Elected on July 4 with a monster majority, Keir Starmer’s Labour government has the power to reshape Britain. However it is likely to maintain policies protecting the wealthy, targeting the vulnerable and supporting United States foreign policy. There are some beneficial contrasts with previous chaotic Conservative governments, in power from 2010, but the left needs to be challenging it rather than cheering it on.
There are some positive changes. Energy minister and former Labour leader Ed Miliband is accelerating Britain’s pursuit of net zero. A ban on new onshore wind turbines has been overturned, permission given for the construction of three new solar farms and other ambitious plans to rapidly decarbonise British electricity have been unveiled.
In turn, plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda have been scrapped. Public sector workers including teachers are being given a modest pay rise. Local authorities will be able to build a new council houses and the minimum wage for young people is also being raised.
However this is far from being a socialist government or even one dedicated to serious fundamental reform.
Rebel MPs suspended
Starmer suspended seven Labour MPs on July 23, for crossing the floor to vote to end a cap on child benefits.
The cap was introduced by a previous Conservative government and limited the child benefit to a maximum of two children per family. At one point Labour campaigned against this and it is a widely unpopular policy which has worsened child poverty. The seven rebel MPs, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, have been kicked out of the parliamentary Labour Party for six months.
This was seen as a particularly vicious act given that the government has a massive majority and suspension is seen as an extreme sanction. The suspension has been seen by some commentators as closing a political cycle for Labour and an act of repression rather than pragmatism.
Labour historically has rarely been a radical party and has often acted as part of a wider right-wing political establishment. While the 1945 Clement Attlee government nationalised major industries and created a welfare state, it was an exception. During the 1970s, James Callaghan’s government implemented International Monetary Fund cuts, paving the way for Conservative Party prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s neoliberalism in the 1980s.
Labour’s first prime minister Ramsey McDonald split the party in the 1930s and joined a Conservative coalition government. Labour has consistently supported US foreign policy, been economically cautious and tried to promote a moderate pro-business outlook.
Yet, Labour leaders have always been haunted by left-wing aspirations on the part of the membership. The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in 2015, with nearly 60% of the vote, created a trauma that still haunts Starmer and most of his parliamentary party.
Indeed, Corbyn’s rebellion in 2015, when he and 47 other Labour MPs voted against welfare cuts, rather than simply abstaining, power charged his subsequent successful leadership bid. Other candidates were swept away. For example, Liz Kendall, the standard bearer of Blairism, now a Minister in Starmer’s government, gained just 4.5% of the support of Labour Party members. Another Starmer minister Yvette Cooper gained a slightly less humiliating 17.5%.
Despite New Labour under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown working to expel the left, supporting a disastrous war in Iraq and “modernising” the Party, members still overwhelmingly voted for the most left-wing candidate in the form of Corbyn.
Starmer is terrified of the left and works night and day to repress them. The suspension of McDonnell and 6 other left-wing MPs is a direct result of such fear. Thus, policies of austerity are not just about keeping the bond markets sweet but reflect a visceral antipathy to socialist aspirations.
Thus, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has identified a £22 billion hole in government finances, and used this to justify cuts. While some taxes will rise, the idea of a wealth tax on the richest is rejected. Positively, some damaging road programs, such as the Stonehenge tunnel are going in the bin. However, rail expansion has been halted and the winter fuel allowance for pensioners is going to be means tested.
Back in 2013, Reeves, as a shadow minister, proclaimed that Labour was "tougher than the Tories on benefits". Such attempts to out Tory the Tories led to widespread revulsion amongst grassroots Labour members, fuelling Corbyn’s success. Today, Reeves remains dedicated to a broadly conservative approach to finance and welfare.
Starmer’s foreign policy is also reactionary. He is dedicated to increasing military spending and is strongly supportive of Britain’s arms industry. Whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump, when the next US President gives an order, Starmer will obey without question. Starmer has sought to bolster Labour’s support for Israel, despite the continuing daily massacres in Gaza. This is, of course, again strongly in contrast to Corbyn’s solidarity with Palestine.
The deficiencies of Labour under Starmer extend beyond foreign policy and finance. Starmer, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, is essentially an authoritarian. He has been out spoken in attacking Just Stop Oil’s use of direct action and has no plans to reverse anti-protest legislation.
Just Stop Oil activists were given long prison sentences on July 5, for blocking a motorway. While this was on the basis of Conservative legislation, it is utterly consistent with Starmer’s approach to civil liberties.
When it comes to the media, Starmer has suspended possible reform in a blatant attempt to gain support from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. Britain’s notorious right-wing tabloids including the Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Express, have nothing to fear from Labour.
Health minister Wes Streeting is keen to bring in more health care privatisation and is continuing if not deepening anti-trans policies from the previous government.
Building a left opposition
In this context, how can the left build an effective opposition to the worst of these?
Labour’s left is very weak, after years of expulsions and rule changes cementing the power of the right. However, Starmer lacks deep support in the party, so rule changes and manipulations — while likely to freeze the left out of influence — are a sign of ideological weakness.
The Green Party had its best general election ever and is already pressing the government hard on a range of policies, such as spending cuts and failure to challenge the Murdoch press. The Greens are well organised, have elected hundreds of local councillors, and provide some opposition to Labour from the left. They have also attracted thousands of new members from Labour.
In Scotland, any drop in support for Labour is likely to see a resurgence of the Scottish National Party, while in Wales Plaid Cymru are already rising in the polls.
While the left can organise through trade unions, internally within Labour and support parties to the left of Labour, independents have the most ability perhaps to challenge the most regressive policies of Starmer, Streeting and Reeves.
Independent candidates are rarely successful in British politics, but five were elected on July 4, taking seats from Labour, in particular gaining amongst Muslim voters and others critical of Labour’s largely unconditional support for Israel.
It is entirely possible that Labour could win the 2029 general election, but Starmer could be defeated in his own seat of Holborn and St Pancras. Andrew Feinstein a former South African National Congress MP and opponent of the arms industry and the destruction of Gaza, came a very strong second to Starmer. Any fall in Labour’s polling is likely to put Starmer at risk in a future general election.
While popular movements and left parties can be built, the direct intervention of independent candidates is likely to pressure Starmer most directly. Thus, while Labour continues with a consensus with the Conservatives to promote war rather than welfare, to defend the wealthy rather than the vulnerable, precise pressure can be applied.
[Derek Wall is a former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales and a prominent ecosocialist, academic and writer.]