Another week, another set of problems for the fledgling Labour government to deal with.
Two reasons why the criminal justice system in the UK isn’t fit for purpose. A policeman was cleared over the death of Chris Kaba, which led to his fleeing his home after a price was put on his head by gang leaders; meanwhile Peter Lynch, who was jailed for his part in the riots during the summer, had died in prison. PM Sir Keir Starmer accused by some commentators of delivering two-tier justice and supporters of the rioters had claimed that Lynch was a political prisoner (?).
Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggles to deliver what commentators say would be a bad budget for the nation. Instead of being open and honest with the public about the plans to raise taxes and cut public spending, we have the spectacle of several cabinet members tying themselves in knots at press interviews over the asking of basic economic questions, namely, “How do you define who a working person is?”
Starmer was criticised this week for his comments at the Commonwealth Summit over slavery reparations. Like the situation over Gaza, he seemed to offend both his supporters and detractors. One doesn’t dismiss the concerns of many former colonies who feel that the UK had neglected to support them in building their economies and investing in their infrastructure when they became independent.
Starmer’s foreign policy, like most of what Labour does, has always been his achilles’ heel. To his shame, he has continued to defend the Israeli government’s actions abroad as they continue to bomb Gaza, Lebanon, and seem hell bent on a all out war with Iran, which in a worse case scenario, could destabilise the Middle East even further. At the same time, he and the government continue to be in denial over the war between Ukraine and Russia and the potential wider military confrontation to come.
Most of the mainstream media is repeatedly failing to tell the truth on what actually is happening in the world. In the last few months we had hundreds of reports in newspapers and TV about infighting among Labour cabinet members and the taking of freebies from corporate donors, despite the fact that there have been substantial serious policy failings that they could have reported on, like the the withdrawal of the Winter Fuel Allowance, plans to make it harder to claim any welfare overall, and the fears of the overall direction the government is currently taking the nation.