By Professor John Robertson
“For when we lie nowadays it is not so much out of weakness as out of a conviction that a man cannot prevail in life unless he is able to lie.”
When you hear Sir Keir Starmer speak, the title of Robert Musol’s pre-war novel, the Man Without Qualities, forced on many 1960’s students, can pop into your head. He doesn’t excite. He doesn’t even interest but too often, he disappoints and it’s chilling.
When he was asked after his big speech: Two weeks ago, some of Labour’s traditional voters abandoned the party because of issues like Gaza. How will you win them back?
He just said: “I genuinely think that most reasonable, tolerant people in this country – and that’s the vast majority – do want to see … their country move forward.”
Events confirmed by the International Court of Justice as war crimes, as collective punishment comparable to the carpet bombing of Gernika or the firebombing of Dresden, and worthy of investigation as genocidal, are heartlessly ignored.
I couldn’t help but contrast his response with the words of the new SNP leader and First minister of Scotland, John Swinney. Early in his acceptance speech and talking of his predecessor, Humza Yousaf, he said:
“In particular, his moral leadership on the issue of Gaza has been a light in very dark times. Our party must continue and will continue to be a light. We must continue to illuminate hope, fight for international justice and be willing to stand up for what we believe to be right.”
Starmer then went on to disappoint in many ways, but the above emptiness, perhaps cowardice, concerns me most.
Starmer then goes on to reveal his small ambitions.
On child poverty, he says ending child poverty is central to what he wants to achieve but that he is only going to promise policies before the election that he is in a position to implement.
Who else, we ask, might be in a position to do something about the curse of child poverty if a Prime Minister cannot? It may well be tough to find the revenue to pay for it but that’s what real leaders do.
John Swinney talks of the unique-to-Scotland, and ‘tough’ to achieve, Child Payment, lifting 100 000 out of poverty. The Scottish Government had to work within the constraints of a budget imposed by Westminster which they cannot overspend, yet did so, because they knew how important it was to do it. Leaders have vision and push on. They put themselves in a position to do something.
Is Starmer waiting for the Fairy Godmother?
The small-mindedness does not stop there. His chosen Health Minister-in-waitingroom, Wes Streeting, repeats the Labour pledge to cut NHS waiting times with 40 000 more each week, during evenings and weekends. Leaving aside the apparent belief that GPs have nothing else in their lives that matter and that require time in the evenings and weekends for, such as their families, how impressive is that 40 000?
In March 2024, NHS England delivered 29.8 million GP appointments, so around 7.5 million per week[i]. 40 000 additional appointments per week is an increase of only 0.5%!
I could go on.
[i] NHS England » Millions more GP appointments in March than before pandemic
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
” It may well be tough to find the revenue to pay for it but that’s what real leaders do.”
It wouldn’t really be all that tough John, if he used just a few of the recommendations in Professor Richard Murphy’s excellent report Taxing Wealth 2024, he’d be well on the way to making this unequal UK into a fairer place for everyone.
For my part I wish SNP would support the changes he advocates
Robert Martin
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robert martin , the SNP cannot implement richard murphy,s taxing wealth report the snp do not have powers to do so they do not control all taxes in scotland even income tax where they do have some powersrhey can only increase or decrease up to 3% from uk rates only westminster or an independent scotland could implement richard murphy,s taxing wealth report
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‘the SNP cannot implement richard murphy,s (sic) taxing wealth report the snp do not have powers to do so they do not control all taxes in scotland ‘
Agreed! Perhaps even more significant is that that no political party – no matter the size of the majority it may obtain in a future Scottish Parliament election – has the power to implement the policies in Professor Murphy’s Taxing Wealth Report – or arguably, the opposite. What England wants Scotland – to a large extent – gets!
Unionists and their media allies work hard to deny the reality namely that the agency available within the devolution settlement is insufficient to permit NI, Scotland and Wales to diverge from – to realise very much ‘better’ than – Westminster run England.
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Starmer reminds me of a character in Issac Asimov’s great ”Foundation ” SciFi book . A diplomat from The Empire visits a colony and , after speaking for hours on The Message from The Emperor , he leaves . All his words are filtered through a computer to discern the import of what was said .
The result : Nothing . Every word he said was modified , qualified and negated by other things he said .
He came , he spoke , he left and nothing of any consequence resulted .
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” Starmer then went on to disappoint in many ways, but the above emptiness, perhaps cowardice, concerns me most ” – With Tory and Labour singing from the same hymn sheet over Gaza despite the majority of the electorate disagreeing with them, it was not cowardice from Starmer but supreme arrogance.
The ‘ how can we pay for it fairy ‘ is no different to Thatcher’s ‘ Grantham housewife ‘ or MacMillan’s ‘ you’ve never had it so good ‘, and we remain unable to get anyone into power who will take a different perspective as the London mafia simply will not allow it.
It’s why the majority of England and Scotland’s electorates feel democratically disenfranchised, promised ‘real change’ for the umpteenth time and getting tuppence. Something has to break, and it looks to be either the Irish or Scots will be the first to do it.
It’s why both England and Scotland’s electorates have long supported an Indy referendum (equally ignored), and why Scots in increasing numbers will grasp the first available opportunity to finally end the farce and see ‘real change’.
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John Pilger on Keir Starmer. Nails him.
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Starmer – The Man Who wasn’t There !
He leaves no impression that he has passed this way . So much for his mantra -”Change !”
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“Any change gov ?” should be the epitaph of every political leader since WW2, with the exception of Attlee….
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spamming this on Reddit is pathetic
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Quite so, but I still fear because of the incessant daily brainwashing by the media, in both print and broadcasting, that the Labour Party in Scotland are going to make gains at the expense of the S.N.P. Not only because of their promotion of Starmer’s puppet, Sarwar, but by their repeated failure to cross examine him on the almost daily occurrence of so-called pledges by the Labour Party being dropped from their “alleged” manifesto. I’ve canvassed for years, and I’m still amazed by how many people, Scots, would vote for what is an essentially a political party based in a neighbouring country, but they do. All it goes to prove is that R.B.C Graham was correct.
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