UK

RED TORIES

Why Labour’s ‘law and order’ tribute act feels hollow and overblown


Nesrine Malik
Sudanese-born journalist and author
THE GUARDIAN

Sun, 9 April 2023 

We are squarely into the campaigning for May’s local elections across England, and the dominant feeling is of being part of a bizarre exercise in which you are constantly offered things you have not asked for. The disconnect between what Labour and the Conservatives are campaigning on and people’s real lives and needs – following an extended season of strikes and painful inflation – feels more pronounced than ever.

The Tories continue to bang on about small boats and transgender issues. It’s dispiriting, but expected. But what about Labour? If you are sick with anxiety about the rising cost of your essentials, your ability to pay bills at the end of the month, or a host of local concerns such as the closing of leisure facilities, declining town centres and public service infrastructure, most of what you have got so far from the official opposition is a blitz on restoring “law and order”.

The pledge to make “Britain’s streets safe”, one of the party’s five missions, has been amplified, but its details somehow remain both vague and oddly specific. Last month, it was laughing gas. The recreational use of nitrous oxide, the shadow culture secretary said, was a “blight on our communities”, causing “littering”, “disruption” and unspecified “antisocial behaviour challenges”. In this, the party was following the government’s lead in supporting a ban, posturing on a minor matter despite what the experts – who caution against a ban – say. Cannabis also featured in a recent Keir Starmer speech, in which he spoke of it ruining lives in his constituency.

The tone of this “tough on crime” messaging is off – hyperbolic, disciplinarian, and as of last week, it stinks. On Friday, the Labour party ran an ad on social media accusing Rishi Sunak, personally, of not thinking that adults convicted of sexually assaulting children should go to prison. It managed to draw condemnation from both the Tories and several Labour figures, for being tone deaf at best, or dog-whistling at worst, at a time when south Asians are accused of being culturally prone to grooming and child abuse.

Reports over the weekend suggest that members of the shadow cabinet, including the shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, were not consulted about the ad. It’s all symptomatic of a Labour leadership that in its stated intention to appear muscular is hitting all the wrong notes.

There are real problems, real concerns about violent crime in Britain, but Labour’s approach to them is often divorced from talking about the funding crisis that has engulfed our policing, legal systems and support services – in favour of rhetorical shows of force. Spending on youth services in England and Wales was cut by 70% in less than a decade, while after only three years of austerity, 28% of organisations dealing with sexual and domestic abuse had had essential services cut. These cuts are sometimes name-checked by Labour as reasons things are in chaos, but instead of pledging to plug the holes the Tories have punched, the party offers vague soundbites about “modernisation”, “raising standards” or proposing laws “with teeth”.

The better-defined pledges are to expand the police force and give it bigger mandates to deal with sexual assault. Considering how fresh the Casey review’s findings are – which spoke of institutional bigotry in the Metropolitan police – this is not only not reading the room, but shouting over it.

The justice system in England and Wales is so underfunded, and therefore understaffed, that there are not enough judges, defence lawyers and prosecutors to process a huge backlog of cases. In some instances, cases are not being seen through because the physical state of courts is so poor, with mould, overflowing sewage and leaking roofs. Labour says Sunak doesn’t believe in locking up child abusers because “under the Tories, 4,500 adults convicted of sexually assaulting children under 16 served no prison time”. Let’s leave to one side blaming someone who’s been prime minister for half a year for figures that date from 2010, and ask: what has actually happened to prosecutions?

For child sexual abuse, they fell by 45% in the second half of the last decade. Between 2010 and 2020, there was a 25% reduction in the Ministry of Justice’s budget and cuts to victim support services. The result is an overburdened system where justice feels like a distant prospect. The same goes for adult sexual assault, where delays prompt distressed victims to drop cases altogether.

This is supposed to be easy territory for Starmer. He is, after all, a creature of the law, who says he was profoundly shaped by his tenure as director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. Law and order is both his comfort zone and his chance to give some clear outlines to a blurry self-image. “This is personal,” Starmer has said.

That’s nice for him, but is it wise? When it comes to talking tough on law and order, as with immigration, the Tories have no reservations about promising the most draconian measures, curbing the right to protest or strike, and regularly dangling red meat in front of voters. Chasing their lead only results in the sort of abject loss of principle that brings us tawdry attack ads, and in voters’ minds may only reinforce the rightwing worldview on justice and crime that the Tories excel in exploiting.

Related: Yvette Cooper was ‘not told’ about Labour’s Sunak attack ad in advance

The second issue here is Labour’s allergy to politics that in any way violates two sacred principles: that government must be frugal, and that wrong ’uns have no one to blame but themselves. Since it has stopped presenting itself as an anti-austerity party, Labour can only really focus on crime as an issue of goodies and baddies, rather than a complex social problem that has been worsened by underinvestment in deprived communities. At the heart of going along with the “lock ’em up” mentality – egged on by the rightwing press – is the fear of being depicted as a party whose natural tendencies are to spend public money and coddle criminals.

And so, again, we skirt around the real solutions to this country’s problems. The overall effect is to create in people’s minds the image of Britain as a criminal dystopia, where people are unable to go out at night and youths huddle ominously in parks and public areas getting high and menacing the public. That is a caricature. In the real world, people want to be safe but more urgently need job security, to earn enough money to eat and keep warm, and have places to gather and find some joy, relief and support in communion with others. Instead, they are offered more cops and crackdown. Because dignity is expensive, and fear is cheap.

Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist

UK

'The bile-soaked Tory conference has gifted Keir Starmer an open goal ahead of election'

Keir Mudie says we learnt nothing from Tory Conference apart from they are unravelling, out of ideas and some of them stand on dogs - and now it's time for Labour to act

This is peak time for Labour, says Keir Mudie

OPINION By Keir Mudie

7 Oct 2023

Let’s get Tory conference out of the way first. Not one to dwell on, that one. I was getting hourly updates from Manchester that were becoming increasingly desperate.

“I just want to go home, it’s too weird,” that kind of thing. And it was. Utterly bizarre from beginning to end. From Penny Mordaunt’s bizarre fist-pumping, finger pointing rallying cry to a roomful of bewildered – slightly frightened – octogenarians to Rishi Sunak’s equally bizarre giveaway of things he’s already given away.

It was probably the best speech of his to date. It just, you know, didn’t make any sense. None of it did. Who comes to Manchester to deliver the news they’re going to scrap the rail link to, well, Manchester? Bizarre.

