Monday 1 March 2021

Five Most Popular Posts in February

What was the action like on the blog this February just passed?

1. On Labour's Poll Collapse
2. The Uses of Captain Tom
3. Boris Johnson and Thatcherism
4. The Right Wing Defence of Starmerism
5. The Green Threat to Labour

Keir Starmer and Starmerism was always going to feature this month as it became increasingly clear the strategy isn't working. Indeed, addressing Labour's reversals in the polls duly went to the top of my particular pops. Next up was the political uses of the nation's granddad, and then a few chin stokes about Tory strategy during and after Coronavirus. The problems with Starmerism hit the number four and five spots, covering an idiotic defence of Keir's record so far, and how its failings might bleed support to other parties - particularly the Greens. In other words, we're seeing the unfolding of a process this blog has long forecast.

February, however, has been another crap month for the left as we lost our comrade Ed Rooksby. Also essential reading on Ed's work is this longer piece from Alex for Tribune. The best way to remember Ed is by carrying on the tough work of making sense of politics and thinking through the problems of socialist strategy, and we must do this because his keyboard has fallen silent.

What's on the horizon for this month? The budget, of course. No doubt there are more Starmerist missteps to look forward to. The rumpus in Scottish politics might inspire a piece or two, and the episodic and contingent we cannot forecast.

Image Credit

3 comments:

JN said...

We're deep into Animal Farm territory: the Labour 'centrists' have gone so far as to forget which side of 'centre' they're supposedly on.

JN said...

"Starmerism was always going to feature this month as it became increasingly clear the strategy isn't working"

Well, I guess it is a problem for the philosophy of supporting the "lesser evil" when it's no longer clear which evil is, in fact, lesser. Anyone supporting Starmer at this point is either ideologically committed to a 'Blue' Labour or is just an idiot. There is no other excuse. Starmer is pretty clearly a right-winger AND a shit politician.

Blissex said...

«Anyone supporting Starmer at this point is either ideologically committed to a 'Blue' Labour»

My impression is that Keir Starmer personally is actually "Yellow Labour" like Old New Labour, but is pretending to support "Blue Labour" themes for purely electoral purposes. Same as Old New Labour with ASBOs or anti-"scrounger" rhetoric.