Starmer’s Corbyn conundrum: Why escaping your own shadow is no easy task
A big part of Labour’s strategy going into this general election campaign was to try to distance itself from whatever remained from the old vestiges of the Jeremy Corbyn era.
Any semblance of that 2019 election seems to be a painful reminder of that defeat and it’s why Sir Keir Starmer keeps repeating how much he thinks the party has changed.
It’s a slogan now on repeat and a neat way of both side-skipping the Corbyn name, while reminding people that, in the party’s eyes, he’s well and truly gone.
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Since the election was called that refrain has turned into action and the left is finding out just how serious Sir Keir really is.
Last week, a lot of the coverage surrounding the party focused on what the Labour left has called a “brutal cull” of its faction, but a more accurate description could be its distance from the Corbyn left.
The problem with this though, and the wider Labour strategy, is becoming more and more apparent.
Sir Keir’s failure to directly address those voices on the left means they’ve felt emboldened to shout louder.
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It’s a continual shadow that follows the Labour leader about, even as he tries to move further and further away from it.
Diane Abbott’s case is a prime example.
Something that could have taken place behind closed doors, instead continues to splash headlines and leaves Sir Keir open up to questions.
And today is no different.
Keir Starmer gave a speech in Bury parking his tanks firmly on the Conservatives’ lawn, saying his party is the one of security and defence – not the Tory party.
It’s a long way from the time when the shadow cabinet held a post for a minister for peace and today’s announcement reiterates policies that the left would revile.
The Labour leader says he would be prepared to push the nuclear button if he was called to, which is a direct unpicking of Corbyn’s position, which was to “look at the role of nuclear weapons” through a review and voting against its renewal in parliament.
But so too did Angela Rayner and David Lammy.
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Both are now serving in the shadow cabinet and both are in prominent positions.
No doubt they will have to sign up to Starmer’s new commitments now but it’s another unhelpful reminder this week of just how prominent parts of the left are, and that trying to get away from your own shadow is not an easy task.