Keir Starmer’s turn to the right at a time of real crisis for ordinary people must be challenged. But we can’t rely on the post-Corbyn left in the party, or look to Welsh Labour, for answers.
Image via Creative Commons, copyright Jessica Taylor
Keir Starmer’s attack on the Corbynite left in Labour has laid bare the lack of an alternative at a time of growing crisis, and poses major questions about how to defeat the Tories and confront the issues ordinary people face.
His turn to the Neoliberal and authoritarian politics of New Labour is also opening a wider rift between the party in England and Wales, as well as provoking greater opposition from the left.
But for those of us opposed to Starmer, we can’t rely on the leadership of Mark Drakeford in Wales or the strategy of the Labour left to deliver.
The defeat of the left in Labour
Last week it was reported that Starmer was planning to bring a motion to the party’s conference in Brighton that would have taken away Labour members’ ability to vote for future leaders, and instead hand the decision to MPs, trade unions and local party groups.
The changes were not simply an attack on democracy, they were designed to make it all but impossible for a socialist figure like Jeremy Corbyn – who was hated by the majority of party’s MPs and the wider establishment- to ever lead the party again.
After fierce opposition from members, and hesitancy from unions, Starmer rolled back on his plans. Only partially, however; he still won conference approval for a rule change that would make it extremely difficult for any prospective candidate who wasn’t accepted by Labour MPs to ever make it on the ballot.
Along with the re-election of the hardline and anti-left party general secretary, David Evans, this represents a major defeat for the left in the party.
The desire to ensure that a leader like Jeremy Corbyn, who was elected by a surge of grassroots support for his clear opposition to neoliberalism, is never at the top again, lays bare the nature of Starmer. And his association with the most rotten and hated elements of the Labour Party – those who led a vicious offensive against the left in order to stop a socialist ever becoming Prime Minister – is clearer than ever.
Starmer’s relentless focus on destroying the Corbynite left can also be contrasted with his tame opposition to the Tory UK government, despite their own weakness.
Yet he has won the backing of the party’s hard right, including key Blairite figures, because he has been prepared to destroy the radical left in the party, expel socialists and pro-Palestine activists, and ensure Labour is seen as a party firmly wedded to British capitalism.
On Tuesday, Andy McDonald resigned from the shadow cabinet after he was told to campaign against a £15 minimum wage and full statutory sick pay. And through the publication of the leader’s pamphlet and his recent statements, it is clear that Blair-era politics are back at the helm.
Whilst there has been some high profile & welcome resistance from the left, including McDonald’s resignation, broadsides from Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn, and important motions around Palestine, it cannot hide the grim fact that the left in the party is being smashed.
But although Starmer has been successful in moving Labour to the right, his leadership is failing, and this is deepening the crisis within Labour and opening up new challenges as well as opportunities for the left.
The increasing divide between Welsh and English Labour
One of the fallouts from the fiascos this week has been a widening of the divide between the party in England and Wales, something which is adding to the growing list of problems the Labour leader faces.
When Starmer’s initial rule change was announced, it was met with a mixture of mooted silence and opposition by figures in Welsh Labour.
Jack Sargeant, a relatively new Welsh Labour MS and not associated with the left, broke with the tradition of Senedd politicians refusing to comment on UK Labour matters and shared a statement opposing the move by Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham. “I agree with @UniteSharon – every vote should be treated as equal!,” he wrote.
The leader of Unite in Wales, Peter Hughes, also hit out at Keir Starmer over the move in a rare attack on the UK Labour leader, calling it a “disrespectful, undemocratic attack on the membership.”
Wales’ leading left MP Beth Winter, who is in the Socialist Campaign Group, was also quick to attack the move, and has been speaking at left wing fringe events at conference as well as appearing alongside Mark Drakeford on a panel. This presents an awkward situation for Keir Starmer.
The backlash over the rule change was quickly overshadowed by the publication of a 12,000 word pamphlet by Sir Starmer called ‘The road ahead’.
For a major document by a Labour leader, it was notable that it was greeted with near total silence by Welsh Labour MSs. Only one Welsh Government cabinet minister – Lee Waters – mentioned the document at all.
Instead Starmer had to rely on Welsh MPs in his Shadow Cabinet to promote the document. Jo Stevens, MP for Cardiff Central, shared the ten pledges online – to much derision.
Perhaps it’s not surprising the pamphlet got so little attention; Wales was only mentioned once in the document, even though it is the only nation anywhere that Labour is in power. The Welsh Government was not mentioned at all.
More seriously, however, is the fact that one of his ten principles advocated the idea of being “proudly patriotic” but rejected the “divisiveness of nationalism.”
Even though Starmer dressed this up as about being more inclusive, it’s actually an attack on the Welsh and Scottish independence movements, and an endorsement of a chauvinistic British nationalism.
His stance understandably drew anger from the Welsh Independence movement, with Yes Cymru attacking the document, saying that “The sooner Welsh Labour breaks away and gets behind Indy Wales the better.”
It’s likely that many recent Welsh Labour voters would be also turned off by Starmer’s brand of British unionism, and the party seem increasingly aware of how damaging Starmer’s approach could be if it got much of an airing in Wales.
For this reason, Welsh Labour are unlikely to allow the party to be seen in Starmer’s terms, setting up potential standoffs down the line.
