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丹·霍奇斯：斯塔默正在玩世不恭地欺騙英國人民，但他應該小心——選民不會被愚弄
丹·霍奇斯，《星期日郵報》 2024 年 8 月 28 日
好了，現在夠了。基爾·斯塔默規劃未來艱難的道路是一回事。他試圖將國家弊病的責任歸咎於對手是合法的。曆史總是由勝利者書寫的。
但昨天在唐寧街玫瑰園陽光明媚的背景下，首相大肆宣揚的演講並沒有看到首相闡述他對英國的願景，而是開始粗魯而玩世不恭地欺騙英國人民。
如果你想知道他“鞏固國家根基”演講的真正目的，隻需訪問唐寧街網站，仔細閱讀唐寧街 10 號公務員上傳的文本即可。
至少有七次，你會遇到“[請注意此處刪除的政治內容]”這句話。
盡管“服務型政府”的言論很崇高，但這並不是一次嚴肅或客觀地解決國家現狀的嚐試。 而不是笨拙的政治推卸責任和後遺症。
選民明白這一點。 他們知道他們會演練。 政客在選舉中陳述自己的觀點。 他們贏了。 他們假裝對所繼承的爛攤子感到恐懼。 他們瘋狂地違背承諾，但發誓要竭盡全力最終讓事情好轉。
盡管“服務型政府”的言論很崇高，但這並不是一次嚴肅或客觀地解決國家現狀的嚐試，DAN HODGES 寫道
更重要的是，他們特別明白這是 Keir Starmer 的策略。在 2020 年的領導人競選中，他使用了完全相同的策略。他提出了 10 項左翼“承諾”，告訴所有願意傾聽的人傑裏米·科爾賓是他的好朋友，並讚揚了他的前任在擔任領導人期間所做的“非常重要的舉措”。
然後，當競選獲勝時，他迅速拋棄了他們所有人，將科爾賓趕出議會黨，並將他從工黨的曆史中抹去。
但搶劫一群戴著頭巾的科爾賓派狂熱分子是一回事。試圖對付兩個月前將權力托付給他的辛勤工作的男男女女又是另一回事。
“我必須誠實地告訴你，”斯塔默昨天嚴肅地說道，“事情比我們想象的還要糟糕。在最初幾周，我們發現公共財政中有一個 220 億英鎊的黑洞。在有人說‘哦，這隻是表演’或‘玩弄政治’之前，讓我們記住。預算責任辦公室對此一無所知”。
人們說這是表演政治有幾個原因。其中之一是，6 月，財政大臣雷切爾·裏夫斯告訴全國人民：“我們現在有了預算責任辦公室 (OBR)。我們知道情況非常糟糕……你不需要贏得選舉就能發現這一點。’
還有財政研究所（IFS）的保羅·約翰遜等受人尊敬的金融分析師的分析，他在本月初寫道：“財政大臣不能誠實地宣布她在 10 月份預算中將增加一係列稅收，並將其歸咎於她剛剛發現的這個漏洞，並聲稱她在選舉前不可能知道需要增加稅收來維持公共服務。這一事實對所有關心的人來說都是顯而易見的。”
基爾·斯塔默昨天聲稱，他想坦率地告訴人們他們麵臨的挑戰。但他卻在愚弄他們。
然後是實際的預算責任辦公室數據本身。據稱令裏夫斯和斯塔默震驚的“黑洞”的一個主要組成部分是公共部門薪酬結算的無資金成本。
那麽他們聲稱的是什麽？他們在反對黨中認為裏希·蘇納克計劃給米克·惠蘭和他的火車司機提供 15% 的通脹補償？還是他們認為一旦工黨掌權，惠蘭和他的成員就會屈服，滿足於得到一些表揚和一袋豬肉零食？
基爾·斯塔默昨天聲稱，他想坦誠地告訴人們他們麵臨的挑戰。但他卻在愚弄他們。
上周，英國天然氣和電力市場辦公室宣布取消能源價格上限，此舉導致預計從 10 月份起平均賬單將上漲 149 英鎊。能源部長埃德·米利班德對此怒不可遏：“價格上限的提高是我們繼承的失敗能源政策的直接結果，該政策使我們的國家任由獨裁者控製的國際天然氣市場擺布。”
但他在進入政府之前難道不知道這項政策嗎？這些暗地裏的獨裁者直到 7 月 4 日才奪取了全球能源市場的控製權？如果他知道的話，為什麽他和斯塔默在競選期間到處承諾，隻要大家投票給工黨，能源賬單就會減少 300 英鎊？
我們
我們知道為什麽，選民也知道。和其他政客一樣，斯塔默撒謊是為了獲得權力。
人們明白這一點。他們知道斯塔默在撒謊。他們實際上並不相信他的任何新政治主張——“服務型政府”、恢複對公共領域的信心之類的廢話——他們隻是希望保守黨下台，我們準備在工黨旁邊打勾來實現這一目標。
但我們的首相似乎無法理解這一事實。事實上，他和他的部長們似乎是唯一真正對蘇納克和他愚昧的政府保持信心的人，他們真的很驚訝他們讓國家處於這樣的狀態。
英國人民不是白癡。他們會接受一些選舉後的編排，但他們希望看到他們的政府停止運轉，開始治理。他們不想看到他們的首相像經典電影《卡薩布蘭卡》中克勞德·雷恩斯飾演的腐敗警察局長，大聲宣稱他“震驚！”發現賭博正在進行，而他的獎金卻被塞到他手中。
斯塔默在玫瑰園道歉中的目的是為了維護他的正直。但他卻展示了他的謊言。例如取消冬季燃料補貼、能源價格上漲和稅收上漲。
首相對他的有毒遺產進行了如此多的抗議，他現在麵臨著創造自己的喬治·H·W·布什時刻的風險。這位共和黨總統候選人在 1988 年競選活動中期承諾，“讀我的唇語，不征收新稅。”
