In politics, Starmer's seriousness will always trump Donald's showmanship

The British reaction to the return of Donald Trump is a curious thing. On the one hand, more than 60% hold an unfavourable opinion of him, according to Ipsos. However, HOWEVER, a notable number of the right leaning commentariat are massively turned on by the idea of autocracy. You don’t have to look hard to find plaintive requests to please come over here, Mr Trump. Please Make Britain Great Again. Please show our leaders how to do it. The need to be controlled is rampant.

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It’s a way of thinking trapped by dissonance. On the one hand, lauding a new golden period of free speech, on the other condemning as woke and wrong any challenge to what was said. It’s a position that maintains the upholding of British ideas of fair play and justice, while unquestioningly applauding a man who acts like an unfettered upset king by freeing convicted prisoners on the fanciful grounds that what was done to them was what was done to him by bold boys who were really nasty and then ran away. 

It also conveniently ignores the reality of what is essentially tilting at administrative windmills. Saying you want to change the name of a sea or a mountain because they annoy you is not the same as actually doing something about it. We can all shout at clouds.

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Last week, the government in the UK revealed the outcome of several months review into the proposed construction of 40 new hospitals across England. This number was a Tory manifesto pledge in 2019, and it was returned to again and again by then-PM Boris Johnson. The promise was 40 by 2030. 

Turns out that bloated boosterism and enthusiastically saying you’re going to do something is quite different to planning, budgeting and delivering. The budget for the works has grown from £20bn to £50bn. And it doesn’t all exist. Some of the construction work will not begin now until at least 2035. In the meantime, patients will suffer, routine appointments will be cancelled and the cost of maintaining crumbling buildings no longer fit for purpose will chomp into budgets that could be better spent. There are similar issues with the judicial estate. 

The dull and day-to-day never excites. Yet it is the hard yards that get things done, that can be consequential and deliver actual change. He may lack the flash showiness of a man in a large arena signing documents onstage on a (curiously small) desk, but Keir Starmer’s almost belligerent focus on keeping heads down and moving ahead inch by inch will inevitably do more.

Injecting a bit of joy and something more uptempo from time to time wouldn’t go amiss. And stop
saying EVERYTHING is about growth. Much may be, but it can’t all be. A bit of sugar with the brown
bread is always welcome. Though better tough reality than playground-tough fantasy.

And remember, when the state falters, as it will, there is always hope. This week, we celebrate Big Issue’s Top 100 Changemakers, the people nominated by you, who are making positive change and lifting communities when they have been, frequently, left behind by others. 

It is a welcome, and reassuring, list of good, good people. They do, they don’t just say.  

Paul McNamee is editor of the Big Issue. Read more of his columns here. Follow him on X.

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