Keir Starmer is breaking manifesto pledges before he’s even elected.

Right, so to the surprise of nobody on the left whatsoever and should be coming as less of a surprise to voters who have been putting Keir Starmer under some kind of scrutiny and familiarised themselves with the fact he breaks promises, pledges, missions, oaths, vows, obligations and assurances repeatedly and then acts as if he did no such thing, he’s now already breaking manifesto commitments and doing so whilst we’re still in the election campaign period.
In the Labour Party manifesto is a pledge regarding recognition of a state of Palestine, a key measure working towards a two state solution, but Starmer is now already rowing back on this, to either delay, or as some Labour sources are saying, to abandon entirely, because they can afford to up set people for whom this is an important issue who end up handing their vote to Labour. What kind of administration decides before reaching power which people who supported them they can afford to laugh in the faces of by abandoning certain pledges, that they told the nation they were committed to? One that will lie with impunity once in power.
Right, so Keir Starmer, already well known to be unabashedly pro Israel, having effectively been bought and paid for by the Israel Lobby as he has, has done significant damage to his party’s reputation on the issue of Gaza especially over the last nine months, and it very much looks like he is going to double down on that, having promised to recognise a Palestinian state as part of moves towards a two state solution in the Labour Party manifesto. It states:
‘Palestinian statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people. It is not in the gift of any neighbour and is also essential to the long-term security of Israel. We are committed to recognising a Palestinian state as a contribution to a renewed peace process which results in a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.’
It's on page 124 of the Labour Manifesto if you care to look for yourself, that far through it, hardly much of a priority for the party you would think, but it is an issue gaining a lot of prominence, especially after Starmer cropped up on LBC saying Israel had the right to commit war crimes against Gaza:
We will never let that clip go, especially since Starmer continues to deny he ever said any such thing.
Now however, it looks like he’s binning this manifesto pledge and doing so not so much in Israel’s interest it seems, but in the interests of the US, it apparently now becoming a concern that our foreign policy being out of kilter with US foreign policy would damage the special relationship, an absolute sick joke of a relationship right now, when the US are the chief arms salesmen to the Netanyahu regime and we’ve done nothing but go along and support them all the way. What Keir Starmer is saying, hardly news to many of us I daresay, is that Labour will very much continue in that vein, and therefore when people say UK foreign policy is being set in Washington, that looks very much set to continue.
The policy itself, significantly out of keeping with the wants or desires of the Labour right, the pro Israel wing of the party, was always being pushed by those few voices on the Labour left, demanding that it happens sooner rather than later and be a key first step in the UK recognising the wrongs it committed, the historical wrongs due to our involvement in the creation of the Israeli state, another British Empire made mess as it was, handing Palestinian land over to displaced European Jews and the Zionist Movement that had existed since the 1880’s, but now it looks set to get pushed back at the urging of those same pro Israel voices, telling Starmer it risks our relationship with the US if he pushes ahead with it. In their view, as is the case on seemingly every policy area these days, the Labour right believe the Labour left can be safely ignored and not cost them the election and with a supermajority in parliament, the rump of the Labour left would be rendered completely toothless even if they opposed everything every step of the way.
Starmer’s argument has been that to deliver this policy anyway, it would need to be done alongside other allies, which frankly comes across as code for doing what Genocide Joe Biden wants, but given other allies all tend to be very one sided on this matter, ie they are all nations who already do not recognise a Palestinian state and the US keeps blocking recognition at the UN Security Council, it’s a very weak reasoning and shows total lack of leadership on this issue, rather that Starmer would be a sheep beholden to the whims of others and would hide behind excuses akin to matters not being solely in his hands to deliver on. It is simply not true, it is his arbitrary choice, or the influence of those he surrounds himself with and indeed donors who he would really be serving, that would influence his decision making and a decision not to act in light of that is just displaying complete cravenness and weakness.
