It really does look like that. I caught a bit of the interview with him on TV this morning, and I can’t say I was impressed. He was asked about his broken promises, and we got the usual guff about how, after losing the election under Corbyn, he was ready to do anything to make the Labour party electable again, plus the usual nonsense about dealing with anti-Semitism. In fact, while the press and media managed to make Corbyn personally hated by a large section of the British electorate, his policies were massively popular. It’s just that the neoliberals in what is now the political and media establishment fear and hate them. As for the anti-Semitism, this another load of nonsense. Corbyn was never an anti-Semite, as the respected historian of British Jewry, Geoffrey Alderman said. It was all about supporting Israel against the Palestinians as well as a convenient smear tactic by the right once the accusations of communism failed to stick. And the BBC was one of the media outlets pushing the smears through Panorama, as a recent documentary has found. Unsurprisingly, the media have conspicuously failed to cover that.
But it’s what Starmer said about the health service I found particularly disturbing. He talked about using private healthcare to a greater extent to clear the backlog. Well, that was an argument I believe the Tories used for the greater involvement of private healthcare before the pandemic. I think this police started in New Zealand. But then he went on to talk about how the health service needed reform, and that this could include a greater role for private healthcare. He then went to waffle on about bureaucracy and the usual talking points you hear from Conservatives discussing the state of the NHS. The interviewer asked him about reforming it to a social insurance system, and issues about the founding principles of the NHS that medicine should be universal and free at the point of delivery.
Part of the problem is that private enterprise, rather than reducing costs and bureaucracy, has actually increased it, though no-one of the right actually wants to admit this. It’s because of privatisation that administration costs have soared to or near American levels, which are at 45 per cent. Despite this, it looks like Starmer is, like the Tories before him, going to privatise the health service even further, starting with using the backlog as a pretext for the further involvement of private healthcare companies.
As for Starmer generally, I think he is personally unprincipled and opportunistic, who is prepared to lie and break promises just to get himself in No. 10. I would rather have him than the Tories, but I do fear for the country and the health service under his government.
Tags: Anti-Semitism Smears, BBC, Conservatives, Geoffrey Alderman, Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer, Labour Party, Media Bias, NHS, NHS Privatisation, Palestinians, Private Healthcare Companies, Social Insurance
Beastrabban\'s Weblog 
January 15, 2023 at 12:21 pm |
I wouldn’t be surprised if more than one of the media outlets (remember The S*n and Blair in ’97?)
Came out in support for Labour in the run up to the General Election.
Because, that’s just what we need isn’t it, Blairism MkII……!!!!!!
January 15, 2023 at 12:40 pm |
Starmer might not get in power as the Labour party are running short of money due to the legal costs of the smear campaign against Corbyn and his followers and subsequent persecutions during the Witch-hunt. It was reported in the news a couple of days ago. But yes, given the chance I’m sure he would go further down the road of Privatisation.
January 15, 2023 at 5:36 pm |
I’m not even convinced that Starmer wants to win an election, so demoralising has his witch hunt against the membership been, and his suspension of whole constituency parties and his rejection of candidates chosen by local parties and their replacement by candidates he has parachuted in. His mission seems to have been to inflict maximum damage on everything Labour. Losing the next election would give him a mandate for the coup de grace! I expect you saw the recent edition of Canary, which listed the many pro-Jewish measures Corbyn took. I only wish Corbyn and his close allies would create an infrastructure and devise a strategy for the fight-back.
January 15, 2023 at 5:58 pm |
I didn’t see that post on the Canary, but I should. To be fair, Burgon and the Labour left are organising and trying to plan something. I’ve had notices from them discussing future online meetings. Unfortunately, now that the lockdown has been lifted many of them are in person and in London, which is no use for those of us who don’t have jobs and live in the provinces.
January 15, 2023 at 5:58 pm |
It wouldn’t surprise me if Starmer was/is an MI5 agent, his mission is to infiltrate and undermine the Labour Party, smash British Socialism and takeover where Blair left off. But then we’re getting into the realms of conspiracy theory.