Unpublished Observer letter on Starmer

With the country in the grip of a pandemic and economic crisis, and simultaneously governed by one of the most incompetent administrations in British history, one would expect the leader of the opposition to figure prominently in the UK 's leading left-leaning Sunday newspaper. In last week's edition, however, with excellent, analytical articles on reaction to Covid-related government policies, wealth taxes, fears for the future of private tenants, forthcoming economic recession, loss of prisoners' rights, abuses of parliament's power, the existence and purpose of the house of Lords, the need for action on inequality, and unfair examination results, the very issues about which Labour should be raising the roof, there was no mention of Labour's policy on the subject, or even of the party leader's name! Neither the letters page nor the editorial whose conclusion on the government's white paper, "Planning for the future", that it "will take a lot more to address the housing crisis", cried out for a comment on the opposition's response, mentioned Labour or Starmer either (Tinkering with the rules won't solve the housing crisis, 09.08.20)! The only times he did get a name-check were when donations to the Labour party were reported on (Big Labour donors returning to the party, 09.08.20), and when William Keegan, somewhat surprisingly in the circumstances, wrote that Starmer "is proving a formidable opponent"(In my view, 09.08.20). We don't necessarily want Labour's manifesto details for the next election straightaway, but providing policies on current issues surely has to be a major requirement of the opposition leader, formidable or otherwise!