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“It’s nice, isn’t it. The quiet.” The now-infamous social media post produced by a Starmer supporters at the start of his time in office is now written only in sarcasm beside yet another terrible news headline. Rayner resigns: “Nice, isn’t it. The quiet”; Mandelson sacked: “Nice, isn’t it. The quiet”; the prime minister loses his chief of staff – you get the picture.
Around the time of that post, we had our glorious first conference in Bournemouth after winning our best election result in a century, and a prominent BBC journalist said to me: “We won’t have to cover the soap opera like before – it’s going to be about policy.” Imagine being the leader of the Liberal Democrats, known for our torrents of policy, and being told this by a BBC journalist; the phrase pig in excrement comes to mind.
However, that wasn’t meant to be. I have never agreed with Keir Starmer on much. He is weak on political reform, and we have never needed it more. He was never going to end the cost of living crisis by doing a proper deal with Europe, as he could and should have done. And of course, he is Labour – so I knew the party’s instincts would be to centralise and bureaucratise everything possible. But I did think he would end the soap opera. He is a decent man; I did not see in him the same zest to attain power just for the sake of it. And like many people across the country I genuinely did want this Labour government to succeed.
Regretfully, No 10: the Box Set continues from the last government, just with a new cast. Bad decisions on pensioners’ warm home discounts, the farm tax and compulsory ID cards all showed a severe lack of judgment – and that is before you get to the Mandelson debacle, a deep shame on Labour and on our country.
So why haven’t I joined the chorus calling for the prime minister to resign? Isn’t that what Lib Dems do, I hear you say. Largely because I don’t think it is just Keir Starmer. The Conservatives tried endlessly changing the face behind the Downing Street door – and the rot at the heart of their government only deepened.
I fear we could be in for the same with Labour: a neverending tussle over the keys to No 10, consuming all the energy of government that should be focused on the things that matter. Making sure people don’t die on trolleys in hospital corridors, for example.
So here’s my ultimatum to Labour: sort yourselves out. Stop all your infighting and navel-gazing, settle your internal spats one way or the other, and get on with actually governing the country. Do the job you begged voters to give you.
And if you can’t? We’ll need a general election. Because the country just can’t afford another three and half years of this.
Some people will say, “Not another one!” Others will say this will put Nigel Farage in No 10. On the first point, I have some sympathy. I’ll need new trainers for door-knocking; the wetsuit will come out of storage; I’ll have to check my bungee guy isn’t already booked up for the summer. But in all seriousness, we’ve had six prime ministers in the past 10 years – the “not another one” ship has already sailed. Either Labour MPs change the prime minister, or we all do.
Let’s talk about Nigel Farage. Could a general election lead to that most horrible of outcomes – a Farage victory? I’d argue that limping on with a failed Labour government for three more years makes that more, not less, likely. And we know this threat isn’t inevitable: the Liberal Democrats have shown in local elections that in whole swathes of the country, Reform can be beaten. Reform UK and their patron saint, Donald Trump, feed on government failure. When the economy is failing, when hospitals are full of people needing care, when petty crime feels rampant on our streets, the populist right convinces voters that we don’t need a better, fairer system – we need to destroy everything.
I’m really frightened that this is exactly the future Labour are sleepwalking the country into. We need to change course now – and that means more than just changing who sits in No 10. Labour need to get a grip on themselves and a grip on the problems ordinary people are facing. And if they can’t – better to go now and let those of us who can make our case in a general election.
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Ed Davey is leader of the Liberal Democrats
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