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Middle East Eye
32 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Starmer is running out of road
Most people in Britain think that Keir Starmer has outlived any use he might have had as Labour leader, according to YouGov's bimonthly poll of the prime minister's popularity. Some 40 percent think he should resign as leader, and only 37 percent think he should stay on, according to the May survey. The same thing happened in January, with only a blip in between. In another YouGov poll, Starmer is disliked by 51 percent of the population and only popular with 22 percent. It hasn't always been this way. Before this year, you had to go back to autumn 2021, long before he was prime minister, to find statistics that showed most people thought Starmer should resign. And Starmer is dragging the whole government down with him. Labour's drop in the opinion polls in its first 10 months of power is the largest of any newly elected UK government in 40 years, according to a Guardian analysis. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The drop in approval is comparable to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's fall from grace in February 2022, when Partygate was at its peak. The areas where voters think the government is least capable of solving problems are health, housing and the economy. As the Guardian reported, the proportion of the public who think Labour can handle these problems the best has dropped since the party took power. "The biggest drops were recorded in health, housing and the economy." This is terrible news for Labour, since they are precisely the problems that the government has pledged to solve. Power struggle The recent Runcorn by-election result and the council election results on the same day crystallised all these concerns in the minds of Labour MPs, especially those who are more worried about staying in office than about their constituents' welfare. After all, Runcorn was the 49th safest Labour seat in the country, and it was lost to Reform. Soft left MPs are now urging Angela Rayner, Labour's ineffective deputy leader, to challenge Starmer. Ignore Starmer's theatrics. Gaza's trail of blood leads straight to his door Read More » Those on the traditional left, the remains of Corbynism in the parliamentary Labour Party, don't want to be left out of a post-Starmer struggle for the leadership. Consequently, MP John McDonnell called for a rank-and-file challenge to Starmer within days of the rumours about Rayner's possible challenge becoming public. McDonnell painted a devastating picture of the party leadership, asserting that a power struggle was taking place already: 'What we are now witnessing is a panicked, half-hearted policy retreat, while the backroom boys - Morgan McSweeney in the leader's office and Nick Parrott in the deputy leader's office - fight between themselves.' Starmer is already reacting to this pressure. The rhetorical U-turn over Gaza is the most obvious concession to critics, although it is also a response to signs that the US administration is finding Israel's genocidal policy in Gaza to be more of a hindrance than a help in its overall plan to revive the Abraham Accords. But Starmer's partial retreat on winter fuel allowance is also meant to take the sting out of his critics' case. The problem for Starmer is that this kind of 'messy reset', as the New Statesman described it, will further deepen the crisis in Labour. Indeed, Starmer may be about to learn the truth of historian Alexis de Tocqueville's adage that 'the most dangerous moment for a bad government is generally that in which it sets about reform'. Petulant mantra Starmer has shown that he is only really good at one thing: attacking the left. He is a classic Thermidorian figure, seemingly from the left but transmuting into the nemesis of Corbynism. What is equally obvious is that these factional skills are of little use in running a government. Starmer's frequently issued mantra of 'I won't stand for it' - whatever today's 'it' might be - may sound authoritative in internal party debates, but simply comes across as petulant amid recalcitrant economic realities. The more he gives ground, the more hollow and inconsistent he sounds The more he gives ground, the more hollow and inconsistent he sounds. It is very unlikely that his rigidity and sense of entitlement will allow him to find another model of leadership, not least because of the utter conventionality of his economic and social programme. More seriously, just as he is attempting to placate the left, he is also making gross adaptations to Reform leader Nigel Farage's racist rhetoric. This is making an already threadbare ideology look positively self-contradictory at best, and openly racist at worst. So it very much looks as if the wheels are coming off the Starmer wagon. But does this mean he will be replaced before the next election? He still has some reserves, including a whopping Commons majority, which will insulate him from opposition attacks and backbench rebellions - unless they are of tsunami proportions. Writing on the wall Starmer is also blessed with his Tory opponent, Kemi Badenoch, who is even more unpopular than Starmer, and seems even less effective as a leader. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey is more popular than Starmer with a negative rating of minus 8, compared to Starmer's negative rating of minus 46, but it's hard to say whether - given that his every public appearance is an ill-conceived stunt - Davey is a politician or a personality who has escaped from BBC light entertainment. But these are advantages of limited value when the real challenge that Starmer faces is from Farage's Reform. UK local elections: Starmer's betrayal of voters is handing England to Reform Read More » Farage is more popular than Starmer, and Reform has effectively replaced the Tories as the main right-wing opposition to Labour. Starmer is building Reform support through his economic attacks on the welfare state, fuelling discontent within Labour, and by mimicking Farage's hostility towards refugees. Rayner supporters are talking of the council and other elections in 2026 as a watershed moment for Starmer's leadership. But it could be sooner. One or two more by-election losses could push already-nervous Labour MPs to don the white coats and head over to 10 Downing Street. Reform is the most obvious beneficiary. But Labour is so low in the polls that in some constituencies, it could lose to the SNP in Scotland or to the Liberal Democrats in other places. A left alliance of independents, rumoured to be the project that former leader Jeremy Corbyn is working on, would also threaten Labour's arrogant assumption that progressives have no one else to support. The writing is on the wall for Starmer, and time may be much shorter than he imagines. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Middle East Eye