This column, which prides itself on not making any predictions, last week predicted Suella Braverman would continue her unhinged of appearances – and she delivered. Nothing but bile. A “hurricane” of immigration on the way. Clearly positioning herself as the right-wing option next time the Tories have a leadership contest. Horrible speech, dripping in poisonous nonsense.




Angela Rayner promises to prioritise affordable housing if Labour win election

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt delivers a speech during the Conservative Party annual conference (Image: PA)

Went down a stom, of course. Immediately after – as if to demonstrate her credentials as pure evil – she went outside and, I kid you not, stood on a guide dog. Anyways. Too much time wasted on that debacle. Labour MP Chris Elmore summed it up perfectly, saying: “Chaos. The End.” Right on both counts.

Now on to Liverpool. Mr Starmer and co roll into town – on low-speed rail – with it all to play for. There is an open goal here. More than open, come to think of it. The openest of goals. We learnt nothing from Tory Conference apart from they are unravelling, out of ideas and some of them stand on dogs. And we knew the first two of those anyway.

This is peak time for Labour and surely they can’t mess it up. Although, having said that, Thursday’s policy drop was terrifying. Assisted toothbrushing. It did not bode well.

Poll predicts landslide Labour election victory with 12 cabinet ministers losing their seats


Michael Savage Policy Editor
Sat, 7 October 2023 at 5:04 am GMT-6·5-min read


Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Labour is currently on course to win a landslide victory on the scale of 1997, according to dramatic new modelling that points to the Conservatives losing every red wall seat secured at the last election.

The Tories could also lose more than 20 constituencies in its southern blue wall strongholds and achieve a record-low number of seats, according to a constituency-by-constituency model seen by the Observer. Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, defence secretary Grant Shapps and leadership contender Penny Mordaunt are among those facing defeat. Some 12 cabinet ministers face being unseated unless Rishi Sunak can close Labour’s poll lead.

According to the model’s central projection, which takes into account the new boundaries that the next election will be fought on, Labour would win 420 seats – equating to a landslide 190-seat majority. The Tories would take just 149 seats and the Lib Dems 23. The results mirror the 1997 landslide, when Tony Blair’s party secured a majority of 179 with 418 seats. The new analysis also suggests that the cost of living and the state of the NHS continue to be the clear priorities for voters.

The huge study, commissioned by the 38 Degrees campaign group, has been carried out by the Survation polling company using a mega poll made up of more than 11,000 voters. A modelling technique called multilevel regression and post-stratification (MRP) has then been applied to reach constituency-level findings. Pollsters using the method successfully detected the swings ahead of the 2017 election.

While a 190-seat Labour majority is its average estimate, the modelling – based on polling carried out shortly before the Tory conference last week – suggests Labour could have between 402 and 437 seats. The Tories could have between 132 and 169 seats. The results suggest a Labour majority between 154 and 224 seats.

Every one of the 44 red wall seats that the Tories won at the last election would return to the Labour party, the analysis found. A further 22 so-called blue wall seats – defined as those held by the Tories in 2019, have a majority of Remain voters and a higher than average number of graduates – are also lost by the Conservatives.

Voters will want real guarantees of action to bring the dual cost of living and NHS crises under control for all of us

Matthew McGregor, 38 Degrees

The findings will be controversial among both parties’ members. Many Labour insiders are expecting the polls to close over the coming months as the election approaches. Senior figures in Sunak’s team also believe they can target Labour leader Keir Starmer, whom they don’t believe has been embraced by the public.

Despite Sunak’s attempts to switch focus to his plans to ban smoking, overhaul A-levels and ditch the northern leg of HS2, the analysis suggests that voters remain overwhelmingly focused on the cost of living and the state of the NHS.

In every single constituency, these two issues were most important to voters. Across the country, a third said they are “getting by, but making cutbacks” and 8% described themselves as “financially desperate”. More than two fifths (42%) said they had struggled to get a GP appointment in the past six months.

In a major blow for Sunak, Labour has some significant leads in red wall seats. In Blyth Valley, the first red wall seat to be declared for the Tories in 2019, large Labour majorities are predicted. In Blyth and Ashington, Labour are ahead 49% to 22%. In Hartlepool, whose predecessor seat was won by the Conservatives for the first time in a 2021 byelection, Labour have a 38-point lead. In both constituencies, a quarter of voters said they were “worried about their financial future”.

Bassetlaw, whose predecessor seat saw the country’s largest swing from Labour to the Tories in 2019, is predicted to return to Labour. The model suggests a 23-point lead with 12% of residents reporting they are “financially desperate”. Meanwhile, North Dorset – whose predecessor seat last elected a non-Conservative MP in 1945 – is predicted to fall to the Liberal Democrats. At 64% the NHS was a top issue for the highest proportion of this constituency.

Matthew McGregor, chief executive of 38 Degrees, said the findings suggested voters were “crying out for change” and warned Labour against being overly cautious. “With the spotlight this week on the Labour party’s conference pledges, it’s clear what voters will be looking for: real guarantees of action to help those most in need and bring the dual cost of living and NHS crises under control for all of us,” he said. “If they can’t deliver that, there’s no promise these polling results will hold.

“These are the issues which will dominate at the next election. Parties who are unconvincing, out of touch or distracted on these issues will rightly suffer at the polls.”

The results make it even less likely that Sunak and his team will opt for a spring election. Figures close to the PM are said to be opposed to a May vote, despite many MPs believing it may be in the party’s interests to go for an earlier vote. Meanwhile many figures in the Labour party accept that a lack of clarity over Starmer’s vision for power remains a vulnerability.

Damian Lyons Lowe, chief executive of Survation, said: “Red wall seats, which were crucial to the Conservative’s Brexit coalition, are all predicted to return to Labour. Furthermore, it is in seats with the highest proportion of Leave voters that the swing back to Labour is largest. Even traditional Conservative strongholds in the south-east and south-west are under threat from the Liberal Democrats and Labour.”

Survation polled 11,793 people between 11-25 September

Working-class ‘red wall’ voters decided the last UK election. How do they feel now?

Stefan Rousseau/PA/AP
Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer arrives on board his election bus in Halesowen County of West Midlands, England, June 13, 2024, after unveiling Labour's manifesto in Manchester.

