Two Views of Labour

Everyone seems to think we’ll eventually get a Labour government, but there’s not much agreement about how much of an improvement that will be. I read Owen Jones’ Guardian article about why he’s resigned from the Labour Party, and it makes a lot of sense. There’s the urgent matter of Gaza, and Starmer’s refusal to acknowledge the urgency of the situation, or the strength of feeling mong his supporters. And beyond that there’s the dismal tale of retreat, of endless backtracking from positions that had seemed to be principled and secure.

But then there’s Ian Dunt, arguing that we can’t hope for much. This isn’t the time for gestures or even ideals. We should be happy to settle for a government that’s halfway efficient and not actually corrupt, because that would be a massive improvement on what we’ve had for the last ten years. Things might get better, a bit at a time. It won’t be pretty, but in our current desperate situation it would be rash to hope for more.

This isn’t a choice I enjoy spelling out, and at different times I drop on one side or the other, but I’d love to feel more confident, one way or the other.