32 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
Gaza: US-backed aid group suspends food distribution for a second day
The controversial US-backed initiative to distribute aid in Gaza, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), has said it will not hand out any food to starving Palestinians for a second day, saying operations will only restart when maintenance and repair work at its distribution sites are complete. In a statement posted on its Facebook page late on Wednesday, the GHF said its "distribution sites will not open as early as" Thursday morning and that it would "share information on opening times as soon as work is complete." The GHF also strongly urged aid seekers travelling to its locations to "follow the routes" set by the Israeli military to "ensure safe passage." On Wednesday, Israeli forces warned Palestinians against approaching GHF sites whilst "reorganisation work" was under way, saying access to roads near those locations would be "considered combat zones." The Israeli military did not appear to have issued any new directives on early on Thursday, suggesting areas near the sites were still "considered combat zones." New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The suspension of the GHF's aid distribution system comes after more than 100 Palestinians were gunned down near its sites in less than a week. Earlier this week, eyewitnesses and local officials told Middle East Eye that Israeli troops opened fire directly on civilians, with many of the fatalities receiving gunshot wounds to their head or chest. A spokesperson for the GHF lamented the killings, telling the Associated Press on Wednesday that the group "was saddened to learn that a number of civilians were injured and killed after moving beyond the designated safe corridor." The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, has slammed the "deadly attacks" and suggested they were a war crime. "Deadly attacks on distraught civilians trying to access the paltry amounts of food aid in Gaza are unconscionable," Turk said. "Attacks directed against civilians constitute a grave breach of international law and a war crime." Since launching operations last Tuesday, the GHF has claimed - without providing any evidence - to have handed out more than 87,000 food boxes to needy Palestinians - a fraction of what aid agencies say is needed to address the mass starvation unfolding in the strip. Gaza's Government Media Office has also slammed the aid distribution system and on Wednesday said the sites "situated in exposed and perilous red zones controlled by the occupying forces, have become bloodbaths." "Starving civilians are lured there due to the crippling famine and tight siege," the media office said in a statement. "They are then deliberately and coldly shot, a scene that exposes the true malice of the operation and its real objectives." War on Gaza: How Israel is replicating Nazi starvation tactics Read More » The office described these actions as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, calling for immediate global action and an investigation into the latest Israeli assaults. "The continuation of these crimes, amid shameful international silence, is a stain on humanity and proves that the occupation continues to perpetrate the most heinous forms of genocide under the world's gaze, without deterrence or accountability," the statement added. Earlier this week, the GHF appointed evangelical leader Johnnie Moore, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump, as its new chief. Moore, a former member of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, has dismissed reports of mass killings at the GHF aid sites as "fictional massacres." He was appointed after the initiative's former head, Jake Wood, resigned hours before its launch. Moore has emerged as a vocal advocate for the scandal-plagued initiative, claiming that reports of the killings were "lies… spread by terrorists," contradicting eyewitness accounts, footage, and reports by hospital directors and medical staff.
Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
Under the patronage of H.E. Chairman of Shura Council, BTECH hosts Bahrain Digital Content Awards
Under the esteemed patronage of His Excellency Ali Bin Saleh Al Saleh, Chairman of the Shura Council, the Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH), in strategic collaboration with the World Summit Awards (WSA) will host the prestigious Bahrain Digital Content Award (BDC Award) this June. This landmark initiative highlights the rising strategic significance of the digital content sector and its pivotal contribution to driving sustainable digital transformation across the Kingdom of Bahrain. On this occasion, Mr. Ahmed Ateyatalla Alhujairi, Chairman of the Digital content awards, stated: 'The continuation of the Bahrain Digital Content Award underscores the strategic importance of the digital content sector as a key enabler of innovation, economic growth, and national development. The award serves as a key catalyst for inspiring creative talent to develop impactful digital solutions that drive progress across diverse sectors and contribute meaningfully to the Kingdom's socio-economic development and digital prosperity." Mr. Ahmed Ateyatalla Alhujairi further emphasised that fostering a culture of digital entrepreneurship is an essential pillar in advancing the strategic objectives outlined in Bahrain's Vision 2030. Mr. Tareq Fakhroo, Chairman of the Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH), expressed his heartfelt appreciation and noting that such support plays a pivotal role in reinforcing the Society's efforts to drive digital innovation across the Kingdom, and added, 'The 2025 edition of the Bahrain Digital Content Award seeks to attract distinguished startups, private company, government body, or academic institution and more in the digital content arena. As in previous editions, the award will serve as a strategic platform for participants to showcase their capabilities, forge meaningful partnerships, and expand their footprint across local, regional, and international markets.' It is noteworthy that the previous edition of the Bahrain Digital Content Award achieved significant success, honouring a distinguished group of creators and renowned institutions for their outstanding contributions to the digital landscape. The event served as a testament to Bahrain's commitment to fostering a culture of innovation, excellence, and leadership in the field of digital content. The renewed patronage of His Excellency Ali Bin Saleh Al Saleh, Chairman of the Shura Council, for this year's edition further affirms the Kingdom's sustained national focus on advancing this dynamic and strategically vital sector.
