Rishi Sunak’s Downing St address on Friday criticised extremism in British politics without mentioning Lee Anderson, Suella Braverman and Liz Truss. Instead he focused on George Galloway’s election victory in Rochdale.
Galloway is not an extremist but a political disrupter at least since Blair purged him from Labour for opposing the Iraq War. His victory saw Labour, the LibDems and Tories get 27% of the vote between them. Galloway and a local independent candidate who came second got 60%.
It underlines that particularly on Gaza Westminster politics is completely out of touch with grassroots voters.
Sunak’s speech was called out for what it was by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey who said: “The British people will take no lessons from a prime minister and Conservative party who have sowed the seeds of division for years. SNP MP Alison Thewliss said Mr Sunak had “repeatedly, and very deliberately, sought to stoke up divisions, pander to the far-right and pit communities against each other for electoral gain”.(BBC Report)
Keir Starmer by contrast foolishly backed Sunak, a trap set no doubt by Sunak’s advisors. If the leader of the change Party in an Election year can’t manage to identify and address a mood for change amongst electors, even if its one they find uncomfortable,there is a growing crisis of legitimacy in British politics.
At the moment those protesting about Gaza have more political legitimacy than most politicians in Westminster
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