“The City of London is very interested in British labour, and the latter does everything to please it”

V.Sn December, the Labor Party announced that it would hold a conference in February devoted to its industrial and economic policy. A pioneer, nothing out of the ordinary. The same conference was held in 2022. But this time, all the interests the United Kingdom had received from employers' organizations and other economic pressure groups were very keen. “The event was announced at 7 am. By 9 am, all seats were sold out »He will appear at a lobbyist for a major American bank based in London.

The British general election is less than a year away. Legally, January 2025 is the latest possible date, but with elections in the fall of 2024 looking likely, the possibility of a surprise dissolution in early spring cannot be ruled out. Labor is a favorite. Polls give them 43 % support on average compared to 25% for conservatives.

In this context, the business world, primarily the city, is very interested in labor. When Jeremy Corbyn led the party (2015-2020) and proposed nationalisation, tax increases and public spending, the latter do everything to please them and make people forget the left-wing years. This time, at the risk of disappointing his own activists, the current leader of the party, Keir Starmer, is trying to appear economically serious and prudent with public money.

“Growth, Growth, Growth”

Most symbolically, in the summer of 2023, he appeared alongside former Prime Minister Tony Blair as the only Labor leader to win three elections, but a frightening prospect for the party's left. “We need three things: growth, growth, growth”He began in 2001, echoing Tony Blair's promise. “Education, education, education”.

Mr. Starmer refused to promise anything and painted a bleak picture of the British situation. “The current economic situation is worse than the crisis of the 1970s [quand le Royaume-Uni était surnommé le « pays malade de l’Europe »], Let alone the 1980s or 2008 [lors de la grande crise financière]He explained in December. At that time, parents thought the future was better than their children. This is no longer the case. » If he comes to power, his room for economic maneuver will be very limited, he warns: “Those who imagine that Labor will soon open the floodgates of public spending are wrong. »

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