A week is a long time in politics. Ha! I promise I don’t need to be investigated by the Gambling Commission, PN readers! Couldn’t make it up.
For those wondering what I’m wittering on about, my last column two months ago urged readers to get out there during the election and make a difference, whenever it was called. Then, the election was called as we went to press.
Now, it’s the first Monday morning of a new government.
Our first Labour government since 2010’s dark defeat and the rise of the Evil Etonian Empire part 492. It’s not even 72 hours since our new Magnolia PM asked Old Charlie Boy for permission to form a government and, credit where credit is due, not bad so far.
Not great, but not bad. Kind of like Keir himself.
The repugnant Rwanda scheme is gone. Poof, just like that. Along with millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. Our shiny new home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has promised a full audit. She has the air of a woman furious and about to make right some great wrongs.
God knows what sort of note was left in the home office for her to find. Given the standards of the previous government I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just a turd on the desk, proudly adorned with a blue rosette.
Personally, I’m just happy to have a home secretary who appears to be in possession of a human soul all of her very own. It’s not ‘safe and legal routes’. But it’s also not deporting vulnerable people to a place where we fairly often grant people asylum from.
Yesterday, Mr Magnolia (apparently he shuns the ‘sir’) spoke to both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, stressing the need for a ceasefire and a two-state solution.
This morning, there is an ‘expectation’ that the UK’s legal challenge on the ICC arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be dropped.
Labour officials have recognised that the ICC, the international criminal court, has jurisdiction over Gaza.
New foreign secretary David Lammy has promised a review of UK arms sales to Israel and of funding of the UN Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA.
Finally, a sane, if lukewarm, approach.
It’s a long way from recognising Palestine or, you know, actually helping Palestinian civilians. But it’s also not literally protecting war criminals.
Lammy’s also hit the ground running, visiting three European nations and speaking with another 16 allies over the weekend.
Internationally, thanks to Brexit and the shenanigans of a well-known author, we Brits have become known for our racism and transphobia almost as well as for our tea and damp.
It’s going to take years and a lot of work to undo the culture wars waged against the vulnerable, and restore the bonds we had with our neighbours. It’s not rejoining the EU, but it’s also not biting our thumb at the world.
Rachel Reeves, our first female chancellor, is talking the usual capitalist nonsense about ‘growth’ but that’s the way of that game (for now).
Wes Streeting is beginning talks with the British Medical Association and the junior doctors in a bid to end the strikes.
I remain particularly guarded about him, given his talk of private companies having a place in the NHS. Almost every experience I’ve had with a private company within the NHS has been problematic in one way or another. When profits are the motivation – over patient care – we inevitably suffer.
We still have cause to give our new PM another nickname – sir Kid Starver. The two-child benefit policy remains, so far.
Big families are only for the rich, these days, despite all we know about child poverty and malnutrition under the Tories. If lifting children out of poverty isn’t a priority (and this may have changed by the time you see this, PN readers) then I don’t know what is.
I’ve yet to see any big announcements about social care. I’ve written before about the need for a social care service, and I stand by it.
People are desperate. Disabled people in all sorts of places and of all ages need help, and we need it right now. As a darling friend said to me recently, the things we have to do to survive our broken bodies are ridiculous. A sliver of hope for us would be nice.
So, here we go, Britain under Lukewarm Labour. A new era under Mr Magnolia.
Bring it on.