Faced with an insurgent UK far right backed by a billionaire oligarch, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s pledge to lead the progressive fightback is long overdue. If Starmer’s speech, however, is to be anything but empty rhetoric, he must abandon his failed strategy of chasing the Reform vote in favour of a bolder, more hopeful narrative.
Based on his government’s actions and discourse so far, the signs are far from promising. He has helped embolden the very politics he claims to oppose.
Starmer’s speech comes hot on the heels of Britain’s largest ever far-right mobilisation. Between 110,000 and 150,000 people descended on London for the so-called “Unite The Kingdom” march, organised by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (better known as Tommy Robinson).
