James O’Brien has highlighted how the resignation pressure on Keir Starmer demonstrates the addiction to drama that has developed in British politics post-2016.
This week, Starmer has faced a rebellion from Labour MPs calling on him to resign as prime minister or set out a plan for a transition of power to a new leader in the coming months.
The calls for his resignation have come from all sides of the Labour Party, whilst voices on both ends of the political spectrum would like to see Starmer go.
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Others have despaired at yet another round of Westminster psychodrama, something many had hoped was a thing of the past now the Tories were no longer in power.
But no, it seems turmoil and chaos is now a permanent feature of British politics, on the left and right – and as a nation we’re addicted to it.
This was neatly summed up by LBC presenter James O’Brien, who pointed to the 2016 Brexit referendum as being a watershed moment in British politics.
“One of the great tragedies of post-Brexit politics,” he said, “is that we as a population have fallen into the trap of thinking that an outward veneer, usually fraudulent, of bonhomie is somehow preferable to dullness.”
Although he was critical of Starmer for his “dullness” failing to deliver what it was supposed to – ‘competence, efficiency, results and tangible improvements’ – he said the impact of 2016 could not be ignored in all this.
“There are also questions about whats state the country is in,” he continued. “We have become addicted to this madness and this drama, it’s ugly.
“I can’t remember what life was like before 2016, before the British public was given permission to believe whatever it wanted to believe, regardless of facts or evidence.”