(C) OpenDemocracy This story was originally published by OpenDemocracy and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . UK General Election: We deserve better than Keir Starmer’s Labour [1] [] Date: 2024-06 The long-awaited and much-needed general election is finally upon us. Working-class voters have felt the heavy weight of crushing austerity over the past decade and are in desperate need of real change – but the two main contenders for prime minister offer little alternative. Given his unassailable lead in the polls, it is pretty much inevitable that Keir Starmer will form the next Labour government. What remains to be seen is the size of his majority. This uncertainty places more value on the left and independent candidates than ever before — their presence in Parliament could be the difference between the lightweight austerity of Starmer’s Labour Party and vital concessions to bring about peace and social justice. The future Labour government’s greatest source of weakness is its leader. Since his election to the party’s leadership in 2020, Starmer has proven himself to have a dishonesty almost unrivalled in modern politics. We must never forget the almost immediate reneging on campaign pledges or his denial of making comments in support of the Israeli government’s “right” to cut off power and aid into Gaza. This post-truth tendency – which can also be seen in the likes of Donald Trump and Joe Biden – is something Starmer and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak undeniably have in common and represents a deeply unwelcome new era in politics. Get our free Daily Email Get one whole story, direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up now We truly deserve better – but to get it we must support independent candidates in this election. Independents won nearly 100 seats in the local elections in England and Wales earlier this month, indicating widespread discontent with the political status quo. And the situation is likely only to worsen as the campaign continues. The default for most debate and discourse is a competition of cruelty, where those on the sharpest end of appalling government policies have their very existence weaponised as a smokescreen for the shocking lack of will to actually improve society. It is a depressing reality that at some point in this election – and I doubt it will take long – marginalised communities, such as refugees and transgender people, will see their experiences and identities monstered and distorted. We will see bluster, bravado and a tenuous grip of honesty. Both Starmer and Sunak are liable to wilting when any pressure is applied to them or their respective records. For Sunak, the richest man ever elected to Parliament, any scrutiny of his economic planning will demonstrate his culpability in the biggest decline in living standards since World War II. For Starmer, his well-documented duplicity will surely come to the forefront of the debate – from his malleable pledges to his utterly disgraceful treatment of Diane Abbott, the first Black woman elected to UK Parliament and a genuine political icon, who he attempted to block from standing in Hackney North & Stoke Newington, a seat she has represented since 1987. Whilst Starmer failed to depose Abbott following unprecedented backlash and protests from loyal constituents, he has succeeded in barring Faiza Shaheen from standing in Chingford & Woodford Green. Shaheen, a hard-working local campaigner and new mother, was axed for allegedly liking a number of posts on social media, some in support of the Green Party and others that have been accused of being anti-semitic. Her seat has now been given to one of Starmer’s political allies from a totally different part of London. Similarly, last month, Labour’s national executive also imposed a new candidate on the seat of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, without consulting local members. Corbyn has since announced he will go up against private health boss Praful Nargund – who is the director of a company worth £80m, according to its latest accounts – as an independent candidate in Islington North, the seat he has represented in Parliament since 1983. This trend of parachuting Starmer-aligned members of the party’s National Executive Committee – including Israel lobbyist, Luke Akehurst – in to winnable seats, is another nail in the coffin of Labour Party democracy and cements the party’s staggering fall from grace for many members. We need a real alternative to the misery faced by millions. This is what people like Corbyn offer and it is why I strongly encourage those disillusioned by the state of British politics to help build a genuine break away from the status quo, by joining groups such as We Deserve Better or The Collective grouping of left-wing independent candidates. By organising in our communities and resisting the moribund parties of the Westminster elite, we can build something that they no longer dare to offer: hope. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/uk-general-election-vote-independents-keir-starmer-rishi-sunak-jeremy-corbyn/ Published and (C) by OpenDemocracy Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/opendemocracy/