Britain's Labour turns page on socialism with Starmer as new leader
05 April, 2020
Keir Starmer was elected as the first choice of Britain's main opposition Labour Party on Saturday, pledging to bring a finish to years of bitter infighting and also to work with the federal government to support the raging coronavirus pandemic.
Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions who was simply known for a forensic attention to detail when opposing the country's exit from europe, won with 56 percent of the vote.
The comprehensive defeat of an ally of the outgoing leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the election of Angela Rayner as Starmer's deputy, heralds the end of the party leadership's embrace of a radical socialism that was crushed in the December election.
Starmer, who gets control immediately, said he'd work constructively with government when it had been the right thing to do, while testing Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson's arguments and challenging the failures.
"Our purpose whenever we do that is equivalent to the government's, to save lots of lives," he said in a statement that was pre-recorded due to the pandemic.
Starmer added that after the country emerges on the other side, after the hospital wards have emptied and the threat subsided, it could need to create a fairer society, where key personnel on the front line receive decent salaries and better chances in life.
"Within their courage and their sacrifice and their bravery, we can see an improved future. This crisis has brought out the resilience and human spirit in every of us," he said.
Johnson said on Twitter he previously congratulated Starmer and both agreed on the importance of working together.
The party of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown endured its worst election performance since 1935 in December, when infighting over strategy, a confused policy over Brexit and allegations of unchecked anti-Semitism turned traditional voters away.
Starmer pushed for another Brexit referendum but said the election result had “impressed” that argument.
Corbyn ally Rebecca Long-Bailey came second in the party's vote with 28 percent and Lisa Nandy was third with 16 percent.
Many centrist Labour politicians celebrated the effect as an indicator that the federal government would finally face proper scrutiny.
"A brand new Labour leader will challenge the Tories where necessary and present the party the opportunity to renew itself with time for the next election," Alf Dubs, an opposition Labour lord who fled to Britain as a kid to escape the Nazis, told Reuters.
Starmer acknowledged the scale of the duty ahead.
Well ahead in thoughts and opinions polls, Johnson's Conservatives also have occupied much of traditional Labour territory, with the coronavirus crisis prompting the ruling party to provide unprecedented state support to employees and businesses.
"This is my pledge to the British people. I will do my utmost to steer us through these difficult times, to serve all of our communities and to shoot for the nice of our country," Starmer said.
"I'll lead this great party into a new era, with confidence and with hope."
Source: www.thejakartapost.com
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