73 years after its foundation, the NHS is facing a new bill that threatens the nature of the service. Hidden in all the laudable promises of more integrated health and social care (with no attempt to provide a solution of lack for funding for the latter), is a relaxing of procurement requirements that would open up NHS contracts to any provider regardless of competence or ability. In the same week, Priti Patel’s Home Office have produced a bill that threatens to make it illegal to help refugees trying to reach Britain and that would also set up offshore detention centres. Given that Labour founded the NHS and is led by a former human rights lawyer, one might expect the party to roundly criticise both bills. But, aside from an objection to the NHS and Social Care bill by the Shadow Secretary for Health, Jon Ashworth, we have seen very few comments on either from the Shadow Bench. As for Sir Keir Starmer? Not a peep.
It’s not as if he hasn’t had an opportunity to speak about these issues lately. At the end of last week he was in Northern Ireland and gave two separate TV interviews. While he was obviously in the country to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol, he could have, had he so wished, mentioned these bills too. He chose not to. Instead, in the first, to BBC Newsnight on the 8th July, he managed to demonstrate his wilful ignorance of Irish history and his own party’s significant contribution by apparently supporting unionism when he said he would make the case for a United Kingdom in the event of a referendum on a united Ireland. Taking sides during the marching and bonfire season when tensions are high between communities, demonstrates Sir Keir’s complete lack of of political skill. While refusing to be neutral on the matter undermines the Good Friday Agreement negotiated by the Labour Leader he aspires to be and alienates yet another core constituency - Irish Catholics. And at the end of the interview he couldn’t even remember the three points he was claiming to focus on, let alone mention the dangerous Tory bills he should be opposing.
The next day, Sir Keir followed up with an excruciating interview with Good Morning Britain, when technical difficulties apparently meant he couldn’t hear the questions he was being asked. Though Alistair Campbell tried his best to defend him, Susannah Reid was quick to point out this was classic spin to only answer the parts that suited him. Either way, the Labour Leader looked unfocused and unreliable, particularly as he seemed to be muttering to himself in between times. The one point of note he did manage to make was his opposition to Boris Johnson opening the country up as covid rates are rising. Defending his support of the Tories last year(when it really might have mattered), he parroted his ‘Johnson variant’ joke as if it was the most effective political soundbite of the decade. While we note it’s a clever line and are glad to see him finally challenge Johnson on his appalling handling of covid, it is as usual way too late.
No doubt, in a few months time, when the full awfulness of the NHS and Refugee Bills is made apparent, we’ll finally see Sir Keir challenging them. But as with covid, the Spy Cops Bill, the Overseas Operations Bill, Black Lives Matter, Islamophobia, he will be way behind the curve yet again. His consistency of wrongness is really quite exceptional.