Are working-class voters lost to Labour for good? | Letters
It would be helpful for progressive parties and the media to focus more on why so many people voted for Reform UK,Your article (What’s behind surge in support for Reform and Greens across England? Five key takeaways, 10 May) indicates that it gained more support in deprived areas – but this doesn’t answer the question why,What sort of UK do Reform voters want? Do they want councils that reduce local care services for their vulnerable elderly relatives and children, to save a few pennies off council tax? The ending of environmental protections? The scrapping of equal-opportunities policies that protect women and minority groups?When Reform voters are asked about the party’s policies, they fail to articulate much apart from “stop the boats” – because Reform’s plans have very little detail or real‑world application,The Labour government has been in power for less than two years and has delivered the Renters’ Rights Act and the Employment Rights Act, removed the two-child cap on universal credit, increased provision of free school meals and facilitated millions more NHS appointments,The focus on personality-driven politics has left the door open for local governments to be led by privately educated multimillionaires who dismiss the climate crisis and favour cryptocurrency.
How this will help people struggling with the cost of living and chronic health conditions related to pollution, poverty and inequality remains unclear.Paula RiseboroughBath I’ve been involved in the trade union movement all of my adult life, from the defeats of the 1980s to the austerity of the 2010s.In that time, the Labour party effectively abandoned its historical base.I was fortunate to get a small grant to attend Ruskin College in Oxford and the University of Sheffield, supported by the Transport and General Workers’ Union, and latterly Unite after working in the agricultural construction sector.I am possibly the last of a generation of working-class adults to come through that avenue and still make a contribution to the wider trade union and labour movement.
Labour will only reconnect with its working-class base if it creates the opportunities for working-class adults, through grants and wider support, to advance through education as part of an overall strategy to give a new generation the same chance I had,Reform has simply latched on to the disenfranchised working-class vote using simplified language to address complicated questions,By the way, attacking the Greens is not the answer: their position on basic income and trade union rights is resonating with progressive voters,I fear, however, we are facing two things: the real threat of the Labour party disappearing as a political force (this incidentally happened to its sister party in Ireland) and, second, as Eric Hobsbawm noted nearly half a century ago, “the forward march of labour halted”,Greg SachnoPortaferry, County Down Andrea Egan is at pains to demonstrate how the Labour party has severed its links with the working class, but the working class has been conned out of existence (As leader of the UK’s largest union, I want Labour to succeed – but that means radical change, 10 May).
I have a professional qualification, my wife and I owned our house, and we were expected to consider ourselves middle class and therefore vote Conservative,The fact that I would wake up at 5,15am to go to work, would often wear overalls and safety shoes, and for most of my life was less than six weeks from penury if I had become unemployed, makes me working class, in my opinion,From Thatcher onwards, great effort was made not to improve the lives of working people but to kid them that they were no longer working class – and therefore should vote Conservative,Regrettably, the Labour party went along with this deception and Tony Blair, as leader, made matters much worse by abolishing clause IV of its written constitution.
This originally stated: “To secure for the workers by hand or by brain the full fruits of their industry.” Workers need to recognise they are still workers even if they sit behind a desk.It goes on: “and the most equitable distribution thereof”.We should be screaming from the rooftops that society is horribly wrong and unequal.Calling yourself “middle class” does not make it any better.
Chris Sumner Waltham Abbey, Essex Keir Starmer is wrong to say the election results do not mean a tack to the left or right is necessary (Opinion, 8 May).He has already tacked hugely to the right by attacking refugees,disabled people, jury trials and the right to protest over Gaza.His U-turns over winter fuel allowance and the two-child benefit cap have shown up his value-free incompetence.He has presided over a systematic purging of idealistic leftwingers from the party.These betrayals of Labour party values have emboldened the far right and disheartened many long-term supporters.
A reversal of the unpopular policies and a decisive shift to the left is needed to save the Labour party and, for this, Keir Starmer has to go.So too do all the senior Labour politicians who supported these dire policies – his replacement needs to be someone who did not.Louise ChristianLondon Political positioning has been the death of this government, as it was for successive governments in recent years.It ducked the hard decisions in its manifesto and has been trying to catch up with reality ever since.Europe, defence, energy, welfare, tax and investing in our physical and social infrastructure all need coherent policies that make sense not just individually but as a whole.