當時人們並不真的相信他。但他對此大肆宣揚，人們最終相信了他的話。然後，當他違背諾言時，四年後他最終被趕下台。
基爾·斯塔默在議會中擁有如此多的多數席位，因此他不會麵臨這樣的命運。至少目前如此。
但他需要小心。我們在玫瑰園看到的正是一場表演性的政治遊戲。選民不會被它愚弄。
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DAN HODGES: Starmer is cynically gaslighting the British people but he should beware - voters won't be fooled
By Dan Hodges, Mail on Sunday 28 August 2024
Alright, enough now. It’s one thing for Keir Starmer to frame the tough road ahead. It’s legitimate for him to attempt to lay the blame for the country’s ills at the doors of his opponents. History has always been written by the victors.
But yesterday's heavily trumpeted speech against the sunlit backdrop of the Downing Street Rose Garden didn’t see the Prime Minister setting out his vision for Britain so much as embark on a crude and cynical attempt at gaslighting the British people.
If you want a clue to the true objective of his ‘Fixing the foundations of the country’ address, simply go to the Downing Street website and peruse the text uploaded by the No.10 civil servants.
On no fewer than seven occasions you will encounter the phrase ‘[Please note political content redacted here]’.
For all the noble talk of ‘a government of service’ this wasn’t a serious or objective attempt to address the state of the nation. Rather than a clumsy exercise in political buck-passing and posterior covering.
The voters get it. They know they drill. A politician presents his or her case in the election. They win. They feign horror at the mess they have inherited. They frantically back-pedal on their promises, but pledge to move heaven and earth to eventually make things right.
For all the noble talk of ‘a government of service’ this wasn’t a serious or objective attempt to address the state of the nation, writes DAN HODGES
What’s more, they especially understand it’s Keir Starmer’s drill. In the 2020 leadership contest, he used exactly the same playbook. He set out 10 Left-wing ‘pledges’, told everyone who would listen what a good friend of his Jeremy Corbyn was, and praised ‘the very important moves’ his predecessor had made during his time as leader.
