Unions and Labour MPs call on Starmer to end ‘narrow factional agenda’ | Keir Starmer
Union leaders and 25 Labor MPs have called on Keir Starmer to end the “narrow, factional agenda” within Labor.
A letter signed by MPs, leaders of many Labor unions and campaign groups within the party claimed that the top-down approach was “increasingly unpopular with the public”.
Signatories include several Labor rebel MPs, including Clive Lewis and Brian Leishman, as well as senior figures such as John McDonnell.
They suggested that the party leadership’s approach could undermine its ability to win elections.
The letter comes after Starmer has had a turbulent few weeks in his premiership, with his judgment questioned over the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington DC despite his ties to child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s chief advisor, resigned due to his role in Lord Mandelson’s appointment, Labor Party’s Scottish leader Anas Sarwar said Starmer should resign due to the scandal.
Further questions about the Prime Minister’s decision arose in a row later in the week when former spin doctor Matthew Doyle was appointed to the House of Lords after his deputy campaigned for a sex offender.
The letter, called the Restoring Labor Democracy manifesto, targeted the culture within Downing Street and Labour’s ruling team.
The statement included the following: “It is becoming increasingly clear that a narrow, factional agenda is being imposed on the party and that this is becoming less and less popular with the public.
“This approach is wrong in principle and damaging in practice. When it sidelines Labor members, it weakens Labour’s roots in our communities, alienates voters and undermines Labor’s ability to win both public trust and elections.”
Signatories highlighted the selection of candidates for the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, in which Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham was prevented from taking part.
“The denial of the right of local members in Gorton and Denton to elect their own candidates appears to be part of a pattern, alongside the widespread obstruction of hard-working councilors and the withdrawal of the whip from MPs who stand with their constituents,” the letter said.
Leeds East Labor MP Richard Burgon, who helped co-ordinate the statement, said: “Under Keir Starmer and Morgan McSweeney, restrictions have been placed on the democratic rights of Labor members.
“This led to a small group of people making unannounced decisions that left the prime minister and the government deeply unpopular, from confusion over winter fuel payments to the disastrous decision to make Peter Mandelson US ambassador.
“We urgently need an end to this disgusting factionalism from the top of the party, where the views of Labor members and unionists are belittled.
“Restoring democracy in Labor is essential if we are to reconnect with voters and prevent the election of a Trump-style Reform government.”
The general secretaries of Unison, Unite, CWU, FBU and Aslef, all Labor unions, and the Labor Party Democracy Campaign, Momentum, Workers’ Muslim Network and Anti-Austerity Workers’ Council groups also signed the letter.
Worker members and unionists will be able to add their names to the letter starting from February 15.
According to the letter’s coordinators, this date was chosen because it was the 120th anniversary of the official adoption of the name “Labor Party” in 1906.
A Labor spokesman said: “Labour is proud to be supported by our brilliant party members as we work to deliver the vital change we were elected to deliver.
“Our Labor government is delivering for families across the country, including tackling the cost of living, shortening NHS waiting lists and restoring pride in local communities.”
