Meeting held on Wed 17th September 2025
Nine people were present. Seven people gave apologies.
With the second State visit of Trump, we questioned whether it was right for Starmer to be engaging so closely with Trump. Did they have shared interests, or not? Was Starmer’s position on the war in Palestine very different from Trump’s? It seemed that we had hoped to get lower import tariffs as a result of close relations with the US. But steel tariffs remain unaffected. Investment in Tech companies might seem to be a boon, but it would come with a decrease in regulation which we were against. Is Starmer’s policy towards US focussed on a increase in GDP that might result?
However, we questioned the significance of GDP and its basis within the Treasury model of the economy. Reeves (and the Labour Party) appear to be uncritical of this but many economists would reject its approach.
A brief discussion of the situation in Palestine led us to question what, exactly, were the boundaries of Palestine and whether is was a State. Any idea of a “Two State Solution” is rejected by Israel (and Hamas). The Labour Friends of Israel is a powerful group within the Party and John Pierce (High Peak MP) appears to have little sympathy with Palestine. Attempts have been made to engage him in discussions about Palestine and a group from The Visionaries (who are based in what used to be the Bamford Quaker Community) is also involved.
The deputy leadership of the Labour Party, following Angela Rainer’s regrettable departure from the cabinet, was discussed. Lucy Powell, who had been sacked from the cabinet by Starmer, was critical of Starmer. It has been commented that she is part of a movement to see Andy Burnham replace Starmer, while Bridgett Phillipson, the other contender, is supportive of Starmer. But such a view was rejected as being sexist: two women, who have admirable qualities in their own right, seen only as ‘stand-ins’ for men.
We discussed the Green Party and its new leader, Zack Polanski, who is promoting the idea of ‘eco-populism’ While that may sounds attractive, we were concerned that ‘populism’ seemed to be an essential feature of all successful emerging political movements. As a consequence political discussion is shallow, whether from the right of the left.
The next meeting will be on Oct15th.