Voters call for law and order and Keir Starmer is listening…for now
As Black Lives Matter protests convulse the globe, the question of race inequality has dominated all political parties. A significant turning point came two weeks ago when a statue commemorating the late slave trader, Edward Colston, was toppled by anti-racism protesters in Bristol.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome, aligned with the party’s left, called it an “act of resistance”. Meanwhile, her party’s leader, Keir Starmer, adopted a softer approach by slamming the toppling as “completely wrong” and should have been done “with consent”. His position on law and order shows Starmer as a leader ready to take the helm of a future Labour government, with lawful attitudes taking centre stage to avoid another slaughtering at the ballot box.
The Labour party’s abysmal election results last year saw their century-long support from the working-class electorate collapse. Jeremy Corbyn, a masterful champion of the working-class, was heckled as “unpatriotic”, “untrustworthy” and “terrorist-sympathising” for his domestic and foreign policy positions. His unequivocal popularity with metropolitan liberals and students was reviled by the industrial heartland voters that Labour once relied on heavily. Starmer, hoping to bring those said voters back into the fold, has remained cautious so not to inherit Corbyn’s hard-left and radical rhetoric.
I believe in the toppling of slave trader statues. I believe wholeheartedly in the defunding of the police forces to further invest in public services such as health & social care, education and equality initiatives for minority communities. I am aware, however, that these progressive and transformational ideas are deemed frightening by the wider electorate. Whether the Labour left like it or not, Starmer is appealing to all voters first to then implement a socialist government.
One Labour MP, a relative lone wolf in the Red Wall area formerly a Labour stronghold, has expressed satisfaction with Starmer’s dialogue. They claimed that divisions on cultural issues “become test points” for the party and that Starmer “navigated that very well”. A report in the New Statesman went on to suggest that Starmer “can afford to disappoint Labour’s left over Colston’s statue”.
Many disgruntled and former Labour loyalists in the north of England, reluctantly swayed by Boris Johnson in December, believed their vote for Brexit and push for controlled immigration meant they were seen as racists. Corbyn’s London-centric approach to the “woke” culture that has dominated the capital’s climate repelled many elsewhere who were once vehemently anti-Tory. His successor is trying to find common ground in a swirling culture war that opposes the toxic approach from the government.
If history teaches us anything, its Richard Nixon won a landslide victory in the 1968 presidential election. He did so by pledging to restore law and order after an uprising of mass protests under President Johnson’s tenure. Furthermore, Tony Blair and his centrist platform of tough on crime and curbing migration helped him garner three staggering election wins. Blair’s appeasement to his socially conservative working-class base and the race-baiting mainstream media are now damning indictments to his legacy.
I may not agree with Starmer’s tread carefully approach. However, I know that without the support of the white working-class that were crucial to his party’s demographic, Labour could face another damaging defeat. Reviving popularity with the industrialised workforce whilst not deterring progressives is a tough task. But Starmer, with evidence to suggest he believes in transformative socialism, must ensure Labour is winnable before he achieves his radical proposals.
I have faith that the party will never look to the Blairite period for inspiration. However, recognising the party as one where trust in our law enforcement is still a talking point is key to achieving victory in 2024. After that, Starmer can flourish on the socialist policies he has repeatedly promised his backers.
