Chaos in the Middle East has spread to Britain, and there is a real danger that everyone in the country will suffer in the coming months as the disruption to oil and gas flows pushes prices higher.
This is obviously bad news for Labour, now potentially suffering from the exact same problem – higher inflation caused by a foreign war – which helped to topple the Conservatives.
But ironically, it could prove to be a boost for Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves. Both are wildly unpopular with the public, but both can now argue that removing them from office is the worst possible idea at a time of turmoil.
For some time, the best argument in favour of keeping the Prime Minister and Chancellor in post despite Labour’s poor poll ratings and the embarrassment of the recent Gorton and Denton by-election has been that getting rid of them would plunge the UK into a mini financial crisis.
Every time their position has been in doubt, markets have wobbled: the value of the pound has fallen and the Government’s borrowing costs have increased. This effect appears to be stronger when left-wingers such as Angela Rayner or Andy Burnham are on the rise.
Quietly, allies of the pair have been making the argument within Labour that the party cannot afford to do without them. “It’s clear that markets and businesses really understand the value of stability,” one Cabinet minister recently remarked. “We need to make sure that colleagues also understand that.”
Stability is in short supply around the world right now. At a time when the price of oil and – even more important for British households – natural gas is swinging around, few MPs want to add to the turbulence by rolling the dice on a change of leadership.
Starmer has, reasonably enough, taken some flak for the UK military’s evident failure to prepare for the outbreak of hostilities, with crucial British assets stranded thousands of miles from the Middle East.
But his strategic decision not to join the US and Israel in the initial attacks on Iran is looking more and more correct, given the total lack of any coherent war aims which can be articulated and agreed upon by Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and other key actors in the fight.
With the exception of Labour’s hard left, which is opposed to even the most indirect involvement in the conflict, backbenchers are enjoying a rare moment of unity and a chance to lay in to the shifting positions of the Conservatives and Reform UK, both of which have retreated from their initial full-throated support for Trump’s assault on the Tehran regime.
The outbreak of war has made it less likely that the Prime Minister will face a challenge to his position after a poor result at the local elections in early May, or as a result of the drip-feed of revelations coming from the Peter Mandelson files.
But that is not to say that political hostilities might not resume, once the military ones are over. Boris Johnson saw his time in No 10 prolonged by the Ukraine war, which convinced Tory MPs not to unseat him in the first half of 2022, but still faced a putsch later that year.
Starmer and Reeves should use this reprieve to strengthen the arguments to keep them. One of these is that the push leftwards which so many MPs are keen for – not least to see off the threat from the Green Party – could render Labour even more unpopular.
Exclusive polling for The i Paper by BMG Research shows that voters, including those who put Labour into power in 2024, would prefer a shift to the right on the two biggest policy issues, the economy and immigration.
Asked whether the Government should increase taxes in order to spend more on public services, or reduce them at the expense of spending cuts, 45 per cent of the public backed a lower tax burden with just 15 per cent preferring a spending boost; among Labour voters, the margin was 29 to 26 per cent.
And 60 per cent of voters said that the level of immigration into the UK should be cut, compared to 21 per cent wanting to maintain the current level and 7 per cent in favour of higher migration. 51 per cent of Labour supporters want lower immigration, with 30 per cent favouring the status quo and 12 per cent open to more migrants.
There will be some MPs who conclude, nonetheless, that the current leadership is so dire that anything else would be an improvement. They may be right. But recent weeks have provided reasons to tread carefully.
Hence then, the article about trump s biggest mistake could actually save starmer was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Trump’s biggest mistake could actually save Starmer )
Also on site :
- ‘Seekers Of Infinite Love’ Review: Hannah Einbinder and Justin Theroux Star In Smart Cult Comedy That’s Worthy Of A Cult Of Its Own – SXSW
- The U.S. Mint just dropped the olive branch from the dime. What does that mean for the country?
- Remembering the 17 victims of Dunblane tragedy on 30th anniversary of the massacre that shocked the country