Keir Starmer Is Unfit To Be Prime Minister

Oliver Eagleton is writing a book on Keir Starmer for Verso Books, and in an article best described as a stellar example of holding power to account he highlights the horrors of Keir Starmer’s political record.

Keir Starmer sold himself to the Labour membership with the idealistic image of a progressive, socially liberal, radical human rights lawyer. At best he was a “moral socialist”, and at worst he was a genuinely progressive liberal; and Labour members decided he was their best shot at getting into No 10, and that regardless of policy nitty gritty he truly reflected their progressive values on inequality, internationalism, and injustice. There was one issue with this image; it wasn’t true, it was a wholly fabricated lie which bore no resemblance to the grim realities of Starmer’s political record, as has been highlighted this week.

After studying these facts we’re about to go through I came to a deliberative decision that Keir Starmer is wholly unfit to be Prime Minister of this country, and I could never in good conscience advocate anyone directly or indirectly votes to put him into No 10.

If people who were squeamish about Jeremy Corbyn’s near spotless record leading to innuendo about various things had any political consistency, they’d be appalled by the very blatant, verifiable and concrete, not unsubstantiated and implied excesses, that we’re about to go through.

Of course they won’t because they never gave Corbyn the benefit of the doubt and just wanted to bring him down. I gave Starmer the benefit of the doubt and am now simply acting out of principle; make any conclusions you like from what you read. If you want to see the article that inspired this piece, please read here: https://t.co/VX9u3Ppw25?amp=1.

Keir Starmer spent his time as DPP as a slave of the British establishment. He changed procedures to jail protestors for 10+ years for smashing windows, he defended and enabled Spy Cops, and he worked hand in glove with the Cameron government, to the extent that Tory ministers praised him greatly. On its face, you can pretty well tell this man won’t stand up to the British establishment: he’s the exemplification of a boot licking member of those same hollowed halls. While people were out protesting injustice, Sir Keir was in his ivory tower spying on them and prosecuting (even deporting) them.

Starmer’s contempt for Black Lives Matter and broader illiteracy on issues of racial injustice becomes apparent here; he’s not on their side, or even neutral, he’s on the side of the punitive sentencers, the drug criminalisers, the stop and searchers, and the racist cops. To be anything otherwise would be a betrayal of his own time honoured allegiances to the security establishment, and an admission of the horrors which he’s enabled. Keir Starmer is less soft left and more Spy Cop. In a just world, he’d be junior Conservative minister.

All this so far was relatively easy to find before it was compiled together, and Labour couldn’t have picked a worse leader on the eve of a massive uprising against police brutality and racial injustice. Just on this basis, Keir Starmer isn’t Labour; he’s on the side of every police officer that’s beaten a trade union official on a dockside. He’s every cop that’s raped and killed to infiltrate a progressive social movement (yes, Keir Starmer abstained on allowing this to pass into law). He’s not about people or justice, he’s about punitive exercising of the law. If he had a shred of decency he’d have refused, or even resigned, over making several of the calls that came before him as DPP.

Now for the worse parts. Keir Starmer showed less mercy than Theresa May when it came to the extradition of a suicidal autistic man who hacked the US security state, he allied himself with the Obama administration and jetted around the world furthering US foreign policy priorities, no matter how grim. He purposefully saved an Israeli war criminal guilty of the state murder of 300 Palestinian children from facing prosecution, he let M15 people off the hook for the brutal torture of a suspected terrorist who was never prosecuted, and he helped smear, attack, and isolate Julian Assange. As I say, read the article, some of it is graphic, some of it is really grim, all of it is true, and any individual who could have a part in it, directly or indirectly, is someone I wouldn’t sit in the same room with.

With this record, and his current capitulation to the worst excesses of domestic authoritarianism, and international brutality, Keir Starmer isn’t even a liberal. He’s an illiberal, unprogressive individual, with a very authoritarian bent. Why would I want such an individual in control of our nation and its security apparatus? I don’t want this man to have control of the British state, and I certainly don’t trust him to lead a progressive government. Other Labour figures who aren’t strictly from the left have true progressive instincts and would balk at most of these things, and if they were leader, I’d have all the criticisms, but I wouldn’t be saying they were unfit to lead a progressive administration.

The foul betrayal of Joe Biden’s term so far shows us that if someone tells you who they are before they take office, then believe they won’t truly change when you elect them. Biden told us who he was, and as POTUS he’s being true to form. At the end of the election cycle in America, I advocated Americans vote for Biden to foster a better organising territory under a neoliberal conservative, than under a far right oligarch, and I hold true to my reasoning (I was under zero illusions about Biden in office), but I do reject not staying neutral now; Biden is only minimally better than Trump, what’s the point? I’d never tell you to vote Trump, I just wouldn’t tell you to reelect Biden if that was a choice right now; it would be a “plague on both their houses” situation for me.

Keir Starmer is telling you who he is, believe him. I don’t want you to vote Tory, and I don't like Boris Johnson being Prime Minister, but how you vote come general election time is a deeply moral judgement, and personally I couldn’t live with myself if I voted for Keir Starmer OR Boris Johnson; nor could I live with myself if I voted for Joe Biden OR Donald Trump. In the US, if I could vote, I’d vote for the Green Presidential candidate, and any progressive down ballot officials of any party. In the UK, I’d vote for a left-Labour MP or official, or for a Green/Socialist Worker’s candidate, or even a radical Lib Dem (if any exist or come to exist), depending on what my options were.

Keir Starmer should not be the next Prime Minister of this country.