For the first time in 14 years, the United Kingdom is governed by a Labour government.
In-fighting within the Conservative Party along with a resurgent Reform UK under Nigel Farage led to a split vote across the U.K.’s 650 constituencies. The result? A Labour majority not seen since 2001.
Labour are often seen as socialists by those on the right. While perhaps true for the party under “Comrade” Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir Starmer has brought Labour to a more moderate standing with left-wingers comprising a minority.
As with any new government, the honeymoon period fades away sooner or later. More popular governments may enjoy months or even years before current voters turn into ex-supporters.
For Prime Minister Keir Starmer, it’s been a matter of weeks.
His response to the civil unrest across the U.K. at the start of August prompted many critics to call out what they saw as “two-tier policing,” where far-left extremists were seemingly subject to less harsh disciplinary action [1] for their involvement than their right-wing counterparts.
And now he’s really outdone himself.
An annual summer break has, for now, reduced political scrutiny. However, as the kids prepare to return to school – and the MPs to parliament – Sir Keir has announced a new target for his center-left attack: smokers.
