As a former member of the Labour Party (47 years!) I totally agree. For me the final straw was Starmer’s support for Netanyahu, although Mahmood is also odious. I can’t believe that one of most significant political parties of the last 100 years is basically being destroyed.
I have been a Labour supporter all my voting life. A member for over 10 years. I have cancelled my membership. Mahmood’s new immigration and asylum policies were the last straw. I did not make the decision lightly. My parents came to the UK as part of the ‘Windrush Generation’, they are both deceased but worked hard, faced & fought racism & voted Labour. They would be very disappointed to see what has happened to the party.
Yes. It seems like a demonstration of pure wrongheadedness. Deeply frustrating and immensely, historically sad.
Also profoundly sad is the fact that their pandering to the mores of the rabid right-wing press has won them NOTHING. And never will, since the mainstream media in Britain seems mainly to have gone the exact same route as across the ocean.
And how can they even think that anyone who's bought into the slavering, dog-whistle politics of Farage's vicious ride to ever-extending public cruelty and personal corruption will ever be won back to them by their ghastly copycat games...?
Such extraordinary wickedness in so many of those pander-to-the-extreme policies. And so much delusional folly.
If Labour had actually listed their achievements to date instead of slagging off the Greens and Reform, they may have had a better chance of retaining their position. Unfortunately, some of us have long memories and we remember being told to find the door and leave if we didn't like the direction Starmer was heading. And we did. In our thousands.
Their draconian laws around the freedom marches, their vitriol with regards to immigrants, their refusal to acknowledge the destruction of Gaza and the West Bank, helped to cement their demise.
Thank you hugely for putting my thoughts into such better words than I could . The immigration “ policies “ not only cruel but economically damaging to this country , an “ easier” route than making the justifiable , necessary case for immigration . Add for me the total failure to even attempt to distinguish between the war crimes of the Netanyahu government and the right of a Jewish state to exist is catastrophic .
On a different trope, though within the same overall topic, I do seriously wonder about this, but simply don't have the skills to work out a potential answer:
What might the results have shown if the Labour government had finally found the family jewels to read the funereal rites over first-past-the-post and replace it with a voting system fit for purpose in the Britain of the second quarter of the twenty-first century?
I agree entirely. Having supported Labour for decades, it’s painful to feel this disconnected from the party. I welcome the policies that are finally seeing the light of day, but the tactical shift toward the Reform electorate—rather than tackling the movement head-on—is baffling. This year, for the first time, my vote went to the Green Party
Spot on. The "wrong" people are running Labour. They do not have Labour principles at heart. This goes way back to Ed Miliband's time when Labour merched an anti-immigration mug trying to out UKIP UKIP. Alienating your base was never a good tactic.
Labour and Conservative have had decades to improve the FPTP voting system. They ducked the issue again and again and this is the result.
They’d never go for electoral reform while FPTP gave them a kind of 50/50 shot at power. That may well have changed as a result of the past couple of years. W can only hope.
That is the problem with not having principles to follow. They might have a short term gain from not introducing vote reform but it was always going to come back and bite them at some point.
Completely agree! Honestly, I'm much more toward the 'open borders' end of migration policy anyway, (they're all just invented lines on a map) but watching Labour get more and more cruel has been stomach churning. The retrospective changes, shifting the goalposts of people partway through the various processes is absolutely unforgivable. Not to mention them following the Tory trick of finding someone with brown skin to front it all.
I didn't get to vote yesterday, but unfortunately where I live is all too likely to follow the Reform trend (unless something changes in the interim). But Labour *has* won here in the past, so presumably could again, were it not for them pissing off people like me who really ought to be nailed-on support. They've got to do something!
That said, there's no point ditching Starmer just to get someone equally shit & I am not enthused by anyone currently in the running, nor, if I'm honest, by Burnham.
Instead I would like to see them damn well DO something with their big majority.
Obviously rethink the immigration plans, and at a minimum remove anything retrospective.
Stop talking like bloody Tories too! Labour is supposed to support the vulnerable. Ditch the anti-Trans rhetoric, and the constant hammering on people on benefits.
Then find a big ticket thing to do. Rolling back all the authoritarian stuff the Tories did about voting & protest would be good, and surely cost-free?
Even better, something like forgiving student debt? Freeing up a cohort of people to spend on things they actually want would be good for growth, surely?
I so agree. Mahmood's performative cruelty (a phrase I hoped we might have buried with the Tories) is a substitute for a strategy for improving ordinary people's lives. Plus it doesn't work. Where I live, a number of good Labour councillors are out, punished for their association with the government. Which has done little to enable hood councillors to deliver services.
I agree with most of what you say but the confusion in local to general elections is for me quite appalling
Yes they are connected by party
But local elections aren’t about immigration or the nhs it’s about local service delivery
Reform went massive in “ get Starmer out “ which is a downright lie and his rabid racist followers took him at his word
There are 25,000 local councillors and reform have just 2,500 of them , it’s an uncomfortable switch but when you tally up that most seats took only 700-1000 voted it’s not like Brexit
All parties labour green and reform took this stand in national policies and they should all be ashamed
6 councils are in control of Farage and they have 3 years to fail whilst Labour must regroup
As a former member of the Labour Party (47 years!) I totally agree. For me the final straw was Starmer’s support for Netanyahu, although Mahmood is also odious. I can’t believe that one of most significant political parties of the last 100 years is basically being destroyed.
