Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour front bench are currently walking a narrow tightrope suspended high above the so called, ‘red wall’ constituencies. The walk is being made ever more hazardous as the wire is being constantly pulled from both the right and the left with headlines such as ‘Think Labour are on your side? Brexit and rail strikes prove they do not care about you’ (Oliver Dowden, The Sun 18 June) and ‘It’s Labour’s job to lead the fight for worker and migrant rights – why isn’t it doing so?’ (Owen Jones – the Guardian 15 June).
Conservatives trailing Labour in the polls
Over the last few weeks, polls have shown that the Tories could struggle in a general election as they are trailing behind the Labour Party and could lose many of the seats gained in the 2019 general election. The Labour lead over the Conservatives is currently running at around 6.4 percent, with the average in the three weeks up to 18 June showing Labour on 39.6 percent, the Conservatives on 33.2 percent, and the Liberal Democrats on 11.8 percent. But polls can change rapidly, so it’s critical that the Labour Party doesn’t hand the government any easy ammunition to use against it.
Recent polls have shown that, unusually, it is the economy that is winning Labour many of its votes, with the electorate unhappy at the government’s lack of action in the face of the cost-of-living crisis. Two thirds of Britons say the government is handling the economy poorly, which when coupled with the general dissatisfaction and anger over ‘Partygate’, and its incessant lack of integrity and honesty, has been a major factor in the upturn in Labour’s fortunes. In many ways though, it is the dissatisfaction with the government rather than satisfaction with the opposition that is at play.
Labour at a disadvantage over union power, strike action and immigration
Those fortunes could easily be reversed however, and it is the familiar areas of union power, strikes and immigration that could be the Tory grease on the slightly sagging high wire. These are subjects that are always at the top of the list of the right-wing press and which are often claimed to be high on the agenda of those first time Conservative voters in 2019.
The government has been accused of not becoming involved in settling the rail dispute as a way of ‘sowing division’ in the country, a classic ‘wedge’ issue designed to divide voters. With teachers, refuse collectors, doctors and even criminal barristers contemplating industrial action – and The Sun already drawing parallels with the ‘Winter of Discontent’ of 1978/79 – this could be a time of real danger for the Labour Party. Conservative attempts to deflect the blame for the unrest away from their own failed and divisive policies have already started and there is no doubt that this will increase over the next few weeks.
It is not surprising therefore that Starmer and the shadow cabinet are in the main being very coy on these subjects, especially over the current rail strike as they are in a vulnerable position. It is to be hoped that the furore will not impact on the results of tomorrow’s by-elections, but longer term the daily drip-feed of anti-Labour rhetoric supported by the right-wing press will no doubt lead to a loss of support in various parts of the country.
But is straddling the fence and avoiding the issue a viable option for Labour? It was noticeable that when the party was very vocal over the need for an energy windfall tax, the policy was extremely popular and resulted in a government U-turn. This will not necessarily be the case with strike action and other issues.
Writing for INews, former executive director of policy for Labour Andrew Fisher wrote:
“Labour seems unable to make an argument, to take on a fight. And that bodes ill for a party founded to stand up for working people. Labour’s position is borne of a tactical cowardice that doesn’t want to rock the boat – and believes the next election can be won by default. The problem for Labour is this is not the mid-1990s: Labour is not twenty points ahead. People have no confidence in a Labour Party that ducks every controversial issue.”
Politicians should have the courage of their convictions
We are in the middle of a massive cost-of-living crisis, where millions are struggling even to put food on the table. Some of the most powerful voices speaking out against the government’s immoral and shameful Rwandan asylum plans have come from charities and support groups. Their pleas have been full of emotion and brought home the current situation of people both in this country and around the world.
Should that not be the same with our politicians? Should they too have the courage of their convictions? I know that when someone speaks to me with a real belief, with genuine passion and a determination to change things for the better, I sit up and listen.
It is noticeable that several junior frontbenchers including Kate Osborne and Paula Barker joined RMT union picket lines on Tuesday morning. Perhaps the most high-profile Labour politician to break ranks though was Navendu Mishra, a Labour whip who tweeted:
“As a proud trade unionist, I stand with all workers on our railway network who are taking industrial action to fight for their jobs and keep passengers safe.”
The important question is whether this support is to be applauded or are the stakes too high with their actions just handing ammunition to the government and its sycophantic allies in the press to knock Labour off their precarious balance? To make the changes that this country and millions of its people so desperately need, it requires them to be in power. If part of the strategy to achieve that end requires a softly-softly approach at the moment, is that a price worth paying?
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