By Katie Marie Davies Contributor

June 20, 2024|TYLDESLEY, ENGLAND


When the United Kingdom heads to the polls July 4, all eyes will be on towns like Tyldesley.

With its tangle of narrow streets and red brick homes dating back to the area’s industrial heyday, Tyldesley is typical of towns across England’s northwest. Labour Party candidate Jo Platt has already spent weeks campaigning here, diligently pushing glossy leaflets into letterboxes and engaging in doorstep conversations with voters.

“We need to give a little bit of hope back to the country. I think that’s what we’ve lost,” she says earnestly, already walking to her next canvassing event. “We’ve lost pride in our towns. If we’re fortunate enough to get into government, then I hope that’s something that we can bring back.”

In 2019 elections, Britons living in “red wall” constituencies felt disrespected by the Labour Party, which helped lift the Conservatives to victory. Now, they may decide the election again – and they feel it’s the Tories who aren’t doing right by them this time.

Labour is campaigning hard here. Once it was all but given that the traditionally left-leaning party would win the votes of working-class, industrial towns like Tyldesley. Then came 2019. The area’s constituency switched allegiances to the opposing Conservatives, ending decades of Labour domination.

Tyldesley was not alone. The 2019 election saw a landslide of small towns across England’s north and Midlands as well as in Wales – an area often described as the “red wall” in honor of Labour’s traditional colors – vote in Conservative members of Parliament, many for the very first time.

The collapse of the red wall was a key factor in pushing then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson to 2019 election victory with an 80-seat majority. But five years later, with Conservative approval ratings rapidly tumbling and Labour looking at overwhelming gains in Parliament, it’s these seats – and accordingly, their voters – that are likely to push Labour across the finish line.

Identity and the red wall

The legend of the red wall – and its 2019 collapse – is tightly bound to an idea of British political tribalism. Throughout the 20th century, northern, working-class voters were seen as loyal Labour devotees, while rural, more affluent areas were judged to be unquestioning Conservative heartlands.

Karen Norris/Staff

The 2019 election brought new political divisions to the fore, with old class divides overshadowed by issues such as Brexit, when the U.K. left the European Union. Many red wall areas – towns that too often felt overlooked and forgotten in a new era of globalization – had voted to leave the EU, but were concerned that Labour would not honor the referendum results. In Tyldesley, the mood soured in the run-up to the 2019 vote. Local Labour councilor Jess Eastoe, who has been handing out leaflets with Ms. Platt, describes being verbally assaulted and spat at.

“The political wrangling over Brexit forced many people to choose between their EU identity [as a ‘leaver’ or a ‘remainer’] and their party identity,” says David Jeffery, a senior lecturer in British politics at the University of Liverpool. “Most studies show that, until quite recently, the EU identity was held much more strongly. Brexit really broke down this strong loyalty toward Labour.”

But that is now changing. As of June 13, just over three weeks before the election, the Conservative Party was polling at just 26% for the Leigh and Atherton constituency of which Tyldesley is part, compared with 50% for Labour. Similar figures are being seen across red wall seats, many of which are projected to fall back under Labour control.

“Of the red wall seats, I’d be surprised if more than a handful stayed with the Conservatives,” Dr. Jeffery says.

“The Conservatives have done nothing”

The Conservatives’ fall from grace across red wall towns has a regional accent. Across Wales and northern England, many voters feel cheated by shortfalls in the government’s “leveling up” plan, a targeted program supposedly designed to help balance regional inequalities between London and other U.K. regions.

Leon Neal/Reuters
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (left) walks with energy secretary Claire Coutinho (right) at the Rough 47/3B Bravo gas platform in the North Sea, June 17, 2024.

The program was a key part of the Conservatives’ promise when they won red wall seats in 2019; at that year’s party conference, then-leader Mr. Johnson vowed that “leveling up” initiatives would repay the region’s trust.

There has been little, however, in the way of results. The government’s flagship plan for a high-speed train line between London and Manchester, HS2, for example, was canceled in October 2023. (The line will instead stop at Birmingham, 100 miles farther south.) Similar policies, such as reducing regional differences in life expectancy or building 40 new hospitals by 2030, have also fallen flat.


Discontentment in towns like Tyldesley also mirrors concerns seen across the country as a whole. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is unpopular, and after a flurry of four Conservative leaders in just over six years – including Liz Truss, who spent just 44 days in office and remains best known for being compared to a lettuce – there is a dearth of likely replacements. Meanwhile, the party’s rhetoric of fiscal austerity is wearing thin after 14 years, particularly against a background of inflation and rising prices.

“The Conservatives have done nothing,” Tyldesley resident Charlotte Steel says when asked who she’ll be voting for in the election. She’s particularly worried about a health and social care system that has been hit by repeated Conservative funding cuts, and says that she’ll be supporting Labour. “This government doesn’t care about people.”

The cost of living in particular is on everyone’s lips. Doorstep issues focus on local infrastructure: People are desperate for more housing, but the new estates being hastily erected are too expensive for locals and serve commuters from nearby Manchester instead.

PA/Reuters
HS2 workers look on as the boring machine Cecelia breaks through after finishing a 10-mile-long tunnel for the HS2 project under the Chiltern Hills, March 21, 2024.

Local schoolteacher Paul Crowther remains undecided, but is already sure that he won’t be voting Conservative either. The party’s leader, Mr. Sunak, is simply out of touch with the needs of local people, he says. “We just need more funding,” he says, “For the NHS and for education.”ing?

It’s voters like Mr. Crowther that Labour hopes to bring back into the fold. In order to do so, its manifesto has introduced new themes, such as pledges to create a “new Border Security Command” and “crack down on antisocial behavior,” as well as plans to recruit more teachers and promises of economic stability.
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Critics have accused the party and its leader, Keir Starmer, of moving away from Labour’s left-wing roots and heading for the political center. Yet the move – a deliberate break from the policies of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was seen by many small-town voters as too radical – seems to be resonating.

Mr. Starmer may not be wildly popular, but he is a safe option – and after years of political upheaval and an increasingly disliked government, that might just be a winning formula.

“People are worried about issues that affect this town, like drugs and petty crime,” says Ms. Eastoe, the Labour councilor. “We need to put the boring back in politics. We’re running a country, not a circus.”

The Return of the Red Tories?

Canada’s upcoming election could spell the renewal of a long-dormant brand of blue-collar conservatism.

