Labour leadership: Get ready for a parade of preening peacocks - Ismail Mulla

The irony is that there have been policy successes but the reality is that the embarrassing U-turns have nearly sunk Sir Keir Starmer’s rudderless ship.

Now we have the inevitable, which is a Labour party on the verge of imploding. Factionalism has come to the fore and personal ambition has become the priority for power-hungry politicians shorn of principles.

We’ve seen this film play out before. Boris Johnson swept to power with his vague promises of ‘Getting Brexit Done’ and ‘Building Back Better’. While Johnson was full of bluster, Starmer has been scared of his own shadow.

Every statement he makes is couched in managerialism. Even the announcement to nationalise British Steel, which should prove popular, came with caveats. He just can’t bring himself to commit to anything.

The country is now going to have to put up with a parade of preening peacocks telling us how they would fix the ills afflicting Britain. Some have even spent time in this Government, imagine them taking direct responsibility for offering the public a damp squib over the past couple of years? That would be too much.

Wes Streeting resigned as Health Secretary last week by issuing a yes, no, maybe statement. No clarity on whether he would run to be the next leader. What hope is there if the plotters can’t even resign with clarity?

There simply is no honour amongst politicians, it seems. Resigning after the hammering at the local elections sounds more like Ministers trying to save their own skin. I mean, who wants to give up a basic annual salary that is just shy of £100,000. That’s before all the perks that get thrown in.

It would be churlish to say that Andy Burnham has not done a good job as Mayor of Greater Manchester. There is an argument that the pieces of the puzzle were in place for him to be a success in the role. But he has had to stand up for the region and has done so.

However, being Mayor of Greater Manchester is a different ball game compared to running the country. A few years ago, Burnham himself said he didn’t fancy being back in the Westminster bubble. But all politicians are unable to resist the lure of power and sitting in Number 10 is as close as it gets to being all powerful.

The problem really for Burnham is that even if he is successful in the Makerfield by-election, he will be stepping back into that bubble. Where he will be surrounded by managers, telling him what can’t be done. The same paralysis that has afflicted Starmer will come to haunt whoever succeeds him.

The reason why Nigel Farage is making hay is because he is able to disassociate himself from this bubble. He and his party haven’t had to get down to the nitty gritty of policy. It’s one thing shouting ‘stop the boats’ with a pint in hand, it’s another delivering a reduction in immigration.

If we’re being totally honest, our politics has been headed in the wrong direction for some time now. Politicians and their advisers treat the public like fools. Fools who would be incapable of comprehending complex policies.

What the country is actually crying out for is a transformative policy agenda. One that tackles the cost of living crisis, one that reforms the welfare system in an honest and fair manner and one that will speak to people about social concerns.

Instead, in the early stages of jostling for the privilege of becoming the next resident of 10 Downing Street we’ve got Streeting trying to lay an elephant trap for his would-be rival in any leadership contest by relighting the Brexit fires. And Burnham is trying ever so hard to reinforce his carefully curated image as a ‘common man’.

‘Everton season ticket holder’ is about to become the next ‘son of a toolmaker’. None of this is going to deal with the issues that are affecting this country. The squeezed middle is close to being squeezed dry. Upwardly mobile young people are finding it hard to get onto the housing ladder. Public services are deteriorating.

Answers to a whole laundry list of issues are not forthcoming. Instead the public is going to have to sit through another tedious soap opera where power hungry politicians jostle with one another as to who can make a few tweaks that will inevitably make little or no difference to the lives of the people that matter.