145 countries worldwide recognise Palestine as a state in its own right. The governments of Norway, Spain and Ireland have all recognised Palestinian statehood in light of the atrocities committed there by Israel, especially in Gaza, these countries, their leaders are showing leadership, they are choosing to lead on this issue and not, as repeated governments here seem to do, look at America, cite the special relationship and our Prime Ministers one after the other, no matter whether they are Tories or Labour just take turns in being the lapdog of whoever happens to be US President of the day.
The argument of the Labour right is that aside from the special relationship with the US being potentially threatened by any delusions of taking a lead here in the UK for a change on foreign policy and on the matter of Palestinian statehood, is that it will have more impact if they wait and that a secure Israel is needed. Waiting simply allows the UK to continue supplying Israel with weapons, military equipment and training, waiting just enables the genocide to continue, Israel back in the north of Gaza right now pounding Gaza City again whilst still assaulting Rafah in the south, there’s no end in sight here, because the pressure is not being applied.
As for Israeli security, the very thing that has made Israel less secure has been their actions in Gaza. No excusing the actions of Hamas in any way, but the response from Israel was anything but proportionate and now it is finding itself being set on fire in the north by Hezbollah firing upon them, over 100,000 Israelis evacuated from the north, to the south. You have attacks from Syria, you have attacks from the Houthis in Yemen blockading shipping, you have Israeli port cities being struck by the Islamic State of Iraq, ISIL, there was the strike on Iran’s embassy in Syria prompting them to fire on Israel, all of Israel’s insecurities have been brought down upon it by itself, by it’s own government, by Netanyahu and his coalition of madmen, so how can we possibly make Israel secure first given it’s own conduct? It’s totally backwards thinking, it is the wrong way round.
Recognise the state of Palestine, be a leader, stop the weapons sales, hold Israel to account for their actions instead of pretending that Hamas are somehow worse and that the attacks Israel have perpetrated since the night of October 7th are a justifiable response, especially when taking into consideration the problems out there go back a lot further than last October and Israel have very much been the aggressor and remain the occupiers, in no small part bringing the likes of Hamas into existence in response to their historic actions. Engage in Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, treating Israel as the apartheid state they are, because recognition of Palestine won’t be more effective if we wait, it just makes us complicit in even more death and destruction when a proper, sane leader, a humane leader as a former human rights lawyer should be really should be saying enough is enough. Instead Starmer simply reminds us that there’s little semblance of a human rights lawyer about him any more, because human rights just don’t appear to register, just the whims of donors he cannot afford to upset as more and more party members desert him, taking their cash with them and elsewhere to other parties with a much saner viewpoint, capable of leading.
For example, here is what the Green Party would do instead:
‘An immediate and permanent bilateral ceasefire. A durable political solution that ensures security and equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians. This is the only way to achieve long-term security for the people of Palestine and Israel. Recognition of the state of Palestine and an urgent international effort to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. Investigation and prosecution of war crimes. We believe there is strong evidence to support South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice that Israel is guilty of genocide in its conduct in Gaza. An end to all UK arms exports to and military cooperation with Israel, which make the British government complicit in these war crimes.’
Makes a lot more sense doesn’t it?
We can’t rely on the Labour left to hold Starmer to account, if they shout too loudly they’ll face censure and strongly worded letters won’t cut it either. More Green MPs as a for instance will hold Starmer to account on issues such as this, more so than most other parties certainly will, so I really hope we see more Green MPs as a result.
Labour is too under the thrall of Israel Lobbyists, and vested interests and far too close to a US administration which could end these atrocities overnight if it pulled the plug on supporting Israel in continuing it’s assault on Palestine and Starmer once more is exposed as a liar when his word according to his manifesto cannot even last the full duration of a snap election campaign. How much more of what is written in it will he bin off once in power? And if you end up with MPs like Luke Akehurst for example, who is now relying on the Israel Lobby it seems to campaign for him because Labour members refuse to, who exactly will Starmer’s Labour really be representing here? Akehurst’s campaign calamities are getting worse as this video recommendation here will tell you all about and I’ll hopefully catch you on the next vid. Cheers folks.