The comparisons with Blair are wrong: the architects of New Labour were actually effective political strategists
Dishonesty corrodes democracy like acid. If politicians make promises they renege on, voters conclude that none can be trusted and disengage from the political process. Accountability – a prerequisite of any functioning democracy – becomes impossible, because if dishonesty is normalised, a priced-in background hum of politics, then objections to the stench of deceit can be shrugged off by politicians on the grounds that all of their colleagues are in the sewer, too.
Over the past few years we have heard many eloquent denunciations of the dishonesty and broken promises of Boris Johnson in particular, and leavers in the Brexit referendum campaign more generally. Those same liberals either go entirely quiet when it comes to Keir Starmer’s own unashamed deceit, or they champion its merits. A year and a half ago, Starmer stood for Labour leader under a banner of Corbynism without Corbyn: of radical politics synthesised with party unity and competence. He cooed at despondent Corbynites not “to trash” the last four years; the 2017 election manifesto was the “foundational document”, and Labour would remain committed to nationalisation, tax hikes for the well to do, scrapping tuition fees and other leftwing totems.
Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist
