Labour’s phony lockdown war

Keir Starmer has welcomed the easing of the lockdown, saying he thinks ‘the government is trying to do the right thing and in that we will support them’. The Labour leader wants to scrutinise the details of the policy but recognises that keeping the economy in stasis for much longer will have serious consequences. Meanwhile, in another part of Labour land, Richard Burgon put forward his total opposition to easing. In the Commons, Corbyn’s former shadow justice secretary said the easing of lockdown restrictions was simply a way of ‘appeasing right-wingers on the Tory backbenches’ and that the prime minister was ‘gambling with people’s lives’. Many on the left-wing of the party seem to mostly support Burgon’s position. Being pro-lockdown has become a bizarre new kind of virtue signalling for many on the Labour left.

Presenting yourself as pro or anti-lockdown is the most recent in a long line of phony wars between different sides of the Labour party.