WE CALL HIM LIBERAL LITE 

LIKE THE BEER

By NATE HOCHMAN
September 17, 2021 

Canada’s opposition Conservative party leader Erin O’Toole speaks during an election campaign tour in London, Ontario, Canada, September 17, 2021. (Blair Gable/Reuters)

O'TOOLE ROLLED OUT EX PM BRIAN MULRONEY HIMSELF A RED TORY OR AS THE ECONOMIST CALLED HIM; A BLEEDING HEART CONSERVATIVE FOR HIS ENDORSEMENT

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE

Could this Monday be the end of the road for Justin Trudeau? While Canada’s snap federal election was originally called by the prime minister himself in a bid to regain a majority in the Canadian parliament, the incumbent’s Liberal Party has quickly found itself playing defense instead. Trudeau’s decision to call the Monday election amid a surge of coronavirus-related hospitalizations was met with widespread anger in Canada and derided as an irresponsible political stunt that put the prime minister’s “own political interests ahead of the well-being of thousands of people,” in the words of his Conservative Party challenger, Erin O’Toole. As it stands today, polls show Trudeau and O’Toole in a dead heat — and many observers say it’s still anyone’s race to win

“They’re both just hovering right around each other right now,” says Adam Harmes, a political-science professor at Western University in London, Ontario, in an interview with National Review. “We’ll have to see if there are any sort of late-breaking things that shove things one way or the other, but I wouldn’t bet a lot of money either way right now. It’s entirely possible the Liberals pull it out with another minority, but it’s equally possible O’Toole takes it.”

That toss-up is partially owing to the backlash to Trudeau’s decision to call the election in the first place, which now looks highly unlikely to produce the majority that the Liberals had hoped for. But the race’s uncertainty is also the result of an exceptionally well-run Conservative insurgency, led by what many say is the most competitive Tory candidate since the party’s last prime minister, Stephen Harper, was unseated by Trudeau in 2015.

The surprise surge of O’Toole, a 48-year-old former Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter navigator, in the early weeks of the 36-day race revealed an unexpectedly canny political shrewdness beneath the candidate’s affable, easygoing exterior. Perhaps most notably, his campaign has been one of the farthest-reaching efforts to date at formulating a coherent policy platform for the kind of populist, pro-worker “realignment” that is sweeping right-wing parties across the West. Were the Tories to triumph on Monday, that could prove to be instructive for like-minded conservatives south of the Canada–U.S. border.

On economics, O’Toole’s rhetoric is not too dissimilar from that of Donald Trump. But unlike his American counterpart, O’Toole has a meticulously written, 48-page policy agenda to match his worker-friendly rhetoric: The Conservative leader’s “Canada First economic strategy” includes mandatory worker representation on the boards of large corporations, a ban on executives’ paying themselves bonuses while managing a company going through restructuring unless company workers’ pensions are fully paid, and a skeptical, protectionist stance on international trade. He has also made explicit overtures to private-sector labor unions — and staunch critiques of big business.

“I believe that GDP alone should not be the be-all end-all of politics,” he told viewers in a Labor Day video message. “The goal of economic policy should be more than just wealth creation, it should be solidarity and the wellness of families — and includes higher wages.”

That campaign message has been widely hailed as the return of “Red Toryism,” as it is often called in Canada and the United Kingdom. While usually stopping short of the transformative central-planning schemes favored by today’s progressives, Red Tories are more skeptical of big business — and more comfortable with communitarian-oriented economic policies — than has been the norm in conservative circles for decades. At the same time, this heterodox brand of small-c conservatism — which traces its roots to Benjamin Disraeli’s “one nation” conservatism in the latter half of the 19th century — is far more traditionalist in its cultural philosophy than the modern Left, emphasizing patriotic attachments, religious traditions, and social order over radicalism and upheaval.

Those themes, which have been largely dormant in Canada and the United Kingdom since at least the 1980s, sit at the forefront of O’Toole’s candidacy. “In terms of the substance of O’Toole’s policy platform, it’s very much a blue-collar conservative vision,” as Ben Woodfinden, a Montreal-based Red Tory writer and political theorist, told NR. “There’s all sorts of stuff that kind of points to the fact that he’s trying to move the policy agenda in that direction.”

There are important differences, too. By American standards, O’Toole is no social conservative: Although he has courted pro-life voters by promising to allow free votes for members of his caucus on life issues and backing conscience rights for doctors and nurses who do not want to “refer or participate in an abortion or euthanasia,” he describes himself as “pro-choice.” And he made an explicit appeal to LGBT voters in his acceptance speech for Conservative Party leader. But he is a kind of cultural conservative, in line with the Red Tory tradition: His political rhetoric is shot through with an affirmation of Canada’s essential goodness — a more soft-edged and less assertive kind of patriotism than its Trumpian alternative, to be sure, but still a firm rejection of the unending national self-flagellation prescribed by woke progressives, in both Canada and the U.S.

There are few better foils for this brand of blue-collar conservative politics than Justin Trudeau. A child of opulent privilege, the silver-spoon-fed son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau epitomizes the hypocritical, schoolmarmish brand of elite progressivism that has come to define left-leaning parties throughout the Anglosphere. “He’s a very polarizing figure,” says Woodfinden. “A lot of people have a visceral dislike and disdain for him here.”

That visceral dislike has as much to do with the class of people that Trudeau represents as it does with the prime minister himself. The “realignment” goes both ways: Even as Canada’s Conservatives make a bid for their country’s working class, Trudeau’s Liberal Party has come to represent the worldview and interests of the highly educated, upwardly mobile urbanites that increasingly make up its voter base. This demographic is more comfortable with neoliberal market-friendly economic policy than older left-wing worker parties, but is simultaneously committed to a far more radical kind of cultural leftism, replete with all the symbols and performative pieties of campus wokeness.

To many working-class voters who feel increasingly alienated from the parties that traditionally served as their home, this brand of politics looks laughably disingenuous. In Canada, Trudeau waxes indignant about the horrors of racism and then is pictured in blackface in a 2001 yearbook; in the U.S., Democrats style themselves the defenders of the marginalized and oppressed and then make repealing the SALT-cap deduction — a state-based tax write-off that almost exclusively benefits the top quintile of earners — a top legislative priority. For all the talk of social justice — and the subsequent demands for sweeping changes to the social contract — the progressive ruling class seems unwilling to sacrifice any of its status or privilege for the common good.