It is that organising principle that is missing and is the main challenge whether for the prime minister or his potential successors.Can they provide a rationale that will guide the inevitable trade-offs, or will it be more crisis management mixed with shopping-list policies? It’s time for the whole truth.Half truths will no longer do.Tom KellyPrime minister’s official spokesman, 2001-07 Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Court rules Coles misled shoppers with its ‘Down Down’ discount campaign
Coles misled Australian shoppers by promoting fake “Down Down” discounts on everyday grocery products, the federal court has ruled in a landmark decision for the supermarket industry.Justice Michael O’Bryan handed down his judgment on Thursday, delivering a significant blow to Australia’s second-largest supermarket chain, which had argued that the discounts represented genuine savings during a period of high inflation.He found the supermarket giant had engaged in misleading conduct, in contravention of the Australian consumer law.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued Coles and its rival Woolworths, accusing the supermarket giants of duping shoppers between 2021 and 2023 by using promotional programs to disguise price increases on hundreds of products.O’Bryan’s verdict in the Coles case – which was heard in February – comes before his decision in a similar trial against Woolworths, which was heard in Sydney in late April and early May and which the judge will rule on later this year
Housing market in England and Wales weakening due to Iran war, say estate agents
Fears of higher mortgage rates and rising inflation as a result of the Middle East conflict are leading to a subdued and downbeat housing market, according to estate agents.Demand from potential homebuyers across England and Wales has shown a “noticeable softening” recently, according to a monthly survey of estate agents by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).Members have told the professional body that buyers and sellers are becoming more cautious, and many agents have cited clients who are worried about whether inflation and interest rates will rise in the coming months, leading to slower sales, fewer homes on the market, and more price-sensitive buyers.The Bank of England warned last month that interest rates may have to increase in the coming months as “higher inflation is unavoidable” because of the war in the Middle East and resulting jump in oil and gas prices.At the same time, mortgage rates are likely to be affected by the current sharp rise in government borrowing costs, as swap rates – which lenders use to price their fixed-rate mortgages – tend to move in tandem with government bond yields
Datacentres using 6% of electricity supply in UK and US, research says
Datacentres are consuming 6% of electricity in the UK and US, with the growing strain of AI on energy supplies prompting community resistance, according to research.The proportion of electricity used by vast warehouses stacked with microchips to power AI and the internet has risen 15% worldwide in the past two years as annual global investment in datacentres approaches $1tn (£740bn) – nearly 1% of the global economy, according to the International Data Center Authority (IDCA).The figures come amid energy shortages in the UK and datacentre developers reporting waits of several years for national grid connections. The IDCA said rising power usage globally was “sparking societal and political concerns” and called on tech companies to become more transparent about their plans for new datacentres to tackle “community frustration”.The Guardian this week reported that developers working for Google significantly misstated how much carbon two proposed AI datacentres would contribute to the UK’s total emissions
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang joins other US bosses on Trump trip to China
The billionaire chief executive of the chipmaker Nvidia, Jensen Huang, has joined Donald Trump’s China delegation after a reported last-minute invitation, highlighting the US’s AI and tech ambitions.Huang will join a roster of US bosses including the Tesla chief executive and X owner, Elon Musk, the Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, and Goldman Sachs’s David Solomon at Trump’s 36-hour meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.The high-stakes summit is the first overseas trip for Trump since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February. The summit is expected to cover topics including that conflict, tariffs and China’s relationship with Taiwan.Huang was not on the initial list of business delegates, according to reports
Ivan Cleary begins long goodbye with a legacy built to last long after he leaves Panthers | Nick Tedeschi
The great coaches all have something special that elevates them above others. Wayne Bennett built his success on connection and an ability to authentically forge relationships with generation after generation of players. Craig Bellamy has a foundation of deifying work ethic and simple communication. Trent Robinson, intellect and loyalty.Ivan Cleary is an engineer, the ultimate believer in process, a coach at once ruthless and relatable who dreamt of building a bigger and more complex machine that could sustain itself beyond the people it was initially built around
Sarah Taylor named England men’s fielding coach while Gay, Rew and Baker are called up
On a day when England named three uncapped players in their Test squad, brought Ollie Robinson out of cold storage and officially confirmed a new selector had joined the set-up, perhaps the most significant news was the identity of their fielding coach.Sarah Taylor, the former England wicketkeeper, will be in charge of the fielding drills during the three-Test series against New Zealand that begins at Lord’s on 4 June – the first female coach to work in the men’s senior setup.The fact that Rob Key, the England men’s team director, almost mentioned it in passing was fitting for a coach who has quietly risen through the ranks. Taylor, 36, has held a number of roles in the men’s game since hanging up her gloves five years ago, including spells with Sussex men and Manchester Originals in the Hundred.This latest post is just for the New Zealand series initially but may continue through the summer
Australian workers have been hard done by and tax reforms in the budget only begin to return some fairness | Greg Jericho
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