So Keir Starmer has written a piece in the right-wing non-dom billionaire-owned ex-employer of Boris Johnson, The Telegraph.
It's behind a paywall, so I reproduce the text below, & add my own two penn'orth on the contested concepts of #patriotism & #nationalism at the end.
"The #PlatinumJubilee is a chance to celebrate our extraordinary monarch and the values she represents
The Jubilee weekend isn’t just an opportunity for us to reflect on the 70 years since Her Majesty’s accession to the throne – although it will, of course, be that."
"And it isn’t simply a chance for a country wearied by the extraordinary circumstances of the past few years to let its hair down – although it is, of course, your patriotic duty to do just that."
"No, the first #PlatinumJubilee in our nation’s history is a chance to celebrate a truly extraordinary Queen, to reflect on the difference she has made to her country, and to consider what our Elizabethan age has meant – and what it will mean for our future."
"Over the coming days, there will be time for rich explorations of the history. How Her Majesty has guided us through turbulent times and stood alongside us during the good and the bad."
"But I want to reflect on the values the Queen represents & how they have made her such a popular, unifying & enduring figure. We live in a time in which our attitudes towards authority have changed. The deferential culture of the early part of Her Majesty’s reign has long gone."
"But the Queen has been able to rise above much of the archness and cynicism: the hope and surety she represents sometimes feel like a throwback to that former age. The admiration people have for her goes far beyond the typical relationship between monarch and people."
"There is no great secret as to how she has managed this. Her Majesty’s commitment to duty and her passion for furthering our country on the world stage have not just benefited each of us – they have also conferred on her the respect and love of people here and across the world."
"She has shown us that integrity, hard work & selflessness are the antidote to pessimism."
"It is a truism that with great power comes great responsibility, but the Queen’s reign has been a continuous reminder of the way to deal with that – to block out the noise & get on with the job at hand."
"The Western world has changed beyond recognition since the 1950s. This has led to fundamental questions about what it means to be a citizen and what it means to be patriotic."
"Britain has been no outlier in this. Her Majesty’s constant presence – a bridge between different eras – has been an important part in helping us to wrestle with those questions."
"That Britain has at every juncture rejected extremism is in no small part due to our idea of who we are as a people: an idea borne of a sense of stability that cannot exist without strong institutions."
"Watching last year’s Euro 2020 tournament, it was striking not just how many of the home nations’ players were first, second or third-generation immigrants but how many of those wearing replica shirts in the stands or the pubs were as well."
"This weekend’s celebrations will feel the same. I encourage everyone to get involved – and I endorse this newspaper’s call for local authorities to try to ensure that as many events can take place and as many people can celebrate as possible."
"Just as at the Queen’s coronation in 1953, our country is at a crossroads. Just as then, we have gone through great change. And just as then, there are siren voices who claim that our best days are behind us."
"But they will once again be proven wrong. The Britain that is emerging at this #PlatinumJubilee is one that is again ready to move on from the tribulations of recent years, stronger for its experiences, and more than able to seize the opportunities ahead."
"A new patriotism, one that is easy, self-confident and inclusive, is being born all around us."
"Just as the Queen has led us through the past 70 years, all that she has taught us – about duty, tolerance, humility and responsibility – will continue to guide us into this next era. We are a better, brighter country because of her."
"Our history is richer, our future built on firmer foundations and our great country made greater still by her rule.
Now that’s something worth celebrating."
The Telegraph reminds readers that "Sir Keir Starmer is leader of the @UKLabour Party"
Starmer knows how powerful the non-dom billionaire-owned Telegraph is in shaping public opinion, & I understand why Starmer believes he has to directly address Telegraph readers - although the likelihood of any Telegraph reader ever voting for @UKLabour is, at best, remote.
Couple of things to note straightway:
First, the slightly odd suggestion that it is the country's (by which he presumably means the British people's) "patriotic duty" to "let its hair down", & his call "to reflect on the difference (if any) she has made to her country".
Second, Starmer claims "Her Majesty has guided us through turbulent times", without giving any examples.
How, precisely, has she done this? Through the Queen's speech, watched last year by 9 million people? I'm not sure there are tangible examples to give.
Third, while accepting deferential attitudes to authority have changed over the years, he says he wants to "reflect on the values the Queen represents", initially offering 'rising above cynicism' & "commitment to duty" & "passion for furthering our country on the world stage".
In a clear dig at Boris Johnson, the other values he sees the Queen representing are "integrity, hard work & selflessness", which are fine, but then he cryptically adds that they "are the antidote to pessimism." As Johnson constantly reveals, blind optimism can be catastrophic.
When Starmer claims the Queen's way of dealing with responsibility is a reminder to "block out the noise & get on with the job at hand", it hints at his leadership style - one which, echoing Johnson, runs close to dismissing heartfelt concerns as 'mere noise'.
Regarding the "fundamental questions about what it means to be a citizen" he talks about "rejecting (unspecified) extremism" - presumably including anything departing from the establishment's preferred order - & clumsily connects this to (again unspecified) "strong institutions".
