How can you have a working class labor leader with the title Sir? I just can't grasp that??? Makes on sense to my "all for one one for all" Union mind. Dónal
On Mon, 5 Apr 2021 at 09:29, Gary MacLennan <[email protected]> wrote: > *Introduction* > > Sir Keir Starmer has been leader of the Labour Party for one year. He got > elected on the basis of 10 pledges > <https://keirstarmer.com/plans/10-pledges/> that positioned him as a left > of centre leader who would modernize and unite the Party. His centre piece > promotional video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Yru2Ridk0> > constructed him as the champion of workers in struggle. All that is now > blood under the bridge > > Starmer, the seemingly lefty butterfly, has, in a dazzling reverse > metamorphosis, become the right-wing caterpillar. > > On the 29th October 2020, Starmer suspended Jeremy Corbyn > <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-30/former-leader-jeremy-corbyn-suspended-by-uk-labour-over-comments/12829208> > from the Labour Party because of his response to the EHRC report on > anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. From that date, Starmer’s leadership > ratings went into steady decline > <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/mar/14/boris-johnson-is-voters-clear-choice-for-pm-in-new-poll>. > His party also fell behind the Tory Party in the polls and is currently 10 > points adrift > <https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/explore/issue/Voting_Intention>. > > There is no necessity for from woe to woe tell o'er the sad account of > all of Starmer’s outrageous moves against the Left. He is now recognized as > a factional warrior, who is committed to purging his Party of Leftism. For > those interested, Oliver Eagleton > <https://novaramedia.com/2021/03/02/keir-starmer-is-a-long-time-servant-of-the-british-security-state/> > has also carefully documented Starmer’s credentials as a hard-right > supporter of American imperialism and the British security establishment. > > What I want to do in this post is, firstly, to work from the assumption > that, precisely because of his victory over the left, Starmer’s failure as > Labour Leader is terminal, and then to try & work out why he has failed. To > do so I will respond, firstly, to Paul Mason’s argument that Starmer lacks > a vision and a narrative. I will then seek to explain the Starmer disaster > in conjunctural terms as a failure to acknowledge and respond adequately to > the historic crises, whose origins lie in the overwhelming victory of the > neoliberal paradigm. > > I will conclude with a very brief philosophical analysis, which draws upon > Alain Badiou’s notion of the Event and the onset of evil that follows the > failure to recognize an Event. > > *Mason and Starmer* > > Coming to grips with Mason’s politics is not an easy task, not least > because he is in a process of change, I believe, from Left to Right. There > is also the personal element. He appears to have developed deep antipathy > to Corbyn’s support team which he brands as “Stalinists”. His analysis of > the Labour party is that it has three factions. The Left linked to left > wing unions such as Unite. The Right linked to the rightwing unions such as > Unison and a centre left linked to no one. He calls for an alliance between > the centre left led by Starmer and the Left. > > Mason’s prescription for the Starmer camp it “needs a clear narrative, > told in straight, emotive language, that appeals to the voters not yet > convinced. It needs to talk about crime, security and defence with the same > passion that it talks about poverty > <https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2021/02/labour-isn-t-working-how-keir-starmer-allowing-tories-get-away-failure>.” > There > are a number of problems with this analysis. Firstly, there is no evidence > at the Starmer camp talks about poverty with any level of passion at all. > To be fair, Mason does want Starmer & his followers to raise the banner of > social > justice > <https://medium.com/@paulmasonnews/the-left-the-party-and-the-class-1ca7b6a959e6>, > but so far his pleas do not appear to have cut through. The second problem > I have with Mason’s diagnosis is that a focus on “crime, security and > defence” is not at all what the working class needs at present. Moreover, > what Mason is in effect calling for is what Starmer has already delivered. > He backs the security establishment > <https://labourlist.org/2020/10/exclusive-starmer-says-labour-should-not-vote-down-spycops-bill-even-if-unamended/>. > He has called for more nuclear weapons > <https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/02/26/labour-backs-nato-nuclear-weapons-party-distances-corbyn-era/>, > and he has beaten the tough on crime drum > <https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/keir-starmer-says-labour-tough-23848661> > very loudly. If there is any passion in the Starmer project that is exactly > where it has manifested itself. > > *Starmer and the Conjuncture* > > But the most important charge against Mason’s analysis and his continued > support for Starmer is that Mason does not follow through on his own > diagnosis > <https://medium.com/@paulmasonnews/the-left-the-party-and-the-class-1ca7b6a959e6>. > As a radical economist Mason knows we face a deep economic crisis. He is > also aware of the environmental crisis. None of these conjunctural problems > can be solved within the political scope that Starmer and his entire team > are prepared to contemplate. Even if we confine our listing of the > conjunctural crises we face to Janet Yellen’s > <https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/us-facing-historic-crises-again-says-treasury-secy-nominee-janet-yellen-120120200083_1.html> > list of four – health, the economy, racism and the environment, it is clear > that we need more than the vision splendid and a sparkling narrative. Not > that Starmer has been able to supply either of those. > > It is then my claim that Starmer’s failure is both analytical and > political. He is the inheritor of Blair’s acceptance > <https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-22073434> of Thatcher’s smashing > of the working class and like most of his Labour colleagues Starmer has no > intention whatsoever of trying to roll back Thatcherism or its Blairite > mutation. The ideology of romanticism blocks us from describing Starmer’s > politics as having a vision. But Starmer does actually have a vision though > it is a tawdry, ill-favoured thing. Starmer has wrapped himself in the Union > Jack > <https://inews.co.uk/opinion/keir-starmer-opportunity-reclaim-union-flag-928390>, > gushed over the Queen’s jab > <https://twitter.com/keir_starmer/status/1347934997701918722?lang=en> and > interpreted his role of Leader of the Opposition through the lens of > patriotism > <https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/feb/03/labour-defends-new-strategy-to-focus-on-patriotism-and-union-flag>. > In so doing he has played an important role in blocking the development of > the kind of politics that the UK desperately needs as it confronts a series > of historic crises. > > *Starmerism towards a philosophical critique* > > What I seek to do here is to draw briefly and very schematically upon > Alain Badiou’s notion of an Event (Badiou, 2007). This is something that > takes place in the domains of Science, Love, Art and Politics. Badiou gives > the example of the French Revolution. I would offer example of the Irish > Uprising of Easter 1916. After these events it was impossible to do > politics in the old way. The Event enunciates a truth which seizes us. If > we recognize and are faithful to the truth of the Event, then progress can > be made. Change can come about which is beneficial within the particular > domain. However, if the Event is not recognized then Evil flourishes (Cox, > Whalen, & Badiou, 2001/2). > > It is my contention that the advent of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of > the UK Labour Party in 2015 was a potential Event but massive forces were > mobilised to prevent its recognition. What we see now as a consequence is > the evil of the rule of Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party. There is no > need to catalogue the horrors of Conservative rule. Suffice to say that we > are only at their beginning. > > In Badiou’s terms Starmer’s term as Labour Leader must also be brought > under the sign of Evil because he too has done all he can to prevent the > recognition of the Event that was Corbyn’s election as leader. > > > > References > > Badiou, A. (2007). *Being and Event*. New York: Continuum. > > Cox, C., Whalen, M., & Badiou, A. (2001/2). On Evil: An Interview with > Alain Badiou. *Cabinet, 5*. > > > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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