Ceasefire now?

So if Netanyahu thinks it’s OK to be talking about a ceasefire, maybe Starmer is up for that too? Or maybe not? You just can’t tell. First of all he insists on a hard line, throws out a lot of good people who have good reasons for the way they’re voting, but his only interest is in himself, and his solitary role. He’s disappointed but hey, that’s leadership.

Somebody points out that even for a disciple of Tony Blair that could sound just a little self-centred, so he changes tack and says his concern is for Palestinian civilians, not the Labour Party. But the Labour Party is his job. That’s what he’s there for, and if it’s painfully split down the middle by his insistence on demonstrating his leadership skills, that’s damage he needs to put right.

At the moment there’s no sense that he recognises the harm he’s causing. Just stay in step with the US, says Blair, and we know where that leads. What about the way the world sees the UK? The massive discrepancy in values between how we treat Ukraine and how we treat Gaza? What about how young voters see Labour? All Starmer’s calculations are about obeying his middle-aged male advisers, and winning back red wall voters - also aging and white. The possibility that there are a lot of young people out there, many of them not white, who could potentially vote Labour but are currently deciding that they won’t - just doesn’t seem to occur. There have to be people in the shadow cabinet who see that, so why isn’t he listening to them?