It was so grimly inevitable that Labour would respond to last Thursday's pounding at the polls not by returning chastened to the centre ground but by doubling down on their attempts to woo right-wingers. The Guardian reported that Keir Starmer was hoping to "regain momentum" with the contents of the king's speech (which begs the obvious question "At what point did he ever have 'momentum'?"); doing so apparently involves introducing further restrictions on both legal and illegal migration.
Surely it can't be long before Labour wake up to the futility of trying to appease the "legitimate concerns" mob? At some point it should be made perfectly clear that we've been pandering to them for more than a decade, and this is where we - and Labour - have ended up.
In this piece on Liberal Currents, Toby Buckle makes a compelling case for putting a stop to all this pussyfooting around. Instead, he argues, we should shout about Reform's corruption and nakedly fascist policies, and we should call out their supporters for their misguided, delusional or downright bigoted beliefs.
It is, he suggests, a matter of respect. We're continually expected to deferentially respect their perspectives without any hope of such respect being reciprocated. Is it not more respectful to ditch the patronising concern and tell these people the truth, even if it's not what they want to hear?
Of course, I should acknowledge that the situation here in Wales is significantly less grim than in England. While Reform made worrying gains in the Senedd elections, Plaid outshone them and have now formed a minority government under the leadership of Rhun ap Iorwerth. My vote, as usual, went to the Greens, but a reasonably progressive party positioned to the left of Welsh Labour - as Plaid are now - is the next best thing. Will they be able to achieve what they would like, though, without a majority? And how will the relationship with Westminster work? Time will tell.
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