I was not truly Labour shocked until this day.
My Mum, 55 years a member, through leaders left & right, fan of Blair, a rare, rare councillor in Tory Herts for Lab in 70s, cancelled her membership today.
She just wanted a unifier.
She thought Starmer had the perfect storm of centrist kerb appeal & socialist polices. He cld reassure the public Lab wouldn't had "grown up", whilst achieving enormous buy-in on policy where Corbyn couldn't. Had he swung as hard at both sides, this wouldn't be happening /2
He - even more than Blair - had the perfect opportunity to start honestly, from a place of reconciliation. A long, long, overdue process. (Ed ducked it, then we pretended it had gone away). Not to run back to Blair's playbook, but to write his own. /3
If there was no place for Burgon, there should have been no place for Philips. If there was to be zero tolerance of antisemitism, it had to go hand in hand with Islamophobia and BLM - in the same speech. If we must temper socialism, it should have been crystal clear /4
that didn't mean policy. As much emphasis in every speech on ending austerity, revolutionising housing and the economy as on creating a safe Party for the middle ground.
He had that chance. Absolutely everything he needed to convince both sides he meant it. /5
Tories and centrists alike would have given him enormous leeway on policy they weren't prepared to give Corbyn. The left would have known they had some of the real substance of what mattered - a fairer society.
But most of all, in a world that has turned dark and divided /6
in a world where the message matters more than lives, where corruption is everywhere and poverty is no longer abstract, where young people feel hopeless and no-one is kind, we desperately need leaders-by-example.
So many millions need someone to turn too. To believe in. /7
They don't care about Labour internal politics!! Most probably couldn't name 5 current politicians.
They want to see justice and feel it reflected back at them. They want to believe someone will fight for them. Or at least hear them. That just one leader still /8
remembers the world wasn't always like this. Shouldn't be like this.
And behaves with care and honour and constructive, thoughtful imagination.
The more people you hurt along the way, the more people you will hurt when you get there.
So no, this has nothing to do with who tweeted what, who hates who, said what or got sacked.
The same self-absorbed BS STILL means more to them than the country.
It's shameful. Humiliating. People are dying.
That was the last selfish headline she was prepared to take
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