The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Being free of a politically restricted job gives me new licence to bring back my hard-hitting opinion pieces: something I know my dedicated readership of 3 have been missing dearly over last 10 months. So, has anything happened over the last 10 months? To my ever-astute political eye, I would say “yes, some stuff”.

Labour have been in power with their thumping majority for nearly a year now and I can recall the optimism I felt at the ballot box as I knew we would soon be free of 14 years of draconian Tory-rule. Was this optimism misplaced? Is the rise of Reform a symptom of the lack of tangible, progressive action undertaken by our new government? Or is it more complicated than that?

Of course, it's not all doom and gloom. Keir has managed to give the government something resembling dignity, a welcome shift from whatever Liz Truss and the other one’s brought, though admittedly the bar here is also subterranean. They must, however, balance immediate action with sustainable change, something that’s easier said than done when every move is scrutinised (and rightly so) by a public still reeling from the scars of austerity.

So, back to that first question, was our optimism at the ballot box misplaced? Perhaps, but politics, much like our glorious British weather, rarely gives us exactly what we hoped for, though it also has the capacity to occasionally surprise us with a sunny spell when we're least expecting it. Possibly, then, with 4 years left on the clock until the next election, there's still time for Labour to catch some rays and some much-needed vitamin D.

And so, if these questions have you wanting answers, then you’re in luck: a white, male 25-year-old living in Hove has opinions! Aren’t you lucky?

Kicking us off, it’s easy to get caught up with the fact that any Labour government (even one as seemingly right leaning as this one) is naturally going to be under extra media scrutiny. Our right-wing press has little patience for pragmatism and a departure from preestablished norms; namely, norms of a lack of competence and constant theatrics. Moreover, and I know this is something of a trope at this stage, but expecting all to be fixed and rosy after 10 months in delusional.

Indeed, memories in the British political discourse are famously short and it would be remise of us not to continually remind ourselves of the damage done by the Conservatives. 14 years of austerity, the systematic dismantling of our NHS, economic turmoil, spiralling rents and house prices, a manufactured cost-of-living crisis, stagnant wages, an explosion in the usage of food banks, scandal after scandal, the list really does go on and on. We cannot forget, we must not forgive.

With this in mind, let us first consider the inheritance our new government was given: a burning building with water supplies emptied on the lawns of some stakeholder’s gala. As such, it is unsurprising that Labour has had to take some tough decisions (yes, yes, I know) and this is reflected in the dissatisfaction felt by many.

However, before we delve into the ugly, it’s worth giving some time to the good that has been done. Often underreported and terribly communicated by the government, some excellent things have been done. On the workers' rights front for instance, Labour has followed through with some genuinely decent legislation, promising immediate sick pay and greater protections for pregnant workers, finally addressing concerns that should have been obvious decades ago. They've even made meaningful strides in renewable energy through their shiny new project, Great British Energy, which plans enough offshore wind farms to power around 20 million homes. Not bad going, considering the last lot treated renewable energy like a trendy inconvenience. They've also secured trade deals with the US and India, giving businesses some breathing space, and potentially, slightly less doom-laden economic forecasts.

On the domestic front, we’ve seen an incredible amount of investment in the NHS, waiting lists being decimated, and a tangible impact being felt on the frontline with paramedics. House building, too, is being massively accelerated, even if not with the levels of social housing one would like to see, and outrageous and financially crippling service charges are finally being seriously and directly addressed as part of broader measures aimed at clamping down on blood thirsty landlords.

Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive and even if Keir hasn't quite led us to a socialist utopia, at least some genuine progress is underway.

Now, however, I must take off my Labour member hat and address some uncomfortable home truths. For starters, I think we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought any of this was enough or if we really thought the government was being ambitious enough. Yes, fixing 14 years of Tory-induced chaos takes more than a few months and a handful of good policy decisions, but there’s a worrying sense of caution, even hesitation, coming from Keir’s front bench. Boldness, radical reform, meaningful redistribution, these are things the electorate not only deserves but urgently needs. Yet what we've seen so far feels rather like gently placing a plaster on a severed limb and hoping no one notices. At a moment when people are desperate for genuine change, Labour’s incrementalism risks leaving the door ajar for right-wing populists who are only too eager to exploit public frustration. The rise of Reform should serve as a stark reminder: voters will not settle forever for promises of "competent management" alone: they want action, conviction, and a clear vision of a fairer society.

