ rights.
There was never any doubt: self-proclaimed “socialist” Starmer is in reality a champion of the capitalist establishment.
Left barred
If anyone was still unsure, however, the Labour leadership have made their position abundantly clear over the last week.
On the one hand, recent days have seen a purge of left-wing candidates from the party’s electoral register.
In Hackney North, having only just had the parliamentary whip restored, stalwart leftwinger Diane Abbott was subsequently informed that she would not be allowed to stand on behalf of the Labour Party in the constituency that she has represented for decades.
“I am going to be your MP for as long as I allowed to.”
My speech at last night’s rally at Hackney Town Hall. https://t.co/UYV4cXGaEV— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) May 30, 2024
This was accompanied by similar reports of other left candidates being barred by Labour HQ from running for the party in the upcoming election.
This includes incumbent Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle, as well as Faiza Shaheen, who previously campaigned in 2019 to replace former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith in Chingford.
And of course, Corbyn recently announced that he will appear as an independent on the ballot in his current Islington North constituency, having been formally blocked from standing for Labour by the party’s ruling body back in March last year.
Reactionaries welcome
Across the country, meanwhile, prominent right-wingers are being parachuted in as Labour candidates.
Blairite troll Luke Akehurst is on course to enter Parliament as the MP for North Durham, for example. And he will likely be joined on the Labour benches by Josh Simons, director of the shadowy, billionaire-backed think-tank Labour Together, who is standing in the constituency of Makerfield.
Added to this veritable rogues gallery are recent Tory defectors Natalie Elphicke, Dan Poulter, and now Mark Logan, who Starmer and co. have welcomed into the Labour Party with open arms.
The fact that such arch-reactionaries are warmly embraced, while longstanding leftwingers are chewed up and spat out, has not gone unnoticed.
A number of senior Labour figures, including those on the right of the party, for example, have spoken out against Elphicke’s inclusion and Abbott’s exclusion.
But this is less of a rebellious backlash, and more a case of opportunistic posturing by careerists who are concerned about the optics of backing a migrant-bashing headbanger over a veteran black female MP.
Reassuring the bosses
On the other hand, the Labour leaders have also been at pains since last week’s election announcement to emphasise their capitalist credentials.
Following repeated attempts to woo big business in recent years, on Tuesday, soon-to-be chancellor Rachel Reeves chose to give her first major campaign speech to an audience of corporate chiefs, reassuring them that an incoming Labour government would back them to the hilt.
Corbyn out, capitalists in! This is the clarion call of Starmer and his clique.
And it seems to have been heard loud and clear by the so-called captains of industry. Indeed, Labour itself has bragged that 120 CEOs and company bosses have signed a letter praising the party leadership’s promise of “fiscal discipline” and “partnership with the private sector”.
Starmer and Reeves might pay lip service to ‘socialism’ and the working class, with the shadow chancellor suggesting this week that Labour will be both “pro-worker” and “pro-business”. But it is clear from their every utterance and decision that they will prioritise profits over pay when push comes to shove.
And in concrete terms, that means letting industries like the Port Talbot steelworks go to the wall; leaving bankrupt councils high and dry; and siding with the employers when it comes to clashes in the workplace.
Join the communists!
All of this demonstrates why workers and youth must have no trust in Starmer’s Labour.
Instead, in this election and beyond, it is necessary to get organised, build the forces of communism, and fight for a clear revolutionary programme – as demanded by RCP comrade and Stratford & Bow candidate Fiona Lali.
Kick out all the war criminals! Join the revolutionary communists!
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