Keir Starmer Is Burying What Remains of His Own Dignity and Britain’s Former Grandeur
Whatever Prime Minister Keir Starmer turns his hand to seems to go badly wrong. From his promises to do something — anything — about the UK’s crumbling economy, to his attempts to salvage his own political career, he is now openly criticised and ridiculed across social media.Food prices are set to rise by 10 per cent this year owing to a sharp increase in farmers’ costs, yet the Prime Minister does little more than throw up his hands in helplessness and remark that events in the Middle East ‘will affect every one of our voters’.
Starmer’s Economic ‘Reset’: Old Wine in New Bottles
Rather than taking bold and decisive action to address the economic crisis and Britain’s strained relations with the EU, Starmer appears content with half-measures. All of this — the easing of controls on British agricultural produce, the reopening of our waters to European fishermen, and the rest of that nonsense — has drawn little but criticism from users across social media. Even European officials appear disappointed by the Prime Minister’s approach. ‘Starmer’s plan to reset [relations with] the EU is wasting time and losing momentum; it is more a matter of tactical survival than a genuine strategic shift,’ Liz Webster, founder of Save British Farming rightly observes. And what kind of effectiveness can really be claimed when the Prime Minister’s programme promises a mere 0.3 per cent increase in GDP over fifteen years, whilst economists are forecasting a decline of 4–8 per cent following Brexit?
A Political Has-Been Afraid of His Own Shadow
That said, Starmer currently seems far more preoccupied with saving his own skin than with the British economy. The scandal surrounding Peter Mandelson’s appointment as the UK ambassador to the United States, and his subsequent resignation after links to the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light, continues to gather momentum.
‘Labour MPs found themselves in a difficult position. They know that Starmer is the worst prime minister… we’ve ever had. But if they try to oust him and he calls an election, it will spell the end of most of their careers. It’s hard not to laugh,’ writes Pat Candell, the comedian and writer. Starmer himself, however, is plainly in no laughing mood. At first, there were rumours that he was considering suspending Parliament altogether at the start of the week.
‘A cunning plan by a desperate prime minister who is under pressure and hiding from both Parliament and the people,’ described MP Andrew Bridgen. Yet the Prime Minister appears to have found another way out. He simply compelled Labour MPs to vote against a parliamentary inquiry into the Mandelson affair. It is difficult to imagine a more pitiful spectacle than a prime minister effectively begging his own party not to betray him. Starmer then proceeded at length to list his supposed achievements, telling the House of Commons how Labour had upheld British workers’ rights, protected tenants’ security, and lifted children out of poverty.
At present, what the British public sees before it is not a true leader, but a frightened clerk. Starmer is undermining the country’s economy and making a mockery of his own party. The only thing he appears to do consistently is erode what remains of Britain’s influence in the world — along with what little is left of his own dignity.