Then, when the contest was won, he promptly ditched them all, threw Corbyn out of his parliamentary party and air-brushed him out of Labour’s history.
But mugging off a bunch of keffiyeh-sporting Corbynite cultists is one thing. Trying it on with the hardworking men and women who entrusted him with power two months ago is something else.
“I have to be honest with you” Starmer sombrely intoned yesterday, “things are worse than we ever imagined. In the first few weeks, we discovered a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. And before anyone says ‘oh this is just performative’. Or ‘playing politics’. Let’s remember. The OBR did not know about this”.
Well, there are several reasons people are saying it’s performative politics. One of which is that, in June, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the country: ‘We’ve got the OBR [Office of Budget Responsibility] now. We know things are in a pretty bad state… You don’t need to win an election to find that out.’
There is also the analysis of respected financial analysts like Paul Johnson of the Insttitue for Fiscal Studies (IFS), who wrote at the start of the month: ‘The chancellor cannot honestly announce a series of tax rises in her October budget, blame them on this hole that she has just discovered, and claim that she couldn’t have known pre-election that tax rises would be needed to maintain public services. That fact was obvious to all who cared to look.’
Keir Starmer claimed yesterday that he wanted to level with people about the challenges facing them. But instead he’s playing them for fools.
Then there are the actual OBR figures themselves. A major component of the ‘black hole’ that has supposedly shocked Reeves and Starmer is the unfunded cost of public sector pay settlements.
So what are they claiming? That in opposition they thought Rishi Sunak was planning to award Mick Whelan and his train drivers an inflation-busting 15 per cent pay deal? Or they believed that once Labour secured power, Whelan and his members would fold and settle for a pat on the back and bag of pork scratchings?
Keir Starmer claimed yesterday that he wanted to level with people about the challenges facing them. But instead he’s playing them for fools.
Last week, Ofgem announced a lifting of the energy price cap, a move that resulted in a projected average hike in bills of £149 from October. In response, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband raged: ‘The rise in the price cap is a direct result of the failed energy policy we inherited, which has left our country at the mercy of international gas markets controlled by dictators.’
But wasn’t he aware of that policy prior to entering government? Did these shadowy dictators only seize control of global energy markets on July 4? And, if he was aware, why were he and Starmer running around during the election campaign promising everyone a vote for Labour would actually mean a £300 cut in their energy bills?
We
know why, and so do the voters. Like every other politician, Starmer lied to secure power.
And people understand that. They knew Starmer was lying. They didn’t actually believe any of his new politics - a ‘government of service’, restoring faith in the public sphere nonsense - they just wanted the Tories out and we’re prepared to put a tick next to Labour to deliver it.
But our Prime Minister seems unable to grasp that fact. Indeed, it appears he and his Ministers are the only people who actually retained any faith in Sunak and his benighted administration and are genuinely astounded they left the country in such a state.
The British people are not idiots. They will accept some post-election choreography but then they expect to see their government stop the spinning, and start governing. And they don’t want to see their Prime Minister acting like Claude Rains’ corrupt police chief in the classic film Casablanca, loudly proclaiming he is ‘shocked!’ to find gambling going on just as his winnings are thrust into his hand.
Starmer’s objective in his Rose Garden apologia was to assert his integrity. But he instead showcased his mendacity. As exemplified by the abolition of winter fuel payments, energy price hikes and rising taxes.
The Prime Minister is protesting so much about his toxic legacy, he is now at risk of creating his own George HW Bush moment. ‘Read my lips,’ the Republican presidential contender pledged in the middle of the 1988 election campaign, ‘no new taxes.’
People didn’t really believe him at the time. But he banged on about it so much, they eventually took him at his word. Then ended up booting him out of office after four years when he broke it.
Keir Starmer has such a large parliamentary majority he doesn’t face quite that fate. Yet.
But he needs to be careful. A performative political game is precisely what we saw in the Rose Garden. And the voters aren’t going to be fooled by it.
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