This presents a significant political opportunity for conservative parties throughout the English-speaking world. To his credit, that seems to be something that O’Toole recognizes. Both his economic and cultural agenda are predicated on a recognition of the working class as the Right’s natural ally in the current political moment. A conservatism that recognizes this alliance is committed to advocating in behalf of the interests of workers, just as it defines itself in opposition to what James Burnham called the “managerial elite” — i.e., the credentialed beneficiaries of society’s bureaucratization who “exploit the rest of society as a corporate body,” both in the bureaus of big government and the boardrooms of big business. It is a distinct brand of politics that shares the Reagan-era Right’s suspicion of government bureaucracy but is far less friendly to corporate power than its older counterparts.

Whether it works, of course, remains to be seen. In spite of the polls, Monday’s election could still prove to be an uphill battle for O’Toole’s Tories. “The weird dynamic you get in Canada is that when it looks like the Conservatives are about to win, a lot of the voters for the further-left party, the NDP — kind of the equivalent of Bernie or AOC in the U.S. — start to get worried, and shift their vote to the Liberals,” Harmes tells NR. “That always happens when elections look really close. It’s a constant phenomenon.”

But regardless of whether O’Toole perseveres, his brand of conservatism will likely be a potent force — both in Canada and in the rest of the Anglosphere — for the foreseeable future. “In some ways, the Conservative Party in Canada is ahead of the curve,” says Woodfinden. “The base for the Conservatives here is very much blue-collar workers these days.”


NATE HOCHMAN is an ISI Fellow at National Review. @njhochman

It's Not An Election

The Tories are tryng to pretend their provincial leadership race is an election. It ain't.

The biggest challenge facing the next premier will be rekindling interest in the Tory party, says a political expert who expects voter turnout to fall well below projections.

"The number of voters will be a lot fewer than candidates estimated back in September," Steve Patten, a University of Alberta political scientist, told the Sun yesterday.

Three months ago, the camps of top Tory leadership candidates Lyle Oberg, Mark Norris, Jim Dinning and Ted Morton all expected to sell upwards of 100,000 party memberships.

"Add up all their claims and we're talking in the neighbourhood of 500,000 memberships sold to people who would be expected to vote for the next premier," Patten said.

"Nothing close to that kind of number has materialized."

Patten said he's interested to see how close voter turnout will be to the 78,000 who cast ballots in 1992, when Ralph Klein won the premiership on a second ballot.

Since 1992 our population has grown to be 3.5 million. And it is still growing.

Edmonton is expected to gain 83,000 residents by 2011

Although many former Saskatchewan residents return home for a visit, there are still far too many heading for black gold in Alberta."Pretty much everyone is moving to Alberta these days," said Fritsche, who thinks Saskatchewan should try and capitalize on the growing population that lies right next door.

So when Klein was elected leader 78,000 PC members voted. Even though more memberships than that were sold.

Today we know that the membership sales will not be reflected in those who vote. For instance business and unions have bought up memerships to hand out to get out the vote for their candidates. The Building Trades unions are supporting Oberg, despite his right wing views, because he is promising them jobs with his position on increasing funding for infrastructure.

The Edmonton Business community has gone all out in buying memberships in bulk to hand out to their employees and friends to support Mark Norris. Its a campaign to get an Edmontonian elected leader. They have abandoned Hancock the other Edmontonian because he is a Red Tory, and Norris has pull because of his political family connections.

So less than .o5% of the population will make the decision on who will lead the party and thus elect the leader of the One Party State in Alberta.

When Klein ran it was against Red Tory Nancy Betkowski. A second ballot was needed because he lost to her by one vote. He had sold more memberships than her but his supporters did not come out on the first ballot. This is the fear the Dinning folks have.

That vote was then spilt between the Calgarian For Leader and the Edmontonian for Leader factions. The Red Tories lined up behind Betkowski, the social conservatives behind Klein for the second ballot.Still in the final tally more memberships were sold than came out to vote.

In this race the front runners are Dinning and Oberg.

But the race is split this way;

Dinning represents the Calgary Establishment, a centerist candidate, a liberal fiscally and politically as was Lougheed who supports him.

Norris represents the fiscal conservatives, social liberals, business establishment of Edmonton. Its the anti-Calgary Tories he represents.

Hancock is a Red Tory to the left of the other candidates. His support is really limited to Edmonton to those not supporting Norris. Whom he throws his support behind on a second ballot will be important.

Oberg, Morton, and Doerkson split the social conservative vote between them.

Oberg relies upon the rural anti-urban anti-Calgary voters, based in Southern and Central Alberta. He also has the support of the traditional Liberal Building Trades unions. Though how many of their members will vote is questionable. As it is boom time and the tradesmen are busy working, working, working. Lots of OT versus taking time to vote.

Morton has organized the grass roots social conservative base, and is getting support from Manning, Harper, Day, Kenney, etc. So he poses a second ballot threat to Oberg. Failing that he and Doerkson could combine to push Oberg past Dinning on the second ballot.

Doerkson is a spoiler, taking votes away from Oberg, but a late comer so his campaign is really about anybody but Lyle. His supporters will go to Morton.

Ed Stelmach, farmer, rural vote, fiscal conservative, in this race a centerist compared to the social conservative gang above. His chances are zip, nada.
Though on the second ballot who he throws his support behind could be telling.

Advance polls opened yesterday. The vote is this weekend. Place your wagers.

See:

Conservative Leadership Race

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All Fizzle No Sizzle

The rightwhing columnists in the media and the blogosphere like to talk about the "usual rent a crowd", when it came to mass demonstrations , and I am talking double digit thousands, against the government.

The term seems apt for the Conservative Party stalwarts that got the pro-war rallies going in Ottawa and now Toronto.

Too bad their Toronto rent a crowd wasn't larger, a handfull of Blogging Tories and other Conservative Party supporters essentially held a rally to support the war on the backs of our troops.


Hundreds gather in TO for 'Red Friday' rally

These rallies which the right has claimed exist to show tropps and their families we support them, have been hijacked by the Pro War Pro Harper crowd not to support our trooops, or they would demand their withdrawl, but to support the war.

Apparently the irony of holding Pro War Rallies on the same day as funerals are held for Canadian KIA, is lost on these guys.

Yesterday's rally was held on the same day as funerals for three Canadian soldiers took place in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

And despite all their so called grassroots organizing , free media exposure generated by rightwhing talkshow hosts on Corus & Global radio networks, they could only pull a few hundred folks out in megatropolis Toronto.

