Waking up early, as I do, I often throw on a podcast. A recent, somewhat masochistic, listen is The Rest is Politics (which I would suggest a listen if you want an insight into the collective socialist hive mind).
It is on the extremes of the pervasiveness of a hatred of the soon-to-be former Prime Minister. In it ex-Tory cum Liberal Democrat cum Blairite, Rory Stewart, faces off to “agree disagreeably” (read, pivot anything to Boris Johnson after giving up on being able to influence politics through elected means) with arch remoaner and communications Rasputin, Alastair Campbell.
The podcast is the tip of the leftist zeitgeist iceberg that has profited off Johnson’s misfortunes and activity over the past two and a half years. This attitude has become all pervasive. You cannot turn on a modern, fictional or factual TV program without some direct or indirect mention of the outgoing PM. Line of Duty, I’m a Celebrity and even Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee concert had denunciations by our Left-leaning mainstream media.
Whilst this may seem a tad tongue in cheek there is a serious point to this. The Left, unsurprisingly, have played the man not the ball over the last two and a half years. Starmer has made his whole platform about personality politics, Lord knows you would need a fine toothed comb to even come close to a Labour policy position, never mind a coherent one – brutally indicated in the fact, that despite the Conservative’s woes, Labour has barely held onto a double digit polling lead for any meaningful amount of time since 2019.
They have clearly taken being the Opposition literally – forgetting it might be worth having an original thought once in a while. Ad hominem attacks barely cover the crumbling façade of their lack of policies and the public knows it.
It is impossible for the Left to extricate them from this rut and establish a credible platform with the electorate. For one, the Left seemingly despise the Right, so their arguments are not based on disagreement, rather loathing. The Right on the other hand simply think the Left are wrong and so can come up with articulate, logical and appealing policies for modern Britain.
Having exhausted their attacks on the outgoing Prime Minister, the Left will, and indeed are, already beginning to switch to another form of ammunition. Typically unimaginatively, they will continue to pursue Johnson, directly, or his legacy, indirectly, chasing likes and ratios on Twitter at the expense of actual substance. The lack of imagination and vision from the Left of politics is palpable and indicative in the snore fest of any Starmer speech or the fervent class politics of a Rayner rally.
Either way the Left has once again been cast adrift by Johnson. Their darlings forced into a state of limbo resorting to an even lower quality of debate and a race to the bottom inside their increasingly echoic chamber. One of Johnson’s Government’s abiding successes is surely the furlough scheme and controlling unemployment.
A minor bruise on that legacy may be some of the Left-wing commentariat being added to the unemployment rolls as their prime source material exits stage...well left. A legacy I am sure the Prime Minister will not entirely mourn.
The original was published in the Telegraph on 13 July 2022. If you want to read the rest of the piece please click this link (Telegraph subscribers).
