After the U-turns

The financier Amschel Rothschild, spooked by the 1848 revolution, walked the streets of Frankfurt trying to placate people with chunks of cash, and explaining that he had calculated the amount by dividing his fortune by the city’s population.

The gesture did not stop the revolution. Keir Starmer has now discredited himself so much that even if he were to go on the streets offering a wodge of money to every passer-by, that wouldn’t help.

The latest u-turn, on compulsory digital ID, is welcome, and those on the Winter Fuel Allowance, PIP access for disabled people, and the two-child benefit cap were a tribute to labour-movement pressure. The withdrawal of government’s wrecking amendment to its own Hillsborough Bill is welcome, except that it comes with indefinite postponement of the Bill.

But Starmer will go. The question is: who will replace him, when? A new Labour leader, soon? Or Farage, later, flanked by Jenrick and other Tory bigots, later?

Labour activists and unions should cast off the “nothing makes a difference” mood, and step up efforts to call Starmer to account, force a leadership election, and get as left a replacement as we can installed, under as much pressure (and continued pressure) as we can organise.