The current mood among Labour MPs nowadays adheres to a Shakespearean principle. It affirms that the scale of any misfortune is only assessed relative to yet-to-come catastrophes. As the playwright has the outcast offspring of the blinded Earl declare within the tragedy: “The worst is not, provided that we can say ‘this marks the bottom’.”
Per Edgar's law, you won't find any survey so gloomy about the government that cannot be succeeded by a subsequent worse one; no fiscal forecast so poor that the Treasury can't aggravate it with mixed indications on tax; no doubts about Keir Starmer that cannot be intensified via hostile communications concerning a bid for power.
In that context, the latest revelation of strategies that aim to restrict the quantity of refugees admitted to the UK, modelled on a famously strict Scandinavian model, was received better with Labour MPs than might have been expected. There appeared glimmers of MP frustration yet no wildfire of rebellion.
Hardening immigration policies is not the government's preferred area, however the present arrangement is evidently broken and voters are angry. Numerous parliamentarians comprehend the argument that tolerance and intercommunal harmony are simpler to foster if assurance exists that the nation's borders are secure.
Silent parliamentary rows might likewise signal threatening. MPs have learned that each issue is discussable with a directionless leader of adaptable beliefs. Today's declarations might be reversed shortly. There's no requirement to charge forward if successes can be achieved by attrition.
A common complaint concerns the Prime Minister is hardly managing the administration at all, having delegated policy decisions to his principal advisor. However, this doesn't mean the head of government misses managerial vigor, he simply favors to avoid arbitrating in departmental disputes or participate in long debates.
The Prime Minister entered political parties late in his career, first entering parliament during his early fifties. He lacks instinct for Labour lore – the canon of past debates, initiatives, characters and social allusions that bind a head to the larger group and its perception of shared purpose.
His most personal values stay concealed to government members. According to an experienced party member states: “The Prime Minister is quite different as head of government by creating the perception that whatever he personally thinks are not for public consumption.”
The product packaged representing the leader in last year's election campaign has similarly not produced its purported benefits: executive proficiency leading to societal regeneration. If Britain still had a two-party system, the recollection of how bad things were during Conservative rule might prolong tolerance for the party.
It indicates a crushing loss for party representatives in council and national assembly contests next May. It shall represent a moment of extreme peril for the Prime Minister, provided he remains that long.
Absent in these assessments appears unity on the identity of a successor and how their programme might contrast compared to present strategies. This weakness within succession arrangements is mentioned by the prime minister's defenders as one of many reasons to remain with the current leader.
While restive MPs may flinch at such cautions, they also hear through them the recognizable, empty ringing of limited aspiration which causes hopelessness regarding present circumstances. It signifies the tone of inability to define Starmerism as merely a series of strategies for maintaining position.
It remains challenging to generate allegiance to such a cause. The majority of representatives have tried. They have adhered to the party line, supported it during canvassing, followed party discipline, believed assurances that their worries were considered.
Leadership removal is fraught with risk, yet, might it be more dangerous than pretending that the present leader has answers about important matters that remain unmentioned? The literary maxim recommends carefulness when removing an incumbent leader. The successor may turn out poorer.
“The weight of these difficult days we have to accept; Speak what we feel, instead of proper declarations.”
Elena Hartwell is a multidisciplinary artist and educator passionate about fostering creative communities in London.