Hard Labour

I won’t be preaching on politics but do think a short note is worth it, following my attendance at the Labour Party Conference last week. The first thing people wanted to know when I came home was if I had seen the Starmer Sparkle incident. And yes, I had and yes, I was well impressed by how cool Keir was, reacting to what was quite some shock. In fact, he seems to have benefitted from it, by demonstrating his no-nonsense attitude. But then reviewing the various Fringe events I attended, the challenges to government that he listed in his speech really hit home. The Fringe topics hadn’t changed much from last year: migration and asylum; tackling failing NHS services; training and employment priorities; unravelling financial services; police resources and the desperate need for more IT specialists; and of course, cycles of poverty trap. What did change from last year was an even stronger sense and excitement that Labour might win next year’s General Election and the accompanying fear of how much worse things will get if they don’t. And all this under the cloud of the Hamas and Israel crisis. In my opinion, Keir Starmer continues to present himself as the leading grown-up in the room as well as being just a jolly good bloke. But oh my, it’s going to be a tough ride – hard labour indeed.