Dear Editor,
‘Lord make me celibate…but later’.
Not the exact words of St Augustine at or around 400 CE but suffice to say he had good intentions, yet struggled with the day to day reality of life around him.
In a more contemporary setting in the early noughties, I had the privilege of working alongside a committed trade unionist and avowed Trotskyite. He welcomed the impending and inevitable collapse of capitalism and the new dawn of a communist utopia where, importantly, everyone would be treated equally. When I queried the attitude to women within the trade union and communist movement his comment was that while everyone would be treated equally, for now we have to tolerate existing attitudes.
The same might be said of Sir Keir Starmer when it comes to grasping the Brexit nettle, while at the same time enjoying the trappings of power. Starmer built a successful platform on the back of Labour party reform, and for a while his ‘Remain’ sentiments (he supported the People’s Vote) gave me hope that we would see a substantial change in the Labour party’s stance on such things as free movement, the customs union and free trade.
Until the referendum, I counted myself as one of the comfortable, if complacent, liberal middle class. I became radicalised by the Brexit debate – to the point of organising and taking part in street protests, organising local Remain groups, leafletting and all the rest. To no avail. But I have not lost my pro-EU ‘consciousness’ and still see many political and personal issues through this prism. If this is called ‘identerianism’ then I stand defiantly and proudly guilty.
So now Labour is in power and what has happened?
Nothing. Warm words, but I fail to see how the Labour party has significantly shifted its position from the election. And why is that? I wonder if it is because Starmer can indulge in ‘hippy bashing’ – i.e., appearing tough on people like me since they would have got my vote anyway. And in publicly taking this stance, it shores up the party’s credentials with the ‘red wall’.
Really? Are we still in campaign mode? What happened to the dictum that now is the time to take unpopular decisions – e.g., the winter fuel allowance, etc.
Besides, moving substantially closer to the EU is hardly unpopular given a clear majority of UK citizens recognise leaving the EU as a disaster.
So, I feel let down and taken advantage of. While I would never countenance any vote that might let the Tories back into power, I might have to hold my nose and vote Labour again. But it would be against my judgement.
If tactical voting would ever get the Liberal Democrats or the Greens into power in my constituency, I’m in. They are more my type of hippy anyway.
Dr Colin Hopkins
Suffolk
