• After betraying the supporters who helped him march to the Labour leadership by going against all the major policies that he said he would implement, Kier Starmer cannot be trusted.
• After the mafia-style removal of anyone who criticized Israel’s genocide in Gaza and blocking a motion for a ceasefire, Labour has proven it is now a party ever closer to the extremism it so vehemently opposed.
After the continuous U-turns and manoeuvres to bend to the corporate elite’s wishes on domestic matters before October 7th, it is no surprise that Labour had been directly complicit in the Gaza genocide through its policies, decision-making, and mafia-style party running.
Before April 2020, before Kier Starmer was elected as the Labour leader, throughout his leadership campaign, he echoed the pledges of Jeremy Corbyn, the former left-wing Labour leader who lost an election in 2019. Starmer pledged to renationalize trains, mail, water, and energy into ‘common ownership’, seen by many as a clear nod to the nationalization of utilities that had remained long in private hands. Yet as early as September 2021, long after he was elected Labour leader, Starmer ruled out nationalizing the six big energy companies. Then, in July 2022, his Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour had ditched its commitment to nationalize more public services, and yesterday, after Labour launched its manifesto in the public sphere, nationalization had gotten little to no notice. If this was just one U-turn the Starmer leadership had made, the idea of betrayal of supporters who elected him would not have been as dramatic as it seemed.
The betrayal of the NHS
Starmer, during his leadership campaign, pledged to stop the creeping involvement of the private sector in the U.K.’s publicly funded National Health Service. Starmer said during his leadership campaign that he would ‘end outsourcing’ in the NHS. Fast forward to the summer of 2022, and he said the party will “likely have to continue with” some level of private provision in the health service if he takes office. What’s absurd is that recently, in a debate with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Starmer said he would never use private healthcare, even if a relative was stuck on an NHS waiting list. What’s absurd is the fact that in the manifesto that was released two days ago, Labour dropped the statement ‘NHS is not for sale’ in the wording of its manifesto.
The mafia-like behaviour toward anyone who opposes it
Up to 10 Labour frontbenchers were removed from the shadow cabinet after they voted for a ceasefire in Gaza in November, against Starmer’s wishes.
As public sector strikes occurred in the summer of 2022, Starmer ordered his shadow ministers not to appear alongside workers on picket lines. The Labour leader even sacked Sam Tarry, a left-wing MP, and his shadow rail minister for appearing with striking rail workers despite the order given. Starmer’s team said Tarry was sacked for making up party policy in a TV interview.
This was just one of many party dictatorship manoeuvresStarmer had made far before the Gaza genocide even began. One of the most notable ones is the removal of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour Party, with whom he stood and fought side by side during the 2019 general election. Corbyn was suspended as an MP after saying that the scale of antisemitism within the party had been overstated. It was later revealed by the Labour files that the Labour party had been very tough on anti-semitism but ignored other kinds of discrimination. This stark revelation was not enough to persuade Starmer to put his longtime boss back into the Labour Party, even though Starmer’s career may not have existed without him. This is more evidence to suggest that the Labour Party had become a party of unfairness and was run by a dictatorship-like leadership that repelled anyone who disagreed with it.
Kate Osamor was the Labour MP for Edmonton and, in January, called the Gaza genocide what it is: a genocide. Kate had the whip suspended over her claim, and she has not been allowed to stand as a Labour MP since, nor has the whip been granted back to her.
The Labour Party is complicit in genocide, even more so than you think.
Back in November, when the Gaza genocide was fully underway, the SNP put a motion in parliament for a vote to support a ceasefire. Starmer opposed the vote and had sacked up to 10 frontbench Labour shadow ministers who voted for the ceasefire. What would have happened if Labour, as a party, had tried to vote for a ceasefire motion in November? The reality is that many backbenchers, even within the conservative party, had wanted a ceasefire, and it would have been inevitable that Starmer would have created a conservative rebellion even if the vote hadn’t passed, which would have helped him in the political arena. This vote would have added more pressure and emboldened more MPs from the Tory Party to support a ceasefire. It would have opened a new font of pressure that the Tory government would have to deal with, thus possibly weakening their stance on continuing to aid the genocide in Gaza. Unfortunately, Starmer had been reluctant to call for one even when the death rate had reached more than 7,000.
The infamous second ceasefire motion that highlights the manipulative, demeaning strategies of the Labour Party
Labour amendment to a SNP ceasefire deal passed through parliament in February but it’s strategic wording made it impossible for there to be change in foreign policy
After a tireless wait in parliament for months between November and February, the SNP finally had the opportunity to have another chance at forcing the government’s position on the lack of a ceasefire to change. The SNP had called for a second vote on the calling of a ceasefire in parliament. It was predicted that as the war dragged on, Kier Starmer could have suffered a greater rebellion from his party if he opposed an immediate ceasefire. So what did Starmer do? Starmer had in public said he supports an immediate permanent ceasefire but had chosen to amend the SNP motion calling for a ceasefire and change the wording. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the wording was changed ever so slightly to make the entire motion void. The Labour Amendment had written in it, “Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence.” The left-wing group Momentum had said, “by making its call for a cease-fire so conditional and caveated, the Labour leadership is giving cover for Israel’s brutal war to continue.”
The Labour leadership’s attempt at pretending to support an immediate ceasefire and preventing one from happening is evidence that the Labour party may well have become a party of manipulation, where those in the echelons of leadership are able to manipulate the base supporters who they are reliant upon.
The crimes of the Labour Party will not be forgotten by voters
Although it does look as though the Labour Party is about to secure a massive majority in the coming election in July, it’s important to note that there have been many instances where opinion polls have been wrong and misconstrued reality. The fact is, even if the genocide were to end tomorrow, it would not stop the grieving of the parents and families of the 15,000+ children who have passed away or the waves of information on social media. George Galloway being elected in Rochedale was a testament to the power of the pro-Palestinian vote in the UK. Even if the Labour Party secures a huge win in the upcoming election, there may come a time when the few seats in parliament that they lost to pro-Palestinian candidates could be vital to stopping cruel, unjust decisions from occurring within the realm of the political power house of Downing Street. Showing defiance is better at cautioning the oppressor than letting them continue their oppression. The fact is, in the 2017 election, 88% of Muslim voters voted for Labour, and if that vote were to mobilise against Labour in a unified and organised way, Labour could get a surprise run for its money.
