Neil Kinnock has warned his party not to ignore the nationalist threat posed by Nigel Farage, as concern grows in Labour ranks that Reform UK could pose a long-term threat for them as well as for the Conservatives.
The former Labour leader told the Guardian he wanted Labour to turn its guns on Farage’s party in the final week of the election campaign, saying the populist right could gain a stronghold in the UK as it has across much of Europe.
Labour has been accused of not putting up a fight against Farage because the Reform party appeared to be taking more votes from the Conservatives. But with Reform predicted by some pollsters to win more than a dozen parliamentary seats next week, Kinnock said Labour needed to start taking the threat seriously.
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Kinnock added that if Labour was overly cautious in government, it would play into Reform’s narrative that there was little difference between the two main parties. “Absolutely vitally, [the populist right] have to be combated with actions,” he said. “That means the implementation of change which is positive and cumulative, and driven by strong purpose in the service of the community.”
Warning long left of centre rant. TLDR = Don’t Read my waffle if you don’t want to.
Unfortunately that seems to be a losing battle. Caution in spending leads to lack of difference between the right wing.
Spending of any form leads to attacks from the right and centre as irresponsible.
And both sides of that debate have a point. The issue is their points are weighed with irrelevant attacks. Labours current right of centre fiscal ideals are still backed by more emotional responsibility to citizens. Then the Tory robber barrons currently forming the real right.
And Spending dose not need too be irresponsible. Even when money is short. It can be slow and built around investment. IE investing in utilities housing etc that will return funding to the government.
Unfortunately that is where the rights insincerity in attacks show the worst. Any investment that has th oppertunity to raise money is attacked by the right wing media as inefficiencies etc.
Even the tories own figures suggest 7.5% Inefficency is all the difference between government owned vs privrate, and while that has no real evidence at all to back it up. Dose anyone think they have seen a 7.5% improvement in services or cost from privrate providers of monopoly style utilities. Of course not. No privrate corperation is going to be interested in running such utilities etc based on a 7.5% profit.
It stuns me that the tory attack on social housing has not been more of a point over the last 10 years. They made an open choice to force social housing to raise prices so it did not compete with privrate. Meaning they increased their own wellfare budget hugly. While allowing/creating the housing cost crisis we have now.
Its insane how irresponsible the tories have been. Its hard to honestly think moves like that are not intentional to limit the moves any left of centre government can make.