Red Rally support for troops today 680 News

September 29, 2006 - 6:48 am
By: Jaime Pulfer with report by Ashleigh Patterson

Toronto - Dundas Square will be a sea of red today as people participate in the Toronto Red Rally to support for Canadian troops in Afghanistan.

A sea hardly, it was a pond.

Even less than rallied in Ottawa. But then again the New Government in Ottawa encouraged civil servants and employees to attentd the rally. In Toronto it was a public private partnership Tim Hortons relents, workers join 'Red Friday'

OCAP and the armies of homeless have held larger demos in T.O. And recent Anti-War demos have also been bigger. And that was without Timmies support.

Indeed only a week ago mass rallies were held across Canada, not in two single cities in Ontario, to call for action on Darfur. An issue Harper refuses to discuss.

There were rallies all across Canada last week to stress the importance of responding to Darfur. Helping to lead the world on this issue is important, and completely within Canada's traditions of peace keeping and protecting innocent people. But this government is unable to divide its focus and resources. Afghanistan is the Harper Governement's Sixth Priority

The lesson of this tale is that these Red Fridays have been a one day wonder. They originated in a genuine feeling of folks, especially military families, wanting to show publicly they support the troops. But supporting the troops is not tacit support of the current Afghanistan mission.

It got hijacked by the Military for its own purposes, more fighting assignments more equipment to fight with.

The New Canadian government is using these rallies to show that, despite polls saying otherwise, Canadians back Harpers War.

Forces will listen to Red Rally cheers on radio

Canadian forces are being given a chance in Afghanistan to hear red today -- a rousing wave of support that will rock the downtown in a giant flag-waving rally. The 2,500 Canadian soldiers are being urged by the military brass to tune in the Red Rally cheers and best wishes when hour-long radio broadcasts start at noon from Dundas Square on CFRB and AM-640 Radio.

Well the majority of Canadians do not support the Harper/Hillier war plan, as is shown in polls and in the streets of T.O. on Friday. And make no bones aout it this is not only a New Law & Order State it is a Militarized one as well. Hillier is Harpers kinda guy, so its hands off, and the Military runs its political masters. Does anyone else find this scary? A New Canadian Government with its own Republican Guard.

The only people not getting the message are Mssr. Harper and Hellier as well as the rent a crowd at the Blogging Tories and the right whing talk show hosts in the MSM.

Showing that the BT blosgosphere and even the conservative activists, especially those in the media, carry less poloitical weight then they credit themselves with. They couldn't even organize a 'mass' demonstration of their own core supporters.

Something RightWhingWhiner and Talk Show Host Dave Rutherford found out when he rallied his listners against young offenders only a few thousand showed up, compared to 15,000 that rallied to save the Grey Nuns hospital from Kleins Kuts.

I await their mewling mumbles about the silent majority supporting them.

Support Our Troops is one of those tropes that has two meanings. And as Alice found out from the Red Knight one of those meanings is whatever Harper wants it to be. And in this case it is Bush-like denial of reality. As he did in New York saying Canadians supported the war when the polls said otherwise.

There is no mass support for this war. Conservative calls to unquestioning patriotism fall on deaf ears in Canada. Since most of us realize that Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundral.


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UK

Conservatives, Extremism, and the Ghost of Enoch Powell

Subjecting protestors to greater demonisation through the redefining of ‘extremism’ is just another chapter in the Tories’ painful history of hypocrisy

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If you paid much attention to Rishi Sunak’s speech outside No. 10 on March 1, you would think our country had been overrun by anarchists and fanatics. Extremist groups are ‘trying to tear us apart,’ said the PM, decrying a ‘shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality’ in Britain since October 7. Michael Gove has been at it too. Some pro-Palestinian events have ‘been organised by extremist organisations,’ claimed the Communities Secretary. These are the same protests incidentally that have been acknowledged by the Metropolitan Police as disciplined, orderly, and professionally-managed.

The anarchy-obsessed Conservative government now has Gove announcing a new definition of extremism. As part of Sunak’s drive to crack down on Islamist extremists and far-right groups, the revised definition identifies extremism as an ideology that “undermines the rights or freedoms of others.” It differs from the old definition in that there has been a shift in focus from action to ideology. The previous definition, which was introduced in 2011, said extremism was the “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and belief.”

Critics say the new definition is so broad that it risks exacerbating community tensions. Zara Mohammed, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the definition would lead to the “unfair targeting of Muslim communities.” Others believe it is being used to seek a short-term tactical advantage in the run-up to the general election. A number of senior Tories, including former Home Secretaries Priti Patel, Sajid Javid and Amber Rudd, warned against using extremism to score political points. They believe that the government would be better off dialling down on extremism rhetoric, which they warn is giving Reform UK a boost.

“It completely plays into Reform’s hands. Why aren’t we talking about the Budget?” said one former cabinet minister.

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York joined the criticism, warning the government’s response ‘risks vilifying the wrong people’ and threatened freedom of speech and worship.

The same week that Gove announced his controversial new anti-extremism measures, a revelation hit the press that suggested the Tories’ biggest donor is an extremist himself, who upholds the most abhorrent views. Claims were made that Frank Hester, the healthcare technology business magnate who has donated £10m to the Tories in the past year, had said Diane Abbott made people “want to hate all black women” and “should be shot.”

The alleged comments mark a depressing new low for British politics. And the story gets worse. When asked whether the Tories should hand back the £10m donation, energy minister Graham Stuart told reporters that it would be wrong for a businessman to be ‘cancelled’ for his comments, and that the party should ‘welcome’ such donations.

Work and Pensions secretary Mel Stride meanwhile told Sky News that everyone needed to “move on” from the comments, and that he didn’t think what Hester was saying was a “gender based or race based comment.”

How on earth anyone could argue that describing the UK’s first black female MP as making people “wanting to hate all black women,” is neither gender nor race based is beyond any reasonable sense or logic.

Conservative Lord Marling meanwhile said that Hestor isn’t racist because “he does a lot of business in Jamaica… and places like that.”

After catastrophically messing up on the Anderson row, Sunak has catastrophically messed up on the Hester row. After initially resisting, a spokesperson for the PM eventually admitted the alleged comments by the Tory donor were ‘racist and wrong.’ Yet Sunak has rejected calls to return the £10m donated to the party by the businessman. “No… I am pleased [Hester] is supporting a party that represents one of the most diverse governments in this country’s history,” he told the Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions.

