Comment
IAN AUSTIN
I was no fan of Starmer and I quit as Labour MP in protest at Corbyn – but here’s why I think the party has changed
It won’t all be plain sailing for Starmer and there’s some very tough challenges ahead
IT’S fair to say I wasn’t Keir Starmer’s biggest fan to start with.
We were never that close when I was an MP.
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But I’ve got to admit I’ve been pretty impressed over the past year.
And today the King will unveil the first Labour legislative agenda since Gordon Brown was in power 14 years ago.
It has taken some effort by Sir Keir to get here, working out what the public think and dragging Labour into sensible positions.
Strong on defence and tough on criminals.
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Facing down the Lefties and standing up for our allies, whether it is Ukraine being invaded by Putin or Israel being attacked by terrorists.
And kicking out the crazy old Commie Corbyn took some guts.
People say he won a big majority with a small share of the vote.
So what?
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‘This isn’t showbiz’
His team targeted the marginal seats in towns across the country instead of piling up votes in the inner cities and student towns.
That paid off with a massive majority.
NEW FORMATION First picture from inside Keir Starmer's new Cabinet as they meet for the first time after election landslide
Or they moan that Labour didn’t win, the Tories lost.
Sure, there’s no doubt the country wanted a change. They’d clearly had enough of Rishi and the rest of them.
But Sir Keir had got Labour into a position where people were no longer scared of them and were prepared to give them a go.
He’s had a good start over the last week and a half, too.
And his poll ratings even went up, according to a recent Ipsos survey.
He comes across as hard-working, competent and respectful — taking his position and responsibilities seriously.
And he looked the part in his first summit with Biden and other world leaders in Washington.
He might not be exciting, but this isn’t showbiz.
We’ve had enough razzamatazz and massive promises.
It’s always better to exceed low expectations than promise the Earth but let people down.
He made some good appointments. People with real experience and expertise.
The posh, smirking public schoolboys have been replaced by comprehensive schoolkids like Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting and Bridget Phillipson, who came up the hard way and want to open up opportunities for ordinary people.
Rachel Reeves is a proper economist.
She trained at the Bank of England and helped to run private sector banks.
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Her number one priority is getting the economy moving and Labour’s first announcement was measures to cut through planning delays and get Britain building.
They need to sort out the training system and bring back proper apprenticeships so kids get the construction jobs her building boom should create.
Wes Streeting spoke for all of us when he said the NHS is broken and needs urgent reform.
He wants it to help grow the economy by getting the country’s sick-note army off benefits and back to work.
John Healey went to Ukraine to promise full support in their war against Putin.
He appointed a genuine war hero, Colonel Al Carns, as a new defence minister and put another ex-Army officer, Dan Jarvis, in charge of security.
And he’s got the canny Scot Pat McFadden — who ran his election campaign — acting as his eyes and ears at the centre of government.
So far, so good. But it won’t all be plain sailing and there’s some tough challenges ahead.
What will happen if Trump wins in November?
What will that mean for Nato?
Will Ed Miliband really ban licences for oil and gas in the North Sea before new sources of green energy come on stream?
Leftie troublemaker John McDonnell is already organising a rebellion on child benefits.
Sir Keir should have booted him out before the election.
Crime is too high and the public want more police on the streets and criminals locked up.
On the other hand, jails are already at bursting point because the Tories didn’t build enough new prisons.
That’s why they’re having to continue with the letting out of lags early.
On top of all that, immigration is out of control.
The Tories allowed a million people to come here legally last year — on top of the small boats crossing the Channel.
Dealing with that is a huge challenge, but Labour know they will be punished at the next election if numbers don’t come down fast.
‘Keep them on their toes’
The election also showed that extremism is on the increase.
There are too many people here who hate our country and don’t share our values.
Russia has already started a war and China is flexing its muscles over Taiwan.
Iran is racing to develop nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism — not just in the Middle East, but here in Europe and the UK too.
The Mad Mullahs have declared war on the West and we will need to stand firm.
Labour might have a big majority now, but Boris had one five years ago and look what happened to that.
Politics is more volatile than ever before, and Labour know they could be out in five years too if they don’t deliver, starting with the more than 35 Bills unveiled in today’s King Speech.
That should keep them on their toes and working hard to improve things for the rest of us.
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- Lord Austin of Dudley was a Labour MP from 2005 until he left the party in 2019.
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