Keir Starmer has finally done on Tuesday what many in his party had been asking him to do: explain his government’s decisions to voters confused by the flood of bad news. By announcements of cuts and sacrifices coming from a Labour Party that, just over two months ago, won a historic election with the promise of getting the country out of the quagmire in which 14 years of Conservative rule had left it.
“I understand that many of the decisions we have to take are unpopular,” the British Prime Minister assured the thousands of delegates who attended the Labour congress in Liverpool these days. “If they were popular, they would be easy,” he warned them. “But the truth is that if we take tough, long-term decisions now, if we stick to the purpose that drives everything we set out to do (…) we will reach the light at the end of the tunnel more quickly,” he promised.
It is now more than 60 years since a journalist asked Harold Macmillan, then the Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1957-1963), what had most influenced his mandate. The answer was the now famous “events, my dear boy, events”something like “events, my dear young man”. British parties use their annual congresses (the conferencesas they are known), rituals that bring together hundreds of journalists and analysts at the beginning of each political year, as platforms to focus their message and ensure that it is heard by citizens.
Starmer desperately needed to put behind him the scandal of the free suits, the first internal power struggles within his new government, and the sense of hopeless pessimism produced by his warnings of fiscal rigour and “painful economic decisions”. All of these events were unexpected or, at least, poorly managed and poorly explained.
Judging by the applause from Labour conference delegates, who have repeatedly interrupted his speech, Starmer has succeeded in injecting new optimism and direction into his base, at least temporarily.
“This is a government dedicated to serving the public and that means that, whether we agree or not, I will always treat you with honesty and frankness, and I will not try to confuse you with bravado and bragging,” promised the British Prime Minister, in an attempt to contrast his apparent seriousness and responsibility with the disastrous legacy of the Conservatives.
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“We will never again take the risk that the Tories committed, that of showing the rest of the world that this country is incapable of properly financing the policies it implements,” he argued.
The defense of immigration control
Starmer has inherited from his predecessor in Downing Street, Rishi Sunak, a challenge that he shares with other European countries. But one that the United Kingdom, after Brexit, faces alone: illegal immigration.
The violent street riots that erupted across the UK just after the new Labour government was inaugurated represented a major challenge for Starmer, but also an opportunity to distance his discourse and policies from those of the Conservatives. This willingness to view immigration with compassionate and supportive eyes brought the delegates to their feet and garnered the loudest applause.
“I will never accept the idea being peddled, not just by the usual suspects but even by people who should know better, that puts the millions of people concerned about immigration on the same side as those who smash up shops and mosques, try to burn refugees alive and paint racist slogans on walls,” Starmer said in Liverpool. “This debate was never about the worth of immigrants. That is toxic. It has always been about immigration control.”
For all those who had come to Liverpool in search of a boost of courage, it was enough, judging by the faces of the delegates and the fervour of their applause.
Partnership with the private sector
Starmer has promised his people, and all citizens, a government that is more reformist than revolutionary. His message was always directed at the “working classes”, but with the same prudent and conservative tone that led Tony Blair to victory a quarter of a century earlier. “We must be proud to be the party of wealth creation. And we must not be ashamed at all of the need to ally ourselves with the private sector,” the Prime Minister argued. “We are a party that will work hand in hand with business (…) This should never have been a debate between more reforms or more investment. We need both. But I warn you: workers want a strong government, that rebuilds public services and takes back control,” he proclaimed.
Hostages and “sausages”
In a speech that had been prepared at length because of its importance in changing the political tone of the country, Starmer has only made one lapse when he comes to the issue that has most divided his party: Israel’s offensive in Gaza. And now, the war in Lebanon. “I am once again calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the return of ‘the sausages'” (Starmer said) sausages instead of hostelssausages instead of hostages)…”, a mistake that he immediately corrected and which the congressmen tried to erase. “I once again show my commitment to a two-state solution: the recognition of a Palestinian state that lives side by side with Israel in security,” defended the Labour leader.
The constant demand for a cessation of hostilities and the defence of a future Palestinian state have served to calm one of the most heated debates within the party. The few protests called around the Liverpool congress focused on this conflict.
But the main concern for many Labour members was the lack of clarity in the new government’s speech in defending its first decisions. The coming weeks will show whether Starmer has been able to put an end to this lack of definition.