Instead, whilst being a unionist party, Welsh Labour have grown their own brand of soft nationalism, even courting the idea of independence itself and welcoming Indy supporting Welsh Labour members.
Like the SNP in Scotland, Welsh Labour seeks its own self-preservation and a deepening of devolution to enable this. This is why they have recently announced cooperation deal talks with Plaid Cymru, another move that further undermines Starmer’s authority.
There is, however, not much the Labour leader can do. Starmer’s failure as a leader to dent Boris Johnson’s support and his weak opposition means he isn’t in a strong position to question the strategic direction of Welsh Labour.
The crisis of his leadership is leading into direct support for the idea of a federal party structure where Welsh Labour is more like a ‘sister party’ to England- independent but politically close. Calls for this are led by the MS Mick Antoniw, a new Welsh Government minister and long time ally of Mark Drakeford.
This would abolish the idea of a UK Labour party and naturally weaken a staunch unionist figure like Starmer.
These divisions within Labour, coupled with attacks from the left, pose problems for Starmer and his right wing project and should be welcomed.
But the situation poses deeper questions about Starmer & Labourism, which go beyond internal Labour politics and relate to the development of a credible political alternative.
The issue becomes even more pressing as more and more people see that Starmer is a politician in the New Labour mould.
The lack of an alternative
On Friday, he was recorded as saying that Labour would ‘repair the public finances’, a polite way of signalling cuts to the social state – yet more austerity. On Monday morning, his Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said she didn’t want to ‘waste’ taxpayer money on public services.
In his pamphlet, Starmer said Labour “would build an effective partnership of state and private sector to prioritise the things that we have seen really matter; health, living conditions, working conditions and the environment.”
This brings back memories of New Labour’s disastrous Private Finance Initiative. The return to Blairism has been made even clearer with the adoption of the former leader’s ‘tough on crime’ stance and hawkish foreign policy, among other things.
And Starmer’s message to ordinary people that they must ‘play by the rules’ and ‘work hard,’ in the context of rampant levels of exploitation, is thin gruel to millions of workers.
For the working class, this means an opposition wedded to a system of gross inequality, authoritarianism and the pursuit of profit above all else.
This is the real direction of Labour. The idea that the Corbynite left can reclaim the party or change its political course from within is fanciful, even after some morale boosting left events at conference.
The real story of the past 18 months is one of an internal left strategy that has led to relentless defeat and demoralisation. With the confirmation of David Evans as general secretary & the new leadership election rules, this is only set to continue.
The challenges ahead
It’s not hard to see why the cause of Welsh Independence – breaking up the UK and escaping its rotten politics altogether – is gaining popularity in this context.
Similarly, many Labour members or those on the left in Wales will take comfort in the success of Welsh Labour compared to England, and those over the border may look longingly at the success of the ‘soft left’ leadership of Mark Drakeford, compared to the Union Jack waving, New Labour style Starmer.
Even the Welsh Independence movement, once a staunch opponent of Labour, has warmed to the party and has been pulled behind its defence of devolution in the face of Tory aggression. Welsh Labour, like the SNP, are seen by various progressives as the best or only alternative to Tory rule.
But they should pause for thought before gushing over Mark Drakeford and consider the social crisis in Wales which our government presides over.
Wales has the highest level of child poverty anywhere in Britain but it also has the least generous allocation of free school meals to children in poverty. This is an unforgivable combination.
Yet Welsh Labour have repeatedly refused to lift the threshold at which children from these households can access a guaranteed meal each day, even though the money is there and it is in their grasp.
The Welsh Labour Government are also currently trying to impose – bypassing trade unions – a 3% pay deal on NHS workers in Wales, identical to the Tories in England, which is actually a pay cut. If imposed, it would lead to huge levels of demoralisation and deepen the crisis in the health service.
Whilst workers have been organising for a 15% rise to make up for a decade of falling pay, Welsh Government have said nothing, refusing to stand in solidarity with workers and use their position to demand more money from Westminster that could fund a proper rise.
Basic class demands are not being put upon the Tories by Welsh Labour ministers, even as workers and the poorest suffer.
It’s fine for Mark Drakeford to utter nice words about social solidarity at the Labour conference, but the left must understand that there’s more than just a whiff of hypocrisy here.
Instead of lionising Drakeford, or focusing on re-taking Labour, we should be trying to unify our movement around extra parliamentary struggle against the Tories and the crisis facing ordinary people.
If some of the positive elements of the conference – such as the promotion of the £15 minimum wage demand – are to mean anything then they can’t be used simply to re-energise doomed internal party battles or create a false narrative that Wales is a land of social progress.
This is all the more important when we consider the situation working class people face right now and the winter ahead: the looming cut to Universal Credit, the rising cost of living and the labour shortage and real potential for class struggle that it presents.
On some of the battles our movement faces here in Wales, such as NHS pay and Free School Meals, workers and some of the poorest people in society are pitted against a Welsh Labour Government administering the attacks.
But this doesn’t mean that socialists, trade unions and sections of the independence movement can shy away from these fights for fear of embarrassing Mark Drakeford.
Instead we have to seize upon the current crisis faced by Starmer & the Tories and resist the attacks on our livelihoods wherever they come from.
To not do so would risk leaving a vacuum where the social crisis unfolding on the ground goes unanswered and ignored by the left. That is not a risk we should be prepared to take.
*The introduction of this article was amended