It’s likely that Sunak doesn’t want to return the money because it has already been spent. And, if he did, it’s likely Hester would defect to Reform UK, like Anderson did this week. Messier than a soup sandwich!

But while especially nasty and shocking, Hestor’s comment and the Tories’ disastrously inadequate response, come as little surprise. The Conservatives, who are now embroiled in yet another civil war over their highly contentious redefinition of extremism, have, along with their media and donor cronies, a long history of flirting with and sometimes embracing racist extremism.

In 1964, what is regarded as Britain’s most racist election campaign ever fought in Britain, took place in the West Midlands constituency of Smethwick when the Conservative Peter Griffiths was elected MP on the slogan, “If you want a n****r for a neighbour, vote Labour.” Talking to the Times during his election campaign, Griffiths refused to disown the slogan. “I would not condemn any man who said that. I regard it as a manifestation of popular feeling,” he said.

The racially motivated campaign proved successful, and Smethwick bucked the national swing from the Tories to Labour, and Griffiths won the seat.

And let’s not forget that one of modern British history’s most divisive addresses was made by the Conservative MP Enoch Powell. Powell gained notoriety for his viciously anti-immigration speech in 1968, commonly known as the “Rivers of Blood” speech. It divided the nation with its racist, incendiary rhetoric, and led to the MP being kicked out of the shadow cabinet, effectively ending his political ambitions. Yet 56 years later, Enoch Powell’s name still resonates with many right-wing Tories.

After saying that asylum seekers who did not want to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge should “f*** off back to France” in August last year, Lee Anderson, then deputy chair of the Conservative party, was branded a ‘pound shop Enoch Powell’ by Chris McEleny of the Alba Party.

As with the Frank Hestor controversy this week, Anderson’s comments were defended by fellow Tories. Justice secretary Alex Chalk told broadcasters that the MP was expressing “righteous indignation of the British people” with his incendiary comments.

And let’s also not forget that the prime minister refused to address anti-Muslim concerns following Anderson’s more recent comments that ‘Islamists’ had ‘got control of London’ and its mayor, Sadiq Khan. While Anderson might have had the whip removed by the party following the comments, Sunak still claimed that there were no Islamophobia issues in the Conservative party.

 

This is the same party which, in 2019, was criticised for refusing to adopt a recommended definition of Islamophobia produced by an all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims. The definition was produced after six months of consultations. It classified discrimination against Muslims as a form of racism and was described as a necessity to tackle the rise of far-right racism. In refusing to adopt the definition, the Muslim Council of Britain had warned that the Conservative Party was at risk of “placing themselves on the wrong side of the argument.”

Lee Anderson is not the only senior, now ex-Tory to have been likened to Enoch Powell. Suella Braverman was also described as the ‘new Enoch Powell,’ after she described refugees landing in Kent as an “invasion” in November 2022.

“Braverman is a modern-day Enoch Powell,” wrote Sean O’Grady, associate editor of the Independent. “This might be strange and ironic, seeing as Powell was campaigning against the (entirely legal) settlement in the UK of Asians expelled from Kenya and Uganda in the 1960s and 1970s, such as her own family,” he continued.

While the liberal media may provide some critical analysis on the racist tropes used by right-wing ministers, the Tory media often cheerleads the comments.

“Lee Anderson is victim of immoral Tories giving in to Sadiq Khan’s ‘Islamophobe’ smear,’ was an incredulous headline in the Express. “Lee Anderson did not say anything Islamophobic but has suffered because of the Conservative Party’s moral rottenness,” the author argued.

The consequences of the reckless use of inflammatory Enoch Powell-esque rhetoric by ministers and their supporting factions of the media, can be sinister and dangerous. Such perils were brought to light this week. Kingston Crown Court heard how a man who claimed ‘Hitler was right’ visited an immigration lawyer’s office with a knife and handcuffs planning to kill him. The court was told how in an interview with police, the accused had said he had first saw the lawyer’s name in the Daily Mail, and that he brought “foreign invaders” into the country.

As so often with Right-Wing Watch, the discussion takes us to conservative think-tanks, which, as we know, have direct connections to the Conservative Party. The deliberately provocative tactic of labelling principally peaceful campaign groups as ‘extremists’ can be traced to such groups.

Policy Exchange, the government think-tank that claims to be a neutral educational charity but has for years been building a case for curtailing the judiciary, and was relied on heavily by Boris Johnson’s government, referred to Extinction Rebellion (XR) as an ‘extremist group.’ The influence of such think-tanks on national policy was starkly revealed, when, some months later, XR was duly designated an extremist group by counter-terrorist police.

In fact, the legislative crackdown on protest in Britain by the then home secretary Priti Patel, which could lead to groups like XR being branded ‘extremists,’ was found to have roots with Policy Exchange. An investigation by openDemocracy found that a 2019 report by Policy Exchange called for protest laws to be “urgently reformed in order to strengthen the ability of police to place restrictions on planned protest and deal more effectively with mass law-breaking tactics.” The report even explicitly said the government should pass legislation to target XR.

William Allchorn, associate director at the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right (CARR), argues that instead of perusing new definitions of the word ‘extremism,’ an ‘inclusionary turn’ is needed when dealing with any hue of ‘extremist’ protest. In his book, Anti-Islamic Protest in the UK Policy Responses to the Far Right, Allchorn subscribes to the notion that better cross-community contact, grassroots educational initiatives against prejudice and a re-engagement between politicians and disaffected constituencies are all important preventative methods when dealing with political extremism.

Subjecting protestors to greater demonisation through the redefining of ‘extremism’ is just another chapter in the Tories’ painful history of hypocrisy. Posturing as freedom champions while slowly chipping away at civil liberties through draconian legislation, ‘extremism,’ the very thing they are going after, has been historically fuelled in Conservative political and media circles. If Michael Gove and Rishi Sunak really wanted to weed out the real threats to Britain, perhaps they should convince their own party to look in the mirror?

And perhaps in this week of all weeks we should leave the last word to Diane Abbott. Writing in the Guardian, she points to the way in which in an election year, the Tories have blown their reputation for sound economic management and low taxation, meaning they will play the race card and ruthlessly. And Diane Abbott should know having watched the Tories close up for longer than most of us.