I have been a Labour supporter all my voting life. A member for over 10 years. I have cancelled my membership. Mahmood’s new immigration and asylum policies were the last straw. I did not make the decision lightly. My parents came to the UK as part of the ‘Windrush Generation’, they are both deceased but worked hard, faced & fought racism & voted Labour. They would be very disappointed to see what has happened to the party.
spot on Bear.
I tore up my Labour membership and joined the Greens.
Incidentally, gaining French Nationality cost me less than 500€
Yes. It seems like a demonstration of pure wrongheadedness. Deeply frustrating and immensely, historically sad.
Also profoundly sad is the fact that their pandering to the mores of the rabid right-wing press has won them NOTHING. And never will, since the mainstream media in Britain seems mainly to have gone the exact same route as across the ocean.
And how can they even think that anyone who's bought into the slavering, dog-whistle politics of Farage's vicious ride to ever-extending public cruelty and personal corruption will ever be won back to them by their ghastly copycat games...?
Such extraordinary wickedness in so many of those pander-to-the-extreme policies. And so much delusional folly.
If Labour had actually listed their achievements to date instead of slagging off the Greens and Reform, they may have had a better chance of retaining their position. Unfortunately, some of us have long memories and we remember being told to find the door and leave if we didn't like the direction Starmer was heading. And we did. In our thousands.
Their draconian laws around the freedom marches, their vitriol with regards to immigrants, their refusal to acknowledge the destruction of Gaza and the West Bank, helped to cement their demise.
Thank you hugely for putting my thoughts into such better words than I could . The immigration “ policies “ not only cruel but economically damaging to this country , an “ easier” route than making the justifiable , necessary case for immigration . Add for me the total failure to even attempt to distinguish between the war crimes of the Netanyahu government and the right of a Jewish state to exist is catastrophic .
I wholeheartedly agree with every word.
On a different trope, though within the same overall topic, I do seriously wonder about this, but simply don't have the skills to work out a potential answer:
What might the results have shown if the Labour government had finally found the family jewels to read the funereal rites over first-past-the-post and replace it with a voting system fit for purpose in the Britain of the second quarter of the twenty-first century?
A perfect distillation of all the thoughts, ideas & fears that have been fizzing about in my head for months.
Thank you for finally getting them neatly filed!
Mine too.
I agree entirely. Having supported Labour for decades, it’s painful to feel this disconnected from the party. I welcome the policies that are finally seeing the light of day, but the tactical shift toward the Reform electorate—rather than tackling the movement head-on—is baffling. This year, for the first time, my vote went to the Green Party
Spot on. The "wrong" people are running Labour. They do not have Labour principles at heart. This goes way back to Ed Miliband's time when Labour merched an anti-immigration mug trying to out UKIP UKIP. Alienating your base was never a good tactic.
Labour and Conservative have had decades to improve the FPTP voting system. They ducked the issue again and again and this is the result.
Turkeys… Christmas…
They’d never go for electoral reform while FPTP gave them a kind of 50/50 shot at power. That may well have changed as a result of the past couple of years. W can only hope.
That is the problem with not having principles to follow. They might have a short term gain from not introducing vote reform but it was always going to come back and bite them at some point.
Completely agree! Honestly, I'm much more toward the 'open borders' end of migration policy anyway, (they're all just invented lines on a map) but watching Labour get more and more cruel has been stomach churning. The retrospective changes, shifting the goalposts of people partway through the various processes is absolutely unforgivable. Not to mention them following the Tory trick of finding someone with brown skin to front it all.
I didn't get to vote yesterday, but unfortunately where I live is all too likely to follow the Reform trend (unless something changes in the interim). But Labour *has* won here in the past, so presumably could again, were it not for them pissing off people like me who really ought to be nailed-on support. They've got to do something!
That said, there's no point ditching Starmer just to get someone equally shit & I am not enthused by anyone currently in the running, nor, if I'm honest, by Burnham.
Instead I would like to see them damn well DO something with their big majority.
Obviously rethink the immigration plans, and at a minimum remove anything retrospective.
Stop talking like bloody Tories too! Labour is supposed to support the vulnerable. Ditch the anti-Trans rhetoric, and the constant hammering on people on benefits.
Then find a big ticket thing to do. Rolling back all the authoritarian stuff the Tories did about voting & protest would be good, and surely cost-free?
Even better, something like forgiving student debt? Freeing up a cohort of people to spend on things they actually want would be good for growth, surely?
IDK, but they must do something noticeable!
Oh Bear - you are so wise. I do wish that people in charge of these ludicrous knee jerk reactive policies would read/listen to you.
I so agree. Mahmood's performative cruelty (a phrase I hoped we might have buried with the Tories) is a substitute for a strategy for improving ordinary people's lives. Plus it doesn't work. Where I live, a number of good Labour councillors are out, punished for their association with the government. Which has done little to enable hood councillors to deliver services.
I can’t agree more. Mahmoud and Streeting are the worst! I voted for Labour in the last general election, but never again if they continue like this.
I agree with most of what you say but the confusion in local to general elections is for me quite appalling
Yes they are connected by party
But local elections aren’t about immigration or the nhs it’s about local service delivery
Reform went massive in “ get Starmer out “ which is a downright lie and his rabid racist followers took him at his word
There are 25,000 local councillors and reform have just 2,500 of them , it’s an uncomfortable switch but when you tally up that most seats took only 700-1000 voted it’s not like Brexit
All parties labour green and reform took this stand in national policies and they should all be ashamed
6 councils are in control of Farage and they have 3 years to fail whilst Labour must regroup