Nesrine Malik is on to something in drawing attention to the sense of a “final reckoning” among departing Labour members (Labour losing voters over Gaza matters – whether it hurts electorally or not, 30 October). Though he may think otherwise, Keir Starmer’s underlying error is to concentrate on winning power, while forgetting the purpose of winning it in the first place. He can be forgiven for not revealing detailed policy until closer to an election, but, as Malik points out, the general direction of travel is towards an increasing poverty of ambition in Labour’s likely legislative agenda.
Starmer and his advisers have jettisoned transformative idea after transformative idea. Making sure everything that crosses his desk is of a piece with his favoured tough/realistic/prime ministerial self-portrayal easily explains his comment about Israeli action in Gaza. Gone, for sure, are the days of Starmer the human rights lawyer, but his preference for abandoning potential policy rather than actually arguing the case for legislative action has struck me as an odd characteristic in a decorated advocate. The anomaly here is that it is a foreign rather than a domestic issue that has brought this to a head – although, as Malik reminds us, what is happening in the Middle East is just two or three steps away for some of the British population. As for the party’s contempt towards its grassroots, it is hard to see Starmer’s policy of radical devolution of powers from Whitehall surviving contact with the trappings of power. In quite a few instances, the machinery has been unable even to tolerate its own party constituencies choosing their preferred candidates.
Peter Cousins
Granada, Spain
• A voter boycott is indeed, as Nesrine Malik says, on the cards. I, like Cathy, cannot vote for this Labour party. The fact that Keir Starmer lacks the courage to differ from Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden over Israel’s barbaric bombardment of Gaza is not my only reason. The “watering down of policies” and the gradual disappearance of the 10 pledges are my “previous straws”.
This particular “flea” had already been shaken off by what clearly isn’t on the cards under a Starmer government: wealth redistribution in order to pay for our broken public services, and social justice. Instead of increases in income tax and the introduction of a wealth tax, the current “tax burden” is seen as a problem, and we are expected to believe that things will only get better when the economy grows.
Really? Do Rachel Reeves and Starmer still believe in trickle-down economics? Next, they’ll be telling us there’s no point in taxing the rich because of the Laffer curve.
Bernie Evans
Liverpool
• I don’t like being compared to a flea, and nor will many Labour voters who consider themselves centrist. We are the majority of Labour supporters if standard distribution applies. When a canvasser came around when Jeremy Corbyn was leader, I told them that if it weren’t for Rosena Allin-Khan being my MP I would not vote Labour (as I have done since 1983). I have the same message for the next canvasser who visits. People have low trust in politicians. Looking at how they can game the numbers and the optics rather than developing an honest, decent and hopeful vision for voters is the main reason. It seems they care less and less for anything but getting elected.
Stephen Jenkins
London
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
