Steve Coogan accuses Labour of paving way for Reform UK
The actor, comedian and producer said the party he had long supported was now for people 'inside the M25' and described the prime minister's first year in power as underwhelming.
'I knew before the election he was going to be disappointing. He hasn't disappointed me in how disappointing he's been,' he said.
Coogan spoke to the Guardian ahead of an address to the annual Co-op Congress in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where he called for locally led grassroots movements to assemble across Britain and take back control from 'multinational institutions and billionaires'.
The Bafta-winning actor, best known for his Alan Partridge persona, has backed Labour in several recent general elections but switched his support last year to the Green party.
Coogan, 59, said he 'agreed wholeheartedly' with the statement released by former Labour MP Zarah Sultana on Thursday night, when she announced she was quitting the party to co-lead a left-wing alternative with Jeremy Corbyn.
Sultana said Britain's two-party system 'offers nothing but managed decline and broken promises' and that Labour had 'completely failed to improve people's lives'.
Coogan said: 'Everything she said in her statement I agree wholeheartedly. I wish I'd said it myself.' However, he added that he was 'reserving judgment' as to whether to support the new party at future elections if they field candidates.
The Philomena star said he did not blame working people for voting for Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
'The success of Reform, I lay squarely at the feet of the neoliberal consensus, which has let down working people for the last 40 years and they're fed up,' he said. 'It doesn't matter who they vote for, nothing changes for them.
'Keir Starmer and the Labour government have leant into supporting a broken system. Their modus operandi is to mitigate the worst excesses of a broken system and all that is is managed decline. What they're doing is putting Band-Aids on the gash in the side of the Titanic.'
In his most strongly worded attack on Labour yet, Coogan described the party's priorities in the last year as 'a derogation of all the principles they were supposed to represent'.
'We have a Labour government and it's no different from a Conservative government in neglecting ordinary people,' he added.
'I think Labour governs for people inside the M25 – that's who they're preoccupied with, and gesture politics. Every decision that comes from central government these days to me looks political and strategic and nothing to do with sincerity or any kind of firmly held ideological belief.'
Without meaningful action to improve the lives of ordinary people, Coogan said, both Labour and the Conservatives would face electoral oblivion.
'They'll pave the way for the only alternative, which is a racist clown. Reform couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery but if there's no alternative you understand why working people will make that choice,' he said.
Coogan spoke in Rochdale's Grade I-listed town hall, which this weekend is hosting a congress of co-operative movements from across the world to mark this year's UN-designated International Year of Co-operatives.
The actor is a supporter of Middleton Co-operating, a community-led initiative based in his home town, just outside Manchester, which aims to provide locally run energy, banking, social care, housing and other schemes.
He said the government's focus on attracting investment to major cities had created a 'doughnut of neglect' with poorer communities 'ethnically cleansed'.
'You look at Manchester, you look at Liverpool, and you go: 'Wow, look at these shiny new buildings' and everything looks clean, there's no crisp bags flying about in the street,' he said.
'The disenfranchised people who lived there before are not there any more. They've been ethnically cleansed. They've been booted out to the next poor area. So who's benefiting?'
Coogan urged Labour to breathe life back into towns by empowering grassroots groups to take over neglected buildings, using compulsory purchase orders for example.
'It's not just the fact that people are disempowered and feel like they have no autonomy. It's compounded by the fact that these people, these multinationals, are enabled and supported by the government to keep their foot on the neck of working people,' he said.
It was 'perfectly understandable' for working people to vote for Farage's Reform in large parts of England, where many voters feel