He refers to the 2020 Euros & the fact that the "home nations’ players were first, second or third-generation immigrants" but instead of focussing on the players' stance against racism he instead signalled integration by referencing immigrant descendants "wearing replica shirts".
He then moves on to say "the country is at a crossroads", but instead of spelling out that this is due to the @Conservatives' 14-year-long catastrophic mismanagement of Britain's society, democracy & economy, he warns of "siren voices who claim that our best days are behind us."
Starmer is unclear who is claiming "Britain's best days are behind us" - the nostalgic backward-looking right-wing, or the left-wing who yearn for more equal times? Starmer's rhetorical style is reminiscent of Labour's disastrous 'constructive ambiguity' Brexit rhetoric.
Nodding to leave voters, his rallying call is that "the Britain that is emerging at this Platinum Jubilee is one that is again ready to move on from the tribulations of recent years, stronger for its experiences, & more than able to seize the opportunities ahead."
Ultimately, Starmer has actually said next to nothing concrete or specific about this "new patriotism" - saying it is "easy" & "self-confident" is meaningless. perhaps the only thing separating him from the Right is his vague commitment to the "new patriotism" being "inclusive".
He ends with the highly questionable claim, aimed directly at the aging Telegraph readership, that "We are a better, brighter country" because of the Queen, & that "our history is richer, our future built on firmer foundations & our great country made greater still by her rule".
Imho, this is not just a largely pointless PR exercise, that says naff all, designed to calm the nerves of Telegraph readers who won't vote for him anyway, but much more importantly, it is a wasted opportunity. Here's what I think he should have addressed:
In a press release announcing its new UK-EU branch, based in London, Heartland boasted that it is “the world’s most prominent think tank supporting skepticism about man-made climate change”.
Shit-stirring hypocritical bigoted playground bullies were once shunned by society, but now they can become MPs.
Is Reform UK's Lee Anderson, who exploits ordinary people with his infantile divisive populism, the thickest & most hypocritical bigot ever to become an MP?
#30pLee is on his third party in six years.
He was elected as a Labour councillor in 2015 & suspended by the local branch of the Labour Party in 2018 after receiving a community-protection warning by the council for using boulders to block members of the Traveller community.
#30pLee resigned from Labour in 2018 & was elected as a Tory councillor on Mansfield District Council in 2019. He was selected as the Conservative candidate for Ashfield in 2019, and was elected as a Tory MP.
The Chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, Richard Cooke, has been suspended after he branded racism allegations as "nonsense" on social media after a former chief inspector alleged racism & homophobia were rife within the force.
Policing is hard. The Police Federation of England and Wales is the statutory staff association for police constables, sergeants, inspectors, chief inspectors & special constables in the 43 territorial police forces in England & Wales. Cooke is Chair of the West Midlands branch.
Under UK labour law, the police are prohibited from joining ordinary trade unions to defend pay and working conditions, by the Police Act 1996, because of the view that a police strike would pose an exceptional public safety risk.
🧵Trump has assigned Musk a chilling task: To dismantle & destroy large parts of the federal government. Musk wants us to call this project by a humorous & innocent-sounding name: the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE).
First, Musk's project is not an official Dept, so it's not factual to call it one.
Second, the goal of Musk's project is destruction, not "efficiency." Efficiency is when you make something work better. Musk clearly seeks to eliminate, not improve, large parts of government.
Finally, Musk has named his project after a meme, DOGE, a crypto scam named for a Shiba Inu dog. He's treating it all as a joke. But the destruction of government is deadly serious, and there's no reason why everyone should automatically participate in Musk's juvenile antics.
I've lost count of all the ultrarich privately educated 'anti-elites' in Reform UK!
Dubai World Trade Centre & Nick Candy's Candy Capital have a partnership to develop a “super-prime” real estate development in Dubai - where co-owner of GB "News", Legatum, is based! 🤑
Candy joined the Tory party in 2009 & has donated at least £290,000 to it.
In February he gave an interview saying it was “probably time for a change” & that Keir Starmer was “a decent man with good values and good morals”.
Nick Candy is to become Reform UK's new treasurer!
He hopes to raise more than £40M for Reform UK: "This morning, I’ve had millions of pounds worth of donations from people that have never donated to a political party in this country. But it’s not just about getting rich donors & billionaire people or whatever."
My 2023 Open Letter about @BBCQuestiontime, read by 300,000 people in 144 countries, was widely reported in the media & informed questions asked of @BBC DG Tim Davie at a Parliamentary Select Committee.
Here's my 🧵 analysis of the recent episode of #bbcqt, featuring:
My main criticisms of #bbcqt were: poor & biased chairing, including a tolerance of panellists who continually interrupt; ambiguity about the audience political demographic; & the well-evidenced bias toward platforming panellists from right-leaning media.
The @BBC's desire to drive engagement means #bbcqt is now overly dependent on platforming guests known for generating division, soundbites, & polarising controversy, rather than engaging in nuanced, respectful debate, which compromises its duty to 'INFORM & EDUCATE' the public.