This article originally appeared in our Elevenses newsletter.
Sir Keir Starmer’s bid to prove beyond any doubt that he has shed the ghost of Labour’s past moved up a gear at the weekend after he paid tribute to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher for bringing ‘meaningful change’ to Britain. In a piece published in The Sunday Telegraph, Starmer called on disillusioned Tories to “take another look at Labour” and even dared to drop the T-bomb to get them on side, a move that would have once been considered political suicide for anyone sitting on the Labour benches, nevermind the leader himself.
The article provoked the usual backlash from the Labour left, with his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, leading the charge by pointing out that renters threatened with eviction, parents using foodbanks and the elderly who can’t afford heating are all among the long-lasting consequences of Thatcher’s ‘real legacy’. Professor Richard Murphy also took umbrage at the comments, saying she should be credited with “monopolistic exploitation” rather than entrepreneurialism, while Femi Oluwole pointed out that the closure of major industries and a lack of investment in northern England under Thatcher is what set the stage for Brexit, which has inflicted a lot more pain on those regions since.
Such criticisms are unlikely to faze Starmer, if anything, he’ll be buoyed by it. His opposite number has taken great joy in reminding him that he served under Corbyn as a pro-European shadow secretary for exiting the EU. Convincing voters that he’s neither pro-Remain nor pro-Corbyn has been objective number one since the day he became Labour leader. Objective number two has been to broaden Labour’s electoral appeal, which is something he is seemingly willing to do at all costs. As he well knows, you can’t achieve anything from the opposition benches. This weekend’s Torygraph piece could well be the latest iteration of Sir Keir doing what he has to do now so that he can do what he wants to do when in government.
But pursuing that strategy requires a degree of trust from his core voters, many of whom might be starting to wonder whether all this flirting with the right has been at their expense. Along with Starmer’s fetishisation of Thatcherism, there are signs that Labour may be considering new austerity measures if they get in at the next election. It has also been suggested they could keep the government’s maligned Rwanda asylum policy AND backtrack on green investment pledges, not to mention the fact that the mere mention of Brexit has become akin to uttering Lord Voldemort’s name in the Potterverse.
Given the current economic backdrop and the many hardships facing families across the country, voters could be forgiven for feeling a little dismayed that we’re dipping our toes into the neoliberal policies of the ‘80s as a means to win votes. For them, if Thatcher is the answer, then perhaps Starmer is asking the wrong question.
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