Andy Beckett is right to entreat the Labour party to paint the Conservatives as the party of disorder (The Tories profited from Labour ‘chaos’ in the 1970s. Can Starmer do the same now?, 22 April). But Labour needs to do much more than this to win back ex-Labour voters and win over new voters – it must set out a clear vision and set of policies to achieve it.
Keir Starmer needs to move on from his parliamentary focus of forensically dissecting of this government’s incompetence and corruption. That has been effective and is recognised by all but the most blinkered voter. He now needs to move out from the parliamentary capsule and articulate how he, as a Labour prime minister, would rid the country of its current politics of corruption, privilege, division and incompetence.
He needs to convince the wider public of how, as leader committed to fair, open and honest politics, he will focus on the day-to-day concerns of the majority of voters – dealing with cost-of-living crisis, improving the NHS and other public services, developing housing opportunities for all, and creating secure and stable employment. Only then will voters begin to recognise that Labour has a leader who can offer a true alternative to this chaotic and dishonest government.
Peter Riddle
Wirksworth, Derbyshire
• Andy Beckett is right to point out that the Tories were in office for almost half of the 1970s. But it must also be emphasised that they were in charge for the first half of that decade, when most of the damage occurred. Some of it was unavoidable (Richard Nixon’s dismantling of the Bretton Woods currency arrangements), some the result of our foreign policy (angry Gulf states squeezing the oil taps on us after the Yom Kippur war), politically driven union militancy in the days before the laws demanded secret ballots and a cooling-off period, and finally the “Barber boom”, when Heath’s chancellor relaxed credit controls and caused a mini boom and bust that presaged the major one caused by Thatcher and Lawson a decade later.
When Labour took office, it was faced with the need to go to the International Monetary Fund for a loan, but it was later revealed that the civil service had got its sums wrong and we didn’t need anything like the amount involved. Andy Beckett is right about the narrow majorities of the parties in the 70s, and particularly right about the vicious and partisan nature of today’s press. Starmer might do worse than re-employing Tony Blair’s attack dog, Alastair Campbell.
David Redshaw
Gravesend, Kent
• Andy Beckett’s advice to Keir Starmer suggests that the Labour leader is presenting himself as a cautious figure. There are two major contributors to that caution – his party’s internal struggles and the related pressure to avoid talking about Brexit as an economic disaster and the shredding of Britain’s international influence. On the first, Starmer could warn other party leaders about the traditions of not interfering in private grief lest it throws emphasis on the internal problems of their own parties. Discouraging honest discussion about the impact of Brexit and a new direction of travel does not offer much hope to any party – or the country.
Geoff Reid
Bradford
