UK politics trundles on with the latest crisis facing Keir Starmer. What did he really know about Peter Mandelson’s past when he hired him as the UK’s US ambassador and are civil servants rightly or wrongly being blamed for the failure to raise vetting red flags?
Do you know what? I really don’t care and almost certainly neither do the British public who think very little of Starmer anyway. I am with Stephen Bush of the FT on this one. None of the scenarios of who knew what about Mandelson’s past reflect well on the Prime Minister. Where I might differ, certainly from many of the opposition politicians, is believing he should resign unless something new surfaces. Starmer may not be impressive, but I cannot think of another Labour politician who would do better. The increasingly unpleasant Tories under Badenoch do not impress. As for Reform, the LibDems and the Greens, the less said the better…
Which takes us to the issue of consensus in British politics generally. The international backdrop to the UK’s fortunes is dire. An erratic US President berates us on a weekly basis. The Middle East conflict is a disaster from a humanitarian perspective as well as economically. The NATO alliance looks shaky at best, all to the benefit of Russia and China. Starmer has been much better on foreign rather than domestic policy so why can’t leading politicians in other parties give him some credit and indeed support? Badenoch has been particularly weak in her analysis of the Iran conflict embracing the US and then tip toeing away and perhaps back again. Farage is confused on how to manage his relationship with Trump. The Greens are sounding more and more like anarchists under their new leader, Polanski, and the LibDems led by Ed Davey are, well, irrelevant. Whilst they rush to condemn Mandelson’s appointment, can’t these leaders find it within themselves to reach some consensus on international affairs for the sake of the country as a whole? Who knows, such an approach may even gain the respect of voters…
More handshakes and less posturing would lead to better government…
And warming to the theme of cross-party consensus, isn’t it time for a bi-partisan approach on how the country is run domestically; tax and spend, the NHS, social care, defence? Do we want a Scandinavian model of government at one end through to a more free-market US approach at the other? Can’t we have a genuine debate on how much we want to spend on public services and what level of tax is required, warning the electorate they cannot have their cake and eat it? Politicians see electoral advantage in rowing on all these issues for marginal short-term advantage, but the right solutions will inevitably be long-term.
Let’s aim for dialogue across parties, not simply within, which would provide for better government overall.
P.S. Great news came out of Hungary as the populist, Putin supporting Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, dangerous to Europe’s future, was ousted comprehensively by Peter Magyar, a centre-right moderate, who will steer the country away from Russia. A pretty pointless visit by JD Vance to support Orban then. It is too early to call the peak of the populist upsurge, but early indications are looking more optimistic.
Inside Right Politics 