[Boiler]

And I dread to think how much shit the Press would fling in her direction too if she did.

[mattomac]

Are Labour going ever have a female leader?

Just seems back to jobs for the boys and those who went to private schools.

Maybe all this is the issue here, Starmer is a bit of an outsider. The 2024 intake are generally quite similar and seem very unhappy in large numbers.

[Abernathy]

Al Carns is the only remaining potential challenger to Burnham not to have fallen in behind the Burnham bandwagon.

Yesterday Carns said he would wait to hear what Burnham said in his speech today before making a decision about whether to toss his proverbial hat into the metaphorical ring.

So far, Carns has said nothing. Looks very much as if there is going to be a coronation of King Andy now, for sure.

It ain’t great, but it’s where we are at.

[Dalem Lake]

I quite liked Burnham's speech this morning, particularly when he focused on building not just housing, but council housing. Whether he achieves it, well who knows, but his enthusiasm and tone was miles apart from the often wooden and unconvincing Starmer.

[Abernathy]

I wrote to my MP :

Dear Tahir,

I am writing as a Labour member and constituent to express how deeply disappointed and upset I am about the way that Sir Keir Starmer has been treated

I know politics is difficult. I know leaders make mistakes. I am not writing to pretend that everything was perfect, because no Prime Minister gets everything right. However, It does seem to me that a decent, serious, and honourable man has been hounded, undermined, and pushed out after doing the hard work of making Labour electable again and bringing the party back into government.

Keir inherited a country damaged by fourteen years of Conservative mismanagement, austerity, Brexit, broken public services, economic instability, and deep division. No one could have repaired that quickly. Yet instead of being given patience, loyalty, and space to govern, he was attacked relentlessly from outside the party and, in my view, failed by too many within it.

What I find particularly difficult is that many people are now saying what a good, decent, and serious man he is after the damage has already been done. Where were those voices when he was being hounded daily by the right-wing media, Reform, the permanently outraged and some from his own side?

I am also very concerned by the way this now appears to be moving towards Andy Burnham as though his leadership is inevitable. I do not accept that Labour members should simply be expected to fall into line. Members campaign, pay subscriptions, knock on doors, defend the party, and carry the Labour message into our communities. We should not be treated as an inconvenience when it comes to the future leadership of our own party.

I also have to say that, from the outside, this has the appearance of something that has been building for months rather than something that has happened suddenly. The speed with which Andy Burnham is now being spoken about as the natural successor makes many of us feel that this has been politically managed and arranged long before ordinary members were given any say at all.

I appreciate that people will deny the word “coup”, however that is how it looks to many Labour members. It feels as though a sitting Labour Prime Minister has been steadily undermined, pushed out, and then replaced in public discussion by someone who has not done the work of leading the party nationally or winning the mandate Sir Keir won.

What makes this feel even worse is that it does not currently look as though there will be a proper election in which members get to choose between candidates. It also appears, from the outside, as though MPs are being discouraged from challenging, for example Darren Jones or anyone else who may have offered members a different choice.

Andy Burnham has not served in government for over ten years. Politics has changed. The country has changed. The media landscape has changed. The threat from Reform has changed. I hope to God this works out, because I do not want anything that gives Reform momentum or increases the risk of them gaining power.

However, I recognise that Andy Burnham can communicate well and perform strongly in interviews. But this is different from having recently carried the pressure of national government, the Treasury, foreign policy, Europe, defence, Parliament, the media, and the daily machinery of running the country.

There are thousands of Keir Starmer supporters across social media who feel angry, hurt and politically homeless right now. I belong to one Keir Starmer support group alone with over 12,500 members, and there are many other groups and supporters who feel the same. We should not be dismissed as though we do not exist.

If there is a proper leadership contest, members should have a voice. I accept that the process may not give me the say I would like, and I understand I would have to accept that. However, accepting it does not mean I have to like it.

My concern is not only personal loyalty to Keir. It is also about what this says about the Labour Party. If a leader can make Labour electable again, win a huge majority, take on an almost impossible job, and still be pushed out before the foundations he laid have had time to show results, then what message does that send?

I am also deeply concerned about the direction of Labour’s relationship with Europe. I believed Sir Keir was moving carefully and pragmatically towards closer ties with Europe, and ultimately, I think a second referendum on EU membership would have been included in the next manifesto, if SKS had remained P.M.

However, that does not mean every step towards repairing Brexit damage requires another referendum. The 2016 vote was to leave the European Union. It was not a specific public vote to leave the single market or customs union. Rejoining the single market or customs union, or negotiating much closer economic alignment, could be pursued through a clear manifesto mandate and parliamentary process.

Brexit was a Tory project, delivered by Tory Prime Ministers, and it has made this country poorer, weaker, more divided, and less influential. Labour should be honest about that and should not be afraid of rebuilding our relationship with Europe.

I am frightened that this could become another round of Labour internal warfare at the exact moment Reform and the right are waiting to benefit from chaos. Whatever people think of Keir, I believe the way he has been treated has been wrong.

I am not writing in the hope of receiving a standard political reply or words intended to reassure me. Though I would, of course, be interested in your views. I am writing to place on record, as a Labour member and constituent, that I am deeply unhappy with the way this has unfolded, with the apparent direction of travel, and with the way loyal Labour members who supported Keir are being expected to simply accept it and move on. I wanted to make you fully aware that there is a strong strength of feeling about this in the members’ communities that should not be ignored.

Yours sincerely,

Abernathy.

[Abernathy]

And bugger me if Tahir didn’t just reply :


Dear Abernathy,

Thank you for contacting me about the change of leadership.

I note your comments about the need for MPs to have supported Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, and the unfairness in the way that he has been treated.

Keir has reflected on his position as leader of the Labour Party and has decided to step-down. In the next few weeks, he will also resign as Prime Minister. While I note your views, I agree with his decision. Despite his many achievements, I did not think that Keir could address the threat from the so-called “Reform UK” party and lead us to victory at the next General Election.

As you know, our country stands at a pivotal moment. The world is becoming more volatile and dangerous. Over the past twenty years there has been a series of challenges: the 2008 Financial Crash, the austerity that followed it, leaving the European Union, the Covid Pandemic, the Ukraine War, the impact of Climate Change and conflict in the Middle East. Dealing with the consequences of these challenges and the underlying weakness of the economy will take time and effort. Keir has done his best to address these complex problems in a short period of time and deserves our thanks. Now it is the duty of the next Prime Minister to provide the clear and dynamic leadership that this country needs to get the job done.

I note your comments about Andy Burnham as the likely successor as Leader and Prime Minister. I agree with your sentiments but think that a leadership contest is unlikely. If any of my colleagues thought that they were suitable replacements for Keir, they would have declared themselves already.

I also note your comments about Brexit and broadly agree with you. However, to maximise the scale and speed of realisation of the advantages of closer relation with the EU would mean reversing Brexit completely. I am not sure that anyone has the courage to re-open the deep divisions that the Brexit campaign caused, even when this is clearly in the economic interests of our country.

Thank you once again for contacting me with your concerns about this critical matter. I will reflect on what you have written.

Kind regards,

Tahir Ali MP,
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hall Green & Moseley.

[davidjay]

Well-written, Abers. Not so well-written, Tahir.

Edited to add my sheer fucking anger at the "Keir has done his best" bollocks. It's patronising, insulting and absolute fucking nonsense. Without Starmer him and a hundred others wouldn't be MPs; perhaps he should reflect on that.