There cannot be many people who want a Labour government as much as I do. The general view “Labour basically good for the country, Tories basically bad for the country,” runs deep in me.
And these Tories, for the damage done to virtually every part of our national life over their 14-year, five-PM shitshow, have to be punished for the lies, the incompetence, the corruption, the total lack of concern for people not of their ilk.
Also, my liking and respect for Keir Starmer has grown. He is a decent human being who is in politics and public service for the right reasons. He has improved on the job in a way that Rishi Sunak has not.
And frankly, to go from “this guy can’t win”, which was the mood following Labour’s loss to the Tories in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, to “this guy can’t lose” suggests he has far greater political skills than the “he’s basically a lawyer, not a politician” critics might think.
But… but… but… Brexit.
I like Angela Rayner, too. Also in politics for the right reasons. Amazing back story. Real character. Spooks the Tories. Has ideas. Has charm. Not to be underestimated.
But… but… but… Angela, you didn’t have to say “no” when asked whether you would ever argue for the UK to return to the EU or the single market.
I know the policy… not revisiting the referendum, not rejoining the single market or the customs union, not bringing back freedom of movement, even for young people. I read it in the manifesto and though I might not like the policy, I accept that you had to stick to it.
However, would it really have been so hard to push back when debate moderator Julie Etchingham insisted on a yes or no answer? Like this: “Julie, ITV got a lot of stick for your 45-second limits in the first leaders’ debate, I’m not sure you’ve learned the lesson of that if we are now down to one word.
“No, that is not on the agenda. The policy is clear on that. But there is no denying Brexit has done a lot of damage, and we are going to have to fix that damage.”
Doubtless she was worried that if she had so much as hesitated for a nanosecond before the word “no” left her mouth, the Tories and their media lapdogs would have barked about Starmer betraying Brexit, and going back on the will of the people. But Penny Mordaunt said that anyway, even with Rayner’s unequivocal “no”. So what? Nobody is listening to them.
Labour have put growth and wealth creation at the heart of their plans for the country’s future. Fine. I support that. It was heartening to see Rachel Reeves telling the Financial Times in an interview on Monday that she wanted to “improve our trading relationship with Europe”. She also wants a deal with Europe on services, which can only be a good thing.
This feels like a good first step – but let’s take the four thick legs of the Brexit elephant in the room and give them just one fact each to explain why it has to be mentioned if we are to be serious about getting the economy going again.
Leg One, Bloomberg Economics, who put the cost of Brexit to the UK economy at around £100bn a year.
Leg Two, I give you the Office for Budget Responsibility, and its assessment of a 4% reduction in productivity as a result of Brexit.
Leg Three, the analysis by Goldman Sachs that Brexit is directly responsible for the UK economy growing 5% less since the vote in 2016.
And Leg Four, the Resolution Foundation’s report of a 1.8% fall in real wages (£470 per worker) and a 1.3% fall in labour productivity, as a result of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement.
Plans for a new defence partnership with Europe are in the manifesto. Yes, absolutely. New veterinary agreements. Of course, go for it.
And OK, maybe this will all lead to a changed mood, and more steps in the right direction to fix the multiple messes that have been created.
But to pretend we can become the fastest growing economy in the G7 – Labour’s No 1 mission – without addressing how to recover from the remarkable economic damage done by Brexit, not only risks undermining the mission. It also suggests that Labour will follow the Tory lead in devising policy that is not rooted in the realities of what is happening in the economy.
I hope I am wrong. However, in my unwavering view that Brexit would do incalculable damage to our economy, our politics, our culture, and our standing in the world, I’m afraid an awful lot has happened to prove me right so far. We cannot ignore the elephant in the room for ever.
When the Today programme asked me to play the bagpipes to end their show on Saturday morning, I suspect they were thinking I would go for Flower of Scotland or Scotland the Brave, both of which I had played in the Allianz Arena after smuggling in my pipes the night before for Scotland’s Euros opener against Germany.
I had agreed to play well ahead of the match, when I was sharing the optimism of the 100,000 or so members of the Tartan Army who had descended on Munich. A 5-1 defeat soon put paid to that, but in true New Labour fashion, a promise made has to be kept.
So after chewing the fat on the election with the BBC’s Amol Rajan and Fraser Nelson of the Spectator, I warmed up the pipes, and waited for my cue. When the time came, I couldn’t resist it. Ode To Joy. The European anthem, as the European football championships unfold.
A beautiful piece of music. Beethoven at his best. And, given that the scale of Scotland’s defeat had put most of us in lament mode, a lament indeed, for what we had, when we were part of the joy.
The pipes came in handy when I spotted the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, a couple of rows behind me. Good ice-breaker, you see. It was too good an opportunity to miss to ask him if he would come on the UK’s No 1 podcast, and maybe have his ideas and policies tested in a way that tends not to happen with the Hungarian media he has bent to his will.
He didn’t say no, but he certainly didn’t say yes. I get that he is busy, what with being a prime minister and a poster boy for populist nationalism around the world.
But I wonder if there is something about the populists that means they tend to avoid long-form interviews where slogans can get tested and lies can be challenged.
Nigel Farage, for example, has an open invitation to come on, and has indicated keenness in the past. That seems to have waned.
“Not in London much at the moment,” is his current line. But I’ve been to Clacton before, and can do so again. Added to which, the internet allows for these things to be done online.
Come on Nige, we won’t bite. Just want to ask you a few questions…
Forgive the blatant book-plugging, but it would be remiss not to tell you that Alastair Campbell Talks Politics, for teenagers and young adults, is out this week, and Why Politics Matters, for primary schoolchildren, is out on election day.
That is July 4, in case you hadn’t heard. Make sure you vote. Preferably Labour, though other means of getting rid of Tories may apply…
