Starmer tries to revive Labor (but Scotland and unions are thorns in the side)
The point of Daniele Meloni
British politics is also continuing despite Covid. Yesterday there were more than 3 million British vaccinated, but the contagion and victims situation causes concern especially in London and in the south of the country, where hospitals are almost collapsing.
In this context, Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer is trying to work to restore Labor to be a credible force for the country's government. The Labor leader, however, had to suffer a considerable backlash when, just yesterday, the head of Scottish Labor – the Scottish branch of the party – Richard Leonard, resigned to put an end to speculations about his possible replacement before the elections for Holyrood scheduled for next May. Labor in Scotland is in great difficulty: it brought a single MP from Edinburgh to Westminster in 2019 and its collapse inflated the sails of the nationalists, who have a Social Democratic electorate almost entirely comparable to Labor. Only in 2010 Labor had managed to get 40 MPs in Holyrood, then there was a constant erosion of consensus.
Sir Keir, who has repeatedly criticized the Johnson government for handling the pandemic, is bringing the Party back to the center of the British political system. With the Brexit vote he put an end to years of internal divisions within the Party, accepting the result of the referendum, of which he himself had been one of the fierce protesters, and affirming that with him in the government the relationship between the UK and the EU will not change. Reshaping Labor patriotism, the former Crown Attorney General is trying to intercept those votes – especially among workers and skilled labor – that went to Johnson in the last election. Especially in the Red Wall, miserably collapsed due to Corbyn's inadmissible political proposals. Although it must be said that it has been since the end of New Labor that the consensus of Labor has always been decreasing in that area.
Of particular significance this week was the election of Christina McAnea as head of Britain's largest union, Unison. Starmer has supported her throughout his campaign, which was made necessary after the resignation of former union leader, Dave Prentis, who had supported Sir Keir in the race for leadership of the Party. The media stressed that McAnee is the first woman to lead a union in the UK. Another Labor-affiliated union, Unite, may soon see some upheaval at its top. Len McCluskey was a big supporter of Corbyn, and his Union is one of the main financiers of Labor. His term expires in 2022 and the favorite appears to be a member of the secretariat, Steve Turner, who heads the faction called Left United. Turner is certainly not a "Starmerian" but sits on the National Executive Committee of the Labor Party, the movement's executive body. Since Starmer is leader, however, Unite has cut the funds allocated to Labor by 10%, in controversy with the new centrist leadership of the Party.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/starmer-cerca-di-rilanciare-il-labour-ma-la-scozia-e-i-sindacati-sono-spine-nel-fianco/ on Fri, 15 Jan 2021 10:01:36 +0000.