Keir Starmer must not bow to Gaza activist politics of Jeremy Corbyn
We must give Starmer's government a chance but lets hope he doesn't give in to activist politics, says James Whale.
After a fractious campaign, Rishi Sunak was the epitome of dignity as he stood down as Prime Minister on Friday, joined by his wife. And he put it perfectly – ironic, perhaps, that the best speech of his campaign was conceding defeat, but nevermind – reminding us all that we might not agree with Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, but they won the election fair and square and deserve their chance to govern.
Sir Keir is clearly a decent bloke and we must give him his chance. This is the beauty of the British electoral system – the handover of power calmly and efficiently without burning cars or shops (see France), without death squads (Afghanistan) and without public buildings being stormed by unruly crowds (America).
Like many of you, I’m nervous about the change of government but, after 14 years, we all needed one. And there are some shoots of hope.
The election of my old mate Nigel Farage to Parliament on his eighth attempt will certainly shake things up. Nigel is a classic disrupter and I’m looking forward to seeing his whirlwind of energy blow through the Commons, just like when he was an MEP.
And we’re rid of many of the Tory wets whose liberal-leaning addiction to the centre ground undoubtedly cost their party the election. The Conservatives need to take a long hard look at their fortunes – the fact it’s the Right of the party that has survived should put paid to the claims they are too right-wing to govern.
The truth is that the public wanted tougher action on issues like migration, crime and anti-social behaviour. Despite endless promises and tough talking, the Conservatives didn’t deliver. That stoked the Reform UK vote. Not being too right-wing. But not being right-wing enough.
On the down side, I was gutted to see Jeremy Corbyn return to Parliament as an independent, seemingly on a mostly pro-Gaza campaign. We must fight tooth and claw against the Gazaisation of our politics. It’s right we are concerned about such issues, but not that they should dictate our elected MPs.
Sir Keir’s government must be wary of bowing to such activist politics. We’ll all be watching closely.
