SIR KEIR STARMER is under increasing pressure from both sides of the Labour Party to offer a “bold alternative” to Tory rule after last week’s disastrous council elections in England.
Labour’s left called on the party leader to learn from US President Joe Biden and work with socialist MPs and trade unions to develop the “popular policies needed to rebuild support across the country.”
Ed Miliband, who led Labour in opposition between 2010 and 2015, said that the party needs to be “bolder,” while former prime minister Tony Blair complained that Sir Keir “lacks a compelling economic message.”
The Labour leadership has been under siege since the Hartlepool by-election defeat and the loss of control of Durham council for the first time in more than a century.
LABOUR’S left has set out an alternative Queen’s Speech to “build a fairer, healthier and greener country.”
The Socialist Campaign Group’s proposals, published to coincide with tomorrow’s state opening of Parliament, include an NHS reinstatement Bill to protect the public service, legislation to create a national care service and a real living wage Bill.
Backed by the group’s secretary Richard Burgon, fellow Labour MPs Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Ian Mearns and John McDonnell and Scottish peer Pauline Bryan, the proposals represent a re-evaluation of “what is most important to us” after the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the trauma of a decade of austerity.
SIR KEIR STARMER was under increasing pressure today following Labour’s dismal election results across Britain, with socialists calling for an emergency party conference and MPs refusing to rule out a leadership challenge.
The Labour leader continued to face heavy criticism for the party’s lack of vision ahead of Thursday’s polls, as well as over his own reaction to the results which emerged over the weekend.
Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs secretary and former shadow cabinet member Richard Burgon MP called for a special party conference to address the party’s poor performance at the polls and to allow the leadership to outline its plans.
Hartlepool meltdown: best of the left round-up spectator.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from spectator.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Now what for Sir Keir Starmer and Labour after crushing Hartlepool defeat?
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer (R) and deputy party leader Angela Rayner (L) on the campaign trail on May 5, 2021 in Birmingham (Getty Images)
Labour’s crushing defeat in the Hartlepool by-election has already sparked recriminations and finger pointing, with the party quickly descending into factional warfare.
Labour left MPs have been reasonably quiet about their discontent with Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership and his attempt to moderate the party until now, however we should expect to see this change from today.
To put Labour’s Hartlepool loss into perspective, it is just the fourth occasion a government has won a seat off the opposition in a by-election since World War II.