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Starmer will enjoy the briefest of honeymoons with his in-tray full of problems to fix


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July 05, 2024

The British Labour Party’s landslide victory is historic. “Change begins now,” the new prime minister Keir Starmer said, capturing the public mood – and the hunger for a better Britain. His parliamentary majority is enormous, and so is Labour’s mandate for “change”.

The catch is that the problems facing the new government have built up over 14 years and are also enormous. However impatient voters – and new Labour MPs – may be, Mr Starmer has an in-tray that no one will envy. It’s a list of problems that voters want fixed immediately but which have been years in the making and will take more than a five-year parliament to fix.

The lack of affordable housing, for example, is so severe that many young British people feel they may never own their own home. The fix doesn’t just involve building the homes, which itself takes time.

What’s needed includes changing planning laws, improving the economy, paying good wages and cutting the cost of borrowing. Then, how does Mr Starmer’s new team – a party out of government for almost a decade and a half – fix record waiting lists for National Health Service appointments?

Where do we find and train new medical teams? How does he fix the problem of many people unable to find an NHS dentist? What – despite all the hot air, promises and senseless ideas of sending migrants to Rwanda – is a realistic solution to the problem of migrant boats in the English Channel? And how do you fix the underfunding of the great British cultural assets including universities?

A historic vote of no confidence in the Conservative party is not evidence of long-term enthusiasm for Labour

The problems facing the best and the brightest among us are enormous. British students right now leave university with debts averaging around £45,000. According to the Student Loans Company one (anonymous) student who pursued advanced degrees has accrued student loan debts of more than £200,000. In another case, a newly qualified doctor, Dr Luke Amos, told the BBC that his student debt "became almost a joke when I saw the outstanding balance break the £100,000 barrier".

And then, although it will not be presented by Mr Starmer in exactly this way, what does the triumphant new Labour government do about Britain’s image abroad? Can we reverse our decline in hard power? The British army has been under-resourced to the point where even the former Conservative Defence Secretary Ben Wallace suggested it was only good for “tootling around” at home.

As a result of Brexit, Britain has made itself much less significant within Europe. The knock-on effect recognised by diplomats is that the UK is now also less important to its indispensable ally, the US.

The New York Times graphically illustrated the UK’s difficulties for its politically savvy and internationally minded readers this week. They reported that in the UK food bank use has increased by 5000 per cent in the 14 years the Conservatives were in power. Graduate debt is up 210 per cent. Homelessness is up 120 per cent. The asylum backlog is up 1,300 per cent. Hospital waiting lists are up 210 per cent. And while cutting migration was a cornerstone Conservative policy – net migration is, in fact, up 170 per cent.

That list of problems and failures sunk the Conservative party to a truly historic, inevitable and – many commentators might conclude – deserved defeat. But that same list has now become the Keir Starmer in-tray. Starmer has therefore been extremely cautious about promising immediate improvements.

But the key takeaway from this election is an extraordinary hunger and mandate for change. Big names in the Conservative party have been punished and humiliated for their years of failure.

The Conservatives will head into bitter in-fighting (no change there) and are split between traditional moderate right-wing policies and some radical far-right ideas. They have lost seats in every direction including to the troublesome Reform party of Nigel Farage.

Nigel Farage has won his first seat in parliament. Reuters
Nigel Farage has won his first seat in parliament. Reuters

Mr Farage, after seven previous failed attempts is now – eighth time lucky – at last an MP. His well-financed right-wing Reform party is now a force to be reckoned with and more trouble for the Conservatives. But Labour are the clear winners. They have plenty of ideas, even if the scale of change they believe is necessary will take a decade.

Labour has even succeeded in turning back the tide of Scottish nationalism, winning back many seats from the Scottish National Party. They have helped wipe out the Conservatives in Wales, and the Conservative allies in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party have suffered setbacks. Sinn Fein has done well. The Conservatives are therefore essentially an English – rather than British – political party now.

But the election – and the future – belongs to Labour. The British people have shown their impatience with failure and a suspicion of the promises of governments and politicians of all types.

One of the little-discussed but interesting statistics about the UK is that British people tend to trust each other much more than citizens of comparable OECD countries. But we trust our governments less than other comparable countries. That means the Keir Starmer honeymoon is likely to be brief.

He will, however, be helped for a time by his political enemies. The Conservative party for years has been having a kind of nervous breakdown. The bitterness on the right of British politics is based on grudges, personal ambitions and loathing, and that will undoubtedly continue.

Mr Starmer will enjoy the briefest of honeymoons because the real problem he faces is not that anyone doubts his victory. It is that in terms of seats the Labour Party has won a landslide but in terms of votes, under the peculiar British system of First Past The Post, Labour has not received a vastly different share of the votes from its big historic loss in the 2019 general election.

Mr Starmer has begun to climb the mountain of power. He talks well of the politics of public service, saying that “it is now time for us to deliver.” Well, that’s true. But when your vote share is the same as in 2019 – one of Labour’s worst defeats in almost a century – and in 2024 that same vote share produces one of your best results, Mr Starmer has to be humble in victory not triumphant.

A historic vote of no confidence in the Conservative party is not evidence of long-term enthusiasm for Labour. The Labour project has an enormous parliamentary mandate and for now a great deal of good will. But – as a former British prime minister once said of his opponent – “you were the future once.”

Follow the UK General Election results

Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

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Director Antoine Fuqua

Starring: Denzel Washington, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Ashton Sanders

Three stars

The team

Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory 
Videographer: Jear Valasquez 
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory 
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat 
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova 
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi 

 
Why does a queen bee feast only on royal jelly?

Some facts about bees:

The queen bee eats only royal jelly, an extraordinary food created by worker bees so she lives much longer

The life cycle of a worker bee is from 40-60 days

A queen bee lives for 3-5 years

This allows her to lay millions of eggs and allows the continuity of the bee colony

About 20,000 honey bees and one queen populate each hive

Honey is packed with vital vitamins, minerals, enzymes, water and anti-oxidants.

Apart from honey, five other products are royal jelly, the special food bees feed their queen 

Pollen is their protein source, a super food that is nutritious, rich in amino acids

Beewax is used to construct the combs. Due to its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial elements, it is used in skin treatments

Propolis, a resin-like material produced by bees is used to make hives. It has natural antibiotic qualities so works to sterilize hive,  protects from disease, keeps their home free from germs. Also used to treat sores, infection, warts

Bee venom is used by bees to protect themselves. Has anti-inflammatory properties, sometimes used to relieve conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, nerve and muscle pain

Honey, royal jelly, pollen have health enhancing qualities

The other three products are used for therapeutic purposes

Is beekeeping dangerous?

As long as you deal with bees gently, you will be safe, says Mohammed Al Najeh, who has worked with bees since he was a boy.

“The biggest mistake people make is they panic when they see a bee. They are small but smart creatures. If you move your hand quickly to hit the bees, this is an aggressive action and bees will defend themselves. They can sense the adrenalin in our body. But if we are calm, they are move away.”

 

 

Profile

Company name: Jaib

Started: January 2018

Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour

Based: Jordan

Sector: FinTech

Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018

Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups

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The specs

Engine: 5.2-litre V10

Power: 640hp at 8,000rpm

Torque: 565Nm at 6,500rpm

Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto

Price: From Dh1 million

On sale: Q3 or Q4 2022 

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Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
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Updated: July 12, 2024, 3:44 AM