Right-Wing Media Watch – Boris-worshipping Express pines for ‘Big Dog’s’ return

What could possibly save Rishi Sunak from what looks like uncertain political obliteration in the general election? Boris Johnson, of course! And, specifically, Boris Johnson trumpeting Brexit freedoms. At least, that is what the Boris-worshiping Daily Express is championing for.

In a series of articles this week, the newspaper showed no shame in its tireless devotion to the disgraced former PM, claiming he is set for a ‘big general election’ comeback in a ‘bid to rescue the Tories.’

“The larger-than-life former premier will reportedly campaign for the Conservatives in the Red Wall,” claimed the newspaper.

In a front page ‘exclusive’ on March 13, the Express salivated over the former PM’s return to the campaign trail to protect the ‘hard won and great’ Brexit freedoms he secured with his election victory.

According to allies cited in the report, Johnson is a Tory “through and through” (sub-text -Sunak isn’t?) and is happy to put his skills to “good use.”

The following day, the same newspaper launched a ‘Should Boris Johnson help Tories campaign at next general election’ poll. Trying to coax readers into voting ‘yes’ with about as much subtlety as a flying brick, the article claims that the former PM’s “I’ll be back” comment when he quit Parliament last year, following what they call a “witch hunt” probe into Partygate, was a direct message to Daily Express readers.

The Times was at it too. ‘Boris Johnson to make a general election comeback for the Tories,’ the national splashed on March 12.
Wishful claims of a Big Dog comeback haven’t exactly been verified yet. In fact, Johnson’s biggest ally Nadine Dorries has categorically unverified them. On a post on X, she wrote:

“This story has been panic placed by No 10 – probably by Issac Levido [the Australian political strategist credited with coining election-winning slogans for Boris Johnson] in a desperate attempt to halt any further defections to Reform.

“There’s no thawing of relations, no plans to campaign. Sunak not spoken to Johnson for over a year.”

But you have to give the aforementioned media some credit. The Tories are likely to need some kind of miracle if they are to avoid electoral wipeout whenever the next general election might be. But having presided over some of the biggest scandals to have engulfed modern British politics, including breaking the rules his own government set, the return of Big Dog is surely not the answer.

Smear of the Week – Tories’ smear campaign against Angela Rayner spectacularly backfires as cops veto charges

The Conservatives and their client media’s smear campaign against the Labour deputy leader has spectacularly backfired. Despite their best efforts to embroil Rayner in controversy involving a council house she once owned and sold, a line has been drawn under a scandal that didn’t even really exist, by the police.

The story originally surfaced in the Daily Mail after the newspaper had seen extracts of an unauthorised biography on Rayner by Lord Ashcroft. The former Conservative Party deputy chairman (responsible for the fake ‘Piggate’ story in an unauthorised biography about David Cameron) Ashcroft accused Rayner of hypocrisy, claiming that she had used Margaret Thatcher’s flagship discounted home ownership policy to buy her own home but now wants to reform the policy.

In a further twist to the tale, James Daly, Tory MP for Bury North, a neighbouring constituency of Rayner’s, asked Greater Manchester Police to investigate whether Rayner had given false information on official documents and had broken electoral rules in relation to where she was registered as living after her marriage in 2010.

Despite the Labour MP repeatedly denying any wrongdoing, the right-wing press gushed all over the story.

‘Angela Rayner could face a police probe into ‘false claims over addresses’ before she sold her council home,’ splashed the Daily Mail in February.

This week, the police announced that they have found no evidence that any offence had been committed and that the Labour deputy will not face a political investigation over the claims.

You think that the story would have been laid to rest at that point but no, James Daly will not let it lie.

Following the police’s decision not to pursue the investigation after finding no evidence of wrongdoing, Daly blamed Rayner’s ‘refusal’ to answer ‘basic questions’ about where she used to live, and claimed the case had not been given the attention it deserves.

‘I’m very concerned that in a year in which we will have both a general election and local elections this matter is not being given the attention it surely warrants.

‘She is steadfastly refusing to answer the extremely basic questions. It’s a far cry from the standards she demands of others,” the MP told the Mail, which naturally seized the chance to keep the smear alive.

In what could be considered as a big dose of karma, Daly has been accused of wasting police time. “Tory MPs shouldn’t be wasting police time, they should be concentrating on governing,” a Labour source told the Mail.

Honestly, you’d think they would have learned by the ridiculous ‘Beergate’ story, which the Mail ran for weeks, despite Keir Starmer being cleared over the allegations he had broken lockdown rules.

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead 
Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is author of Right-Wing Watch

RED TORIES

Labour to water-down manifesto in attempt to shrink target of Tories attacks at general election

Labour are planning a no-risk manifesto they seek to dull Conservative attacks and deliver the party to power for the first time in 14 years. Picture: Getty

By Chay Quinn

 3 February 2024

Labour are planning a no-risk manifesto they seek to dull Conservative attacks and deliver the party to power for the first time in 14 years.

Shadow cabinet ministers have until February 8 to submit policy to the manifesto, as Sir Keir Starmer gears up for an election expected to take place in the second half of this year.

Key pledges such as House of Lords reforms and social care policy are expected to be watered down as Sir Keir attempts to make his manifesto "bombproof".

Read More: Labour’s Peter Kyle set for AI talks with tech giants during Washington visit

The backing off comes after reports that the party has ditched its £28 billion pledge to fund climate infrastructure.

Labour Unveil Its City Policy At Business Conference. Picture: Getty

The scrapping of social care reforms has irked union backers of the party, with Unison’s general secretary, Christina McAnea, telling the Observer: “Care is in crisis and the need for a national service has never been greater. But the sector is complex and, with many thousands of care employers, creating a new system isn’t a five-minute job.

“In stark contrast to the litany of broken promises from this government, Labour is committed to reforming care. Under the proposed fair pay agreement, wages will rise and care workers earn the same no matter where they work in England.

“Care jobs will immediately become more attractive, and the sector be able to start filling the huge hole in its workforce. That will boost support to everyone needing care and begin to lift the pressure on the NHS.”

Labour will water-down its proposal to reform the House of Lords. Picture: Getty

Despite the cautious approach, Starmer's party will back a pledge to build 300,000 homes in Britain each year - a pledge previously made by Tories, but has yet to be fulfilled.

Labour currently enjoy a large polling lead over the Tories, and are widely expected to win the next general election by a landslide.

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