Labour’s Love Lost – and they’ve lost their way, too

I am told it’s counterproductive to having their books read for authors to write political pieces, but I, for one, think we’re obliged to do so. Our words, all of our words, are meant to reflect the world and question it.

When I voted Labour in July 2024, I never thought, maybe naively, that I would be voting into power a government which would turn out to be as authoritarian (perhaps even more so) than the previous Tory government, nor a governnment which would far too easily grow into a racist anti-immigrant government which has adopted, far too easily and readily, the anti-foreigner rhetoric that the Far Right is so fond of using.

When we see mainly peaceful protest organisations proscribed because of telling the truth, and, because, basically, security at an air force base was less than tight, while we see Far Right organisations spreading lies and racist vitriol being applauded, and their behaviour aped, by a party which was supposedly all about protecting people, and homes, and families, then something is seriously wrong.

When we see a government indiscriminately withdrawing benefits from the needy, when we hear a Prime Minister using phrases such as “island of strangers,” and a Home Secretary questioning the interpretation of international law as enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, then something is very wrong indeed.

When we see a government declining to such a point that it feels it can only win back votes by adopting Far-Right-lite policies, when it begins to disregard the basic human rights of citizens and asylum seekers alike, when it fails to counter Far Right propaganda with any kind of honest pushback, when it fails to point out that the UK’s current economic decay is due to leaving the European Union, we have to speak out. We have to say – stop, this is wrong; you’re meant to be on the side of the people, you’re meant to protect the vulnerable, the weak, the sick.

When a Prime Miniser pledges on his first day in office to do politics in a different way, with integrity, and for the good of all, and then proceeds to throw that all over, and to join the racist chorus, when his entire government follows timid political expediency which actually makes far greater the possibility of a Far Right government in four years’ time, then there is a disconnect. And it’s not one of an old man saying “things were different in my day,” but a middle-aged man saying “stop doing wrong by all the people your party was set up to protect.”

When Labour came into power, I thought that all my previous anti-government polemic would become obsolete. The contrary has come to pass. When Labour came into power, I thought we would move positively and quickly towards a better society, towards a fairer voting system, towards a fairer system of taxation (where the rich get taxed significantly on all their income). The contrary has come to pass.

The first year of this government has been characterised by poor decisions based on naivety at best and right-wing calculation at worst. It’s simply not good enough, not good enough to applaud nationalistic flag-waving, racism masquerading as patriotism, police state pretending to be for the protection of the silent majority.

I despair of where we are right now, and the song below appears to be as true now as when I released it in August 2024.