The Local Election results should have served as the starkest wake-up call to Labour in this respect and presented a real opportunity to change rhetoric and push forward faster, harder and more radically. Rather, what we’ve seen is some of the most disgusting scapegoating and targeted attacks on our immigrant communities since Enoch Powell was kicking about. Keir’s ‘Nation of strangers’ line made me sick and deeply ashamed of the messaging of this government.

What he, and the Labour front bench, fail to grasp is almost painfully obvious. Namely, that you don’t win trust and support by pointing the finger elsewhere while failing to deliver meaningful and radical legislative change. Labour is using the populist right playbook here, without the advantage of a charismatic leader or a voter base that would lap it up.

It isn’t just the dangerous legitimisation of far-right views that is troubling, but their persistence pursing draconian policy measures such as the cuts to PIP (don’t worry, I hadn’t forgotten about that). Pursuing these policies in the hope that you will be seen as being ‘fiscally responsible’ is ludicrous and painfully transparent. When options such as a wealth tax, UBI, progressive property taxation, and meaningful public service investment are all means of meaningfully stimulating growth for the betterment of everyone, it’s hard to see how cutting benefits to the most vulnerable and scapegoating immigrants is anything other than cruel, unnecessary, and in-line with Reaganite neo-liberalism; the same neo-liberalism that has left our country and its people on their knees.

Where, then, does this leave us? Labour undeniably needs to rediscover its boldness and ambition, and quickly. Incrementalism might steady the ship temporarily, but if the government wants genuine change and the lasting trust of voters, it must deliver transformative policies with conviction. Let me be clear though and address what may for some be an elephant in the room: abandoning Labour for the Greens, tempting as it might seem to some frustrated progressives, is not the answer. Yes, the Greens talk a good game: climate action, social justice, all the right buzzwords. However, when it comes to actually running things, their record is patchy at best and chaotic at worst. Brighton and Hove, where the Greens have held power locally, has seen no shortage of hilariously avoidable blunders: the i360 spiralling into financial oblivion, service delivery issues, and the catastrophic failure of waste collection (something you’d have thought the ‘Greens’ would be good at) all led to them solving precisely nothing and saddling the Council with a mountain of debt (I should know, I worked there!).

And then there’s Zack Polanski. The man many see as the Greens’ next big hope, Polanski's CV includes such zingers as using hypnotherapy to encourage breast growth in women (I’m not joking look it up), some extremely questionable motivational speaking, and a stint on the show Shipwrecked (ironically what will happen to the Greens if he becomes leader). Now, I’m not saying someone can’t have a colourful past and go into politics (see: every MP), but if you’re positioning yourself as the adult in the room, you might want a bit more than vague eco-populism and a flair for drama. For all the sanctimony, there’s precious little in the way of grounded, costed, workable policy, while the man himself is truly insufferable and the most transparent charlatan I’ve seen on the Left for a long time. Passion, yes. Pragmatism? Not so much.

Ultimately, the Greens are not the serious electoral vehicle needed to deliver lasting, national change. If we want a fairer, greener, more just Britain, the route is through transforming Labour from within, not jumping ship to a party that talks the talk, but stumbles when asked to walk in a straight line.

This is why, despite my very real criticisms (and the occasional existential despair), I remain a Labour member. Change, frustratingly, takes place inside the tent. Progress is slow, messy, and often infuriating, but meaningful transformation will always require uncomfortable compromise and sustained pressure from within. Labour at its best is a vehicle for social justice, fairness, and hope. At its worst, it’s still preferable to the alternative: years of further inequality, division, and outright cruelty under Tory rule or its populist offshoots.

Moreover, Labour is a party that swings through left and right cycles, Keir today, Corbyn 2.0 tomorrow: there’s a reason so many socialists stayed in the party in the Blair years after all. This is why the entryism of socialists into the Greens is so frustrating: it surrenders control of the party to the Right for even longer, all in favour of an exceptionally sanctimonious and pie in the sky party with little prospects beyond perhaps 10 seats.

Ultimately, Labour must step up; not tomorrow, not the next election cycle, but right now. It must be braver, louder, and more radically progressive. If Keir and his band of misfits truly want to shape history rather than merely manage it, they have a clear opportunity. It's time to move beyond cautious rhetoric and watered-down promises and start building a genuinely fairer, bolder, and more compassionate Britain.