Conformity over conscience: Keir Starmer's control freakery continues

Comments from within Keir Starmer's inner circle illustrate a culture of enforced conformity and outright disdain for dissenting opinion.

The Guardian has quoted the partisan rhetoric of various anonymous sources from within Keir Starmer’s inner circle in regards to the seven Labour MPs who were purged for voting for the new Labour government to scrap the Tories’ poverty-spreading two child cap on social security payments last year.

Apparently the party is considering the readmission of Rebecca Long-Bailey and Liam Byrne because they’ve apparently demonstrated "good behaviour" by keeping "a low profile" since Starmer booted them out of the Parliamentary Labour Party for opposing his decision to keep the sickening Tory child-impoverishment scheme in place.

The idea that Labour politicians must ignore their consciences, keep quiet, and toe the party line is bad enough, but it’s the comments about the other’s who face continued suspension that really illustrate Starmer’s culture of enforced conformity and outright contempt for dissenting opinion.

An extract from the Guardian article citing these anonymous sources from Starmer’s inner circle

One of the Guardian’s anonymous sources from the Starmer camp singled out Zarah Sultana, Richard Burgon, and John McDonnell for the harshest criticism.

These are the transgressions they’re accused of, beyond wanting the government to stop economically sanctioning children for the "crime" of having more than one sibling:

Zarah Sultana: Pro-Palestinian activism and calls for the government to block arms sales to Israel as a result of the genocide and war crimes they’ve been committing in Gaza and the West Bank.

Richard Burgon: Deviance from Labour government positions on various issues, including calls for: Russia-style sanctions against Israel; wealth taxes on the mega-rich instead of austerity cuts for the poor and ordinary; compensation for WASPI women who had their pensions stolen; renationalisation of England’s profiteering and polluting private water companies; and banning the mega-rich from buying political influence with party donations.

John McDonnell: Pro-Palestinian activism; criticism of Rachel Reeves’ austerity cuts; and calls for wealth taxes.

Another of the Guardian’s anonymous sources from within the Starmer camp described the activities of these purged Labour MPs as "fucking about".

The attitude of Starmer’s minions seems to be that Starmer and Reeves are doing a great job by facilitating Israeli genocide; continuing Tory austerity cuts; economically penalising children, pensioners, and disabled people while they treat profiteering corporate parasites and the mega-rich with kid gloves; and burning away public goodwill so rapidly that the Labour government is virtually as unpopular as Liz Truss’s shambolic stint in power within seven months of winning a general election!

Meanwhile politicians who dare to publicly oppose the policies that are driving Labour’s polling numbers into the sewer are apparently guilty of "fucking about".

This accusation of "fucking about" illustrates what a closed-ideology echo chamber Starmer’s bastardised version of the Labour Party has become.

Given the widespread public support for policies like standing up against Israeli genocide; renationalisation of the private water profiteers; and wealth taxes instead of austerity cuts, it’s beyond tone-deaf to portray these ideas as "fucking about" and servile subservience to Starmer’s deeply unpopular agenda as "good behaviour".

This insistence on ideological conformity from within Starmer’s inner circle makes any turnaround in Labour’s ailing fortunes seem completely implausible.

Instead of listening to those who try to tell them where they’re going wrong, they’re intent on punishing them, and creating examples of them to frighten other Labour MPs into silent conformity.