If the Labour leader continues on the course he is presently charting, I fear for the party’s chances at the next election
- Len McCluskey was general secretary of Unite from 2011-21
At the Labour party conference this month, Keir Starmer has an opportunity to turn things around. So far, his leadership has been a tale of opportunities wasted. He squandered the goodwill that greeted his arrival as Labour leader, opting for internal war rather than unity. Unwilling to look outwards and give a clear message to the country, his poll ratings crumbled.
Starmer’s response to his party’s poor position has been as wrongheaded as it is dishonourable: he has signalled that he may ditch the 10 radical policy pledges he made to Labour and trade union members, on which he was elected to his job. If he is not careful, he risks becoming fixed in the public’s mind as someone who can’t be trusted.