What are Labour's values anyway?

 As we inch forward towards the coronation of the King of the North, there has been lots of confused questions about what he stands for and indeed what the Labour party stands for.

So I asked ChatGPT.  It replied that the Labour party stands for

1/ Social justice - reducing inequality and ensuring people have fair opportunities

2/ Equality of opportunity - helping people succeed regardless of background

3/ Solidarity and community – people achieve more through collective action than by acting alone.

4/ Support for working people – focus on workers' rights and living standards.

5/ Democracy – both political democracy and a belief that power should be more widely shared.

6/ Fairness – balancing individual responsibility with social support and public services.

I don't disagree with these as aims - they are aspects of a fair society but they are far from unique to Labour. So I asked ChatGPT what the Conservative values were and they were broadly similar themes "giving people the freedom to make their own choices", "state control should be limited to what is needed", "law and order","conserving traditional values". However a key difference between the Labour wording and the Conservative wording is one of approach.  The Labour approach is more about enforcement whilst the Conservative is about enabling these outcomes. 

Labour's constitution describes the party as democratic socialist and says it believes in society where "power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few."

Let's go backwards nearly 2 years to Starmer's election win speech.

"I know that, but we can make a start today with the simple acknowledgement that public service is a privilege and that your government should treat every single person in this country with respect"

"When the gap between the sacrifices made by people… And the service they receive from politicians…Grows this big.  It leads to a weariness in the heart of a nation.  A draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better future…"

"That public service is a privilege.  And that your government should treat every single person in this country… With respect.....Tread more lightly on your lives… "

My personal observation is Labour have been far more invasive and interfering in people's lives in 2 years than 14 years of Conservatives - it certainly has not been light touch. 

Certainly if I listen to the bland moral sanctitudes that comes out of Starmer's mouth, it's hard to see what the values are.  He exudes pompus snobby superiority which seems totally at odds with Labour values and the Labour values are certainly not SMART (Specific Measureable Achieveable Realistic or Timebound).  Maybe they are more mission statements?

Examples of these bland statements are:

‘We’re on the side of communities across our country,’ - whatever that means

‘building a country where everyone is seen, everyone is valued’ - again what does that mean. How are you doing that?  What have you done? Certainly the thousands of white vulnerable teenage girls raped by grooming have not been seen or valued. They have been silenced.

If you dare challenge Starmer or Labour then the response is  ‘Britain is better than this’, "it's not who we are"....There's a sneering superiority tone that if you dare challenge them then you are Evil or Nasty and they are morally righteous Nice people.

Maybe nice guy people pleaser Andy Burnham will be different?  So I asked ChatGPT

1/ Devolution -  Power should be closer to communities

2/ Economic growth should benefit ordinary people

3/ Social justice and tackling inequality

4/ Strong public services

5/ Pragmatism rather than ideological purity - not a ideological zealot

6/ Community and solidarity

So it looks like he believes in bigger government, more of it and more distributed.  He believes the state should do more eg water, power etc.

The problem is there isnt enough money for a bigger state.  Increasing taxes will fail.  Borrowing more will fail.

Burnham's first speech after Starmer's resignation contained words like "serious", "orderly", "responsible", "stable".  It feels like he is manifesting....events will take control just like they have for Starmer. He certainly has the same confident posturing superiority  of Stamer that because he is Labour he has the moral high ground...Arrogance even. Actually because he is Andy and not Starmer.

Values are not a substitute for a plan. Being a "progressive" [whatever that means] will not fix the foundations of this country.  I want a leader with a chainsaw.  Someone who ruthlessly executes and is not a people pleaser.  They are prepared to make the hard unpopular decisions.  Someone like Javier Millei.....

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