By Afolabi Samuel Odunayo
Despite the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s struggles to ‘turn the boats’, the Labour Party, on July 4, finally took the rein of power from the Conservatives and completely dashed their hopes of extending their 14-year leadership in the United Kingdom.
For diverse challenges such as the inflationary costs of living, political scandals of the right-wing Tories, the underfunded healthcare services, and the unlikable immigration policies, the present future was already predicted by many analysts. The centrist Labour Party leader and newly-elected Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, though might have stepped on the toes of some communities in the UK, especially the Muslims for his political opinion on the war in Gaza, yet had had glimpses of his party’s heralded victories.
Similar to the centrist reform principles which were common to the New Labour era of Tony Blair (1994 – 2007), the modern Labour Party are still popular with their market-friendly policies, despite the volatility of the present economic situation in the UK. With these policies, Starmer had vowed to help the UK’s weak economy regain its rightful place of strength.
He said recently; “We will reboot our economy, make Britain the best place to start and grow a business, and lead the world in the green industries of the future.”
Indeed, the United Kingdom witnesses peak disruptions in various areas of its socioeconomic affairs. Just like a recovering camel, the country battles with different strains of inflation which are consequence of several factors like the Brexit-related adjustment policies of the Tories, post-pandemic demands, high interest rates of the Bank of England, soaring national debts, and other global market issues.
In fact, there is no doubts that these would have mounted economic pressures on the survival of the citizens and, thus, the evident progressive commitments that characterize the centrist reform policies of the Labour Party could only, for now, appear like the snake around the cross.
According to writers, wide reductions in the number of immigrants, with specific interests in non-EU settlers, coupled with the amount of hostilities such as undue detention, infringements of rights, and deportation of long-term residents in the UK could be another ache in the teeth for the Sunak-led Conservatives in the last polls.
Rishi Sunak’s “Turn the Boats” regulatory policy had since faced serious criticisms and might have perforated his reputational tight ends, and then enlarged his enemy base for its strict and unhumanitarian operations against undocumented or illegal immigration.
To proponents, the policy is justified for its border control and life-saving objectives.
However, it became seriously condemnable when it fostered the forceful relocation of asylum seekers and other French escapists back to their countries.
According to Yvette Cooper, the Shadow Home Secretary for the Labour Party, operation ‘Turn the Boats’ has failed to fulfil the humanitarian needs of vulnerable people. Using her words, she said, “This is an unworkable, unethical, and extortionately expensive policy. It is an attempt to distract from the failure to process asylum claims promptly and humanely, which only adds to the suffering of vulnerable people fleeing persecution.”
Among other reasons, the Labour Party’s reform principles may not have seemed so evidently favourable to have successfully posed threats to the reelection of many members of the Conservative Party. The very good reason for the over 400 victories gained by the Labour Party in the country’s parliament is the growing anger and apathy which voters have nurtured against the right-wing Tories. This, according to reports, is why there is a surge in support for the election of Nigel Farage, a leader of a minor party, like Reform.
It is also the reason why other minors are dancing with hopes for favourable struggles in the years to come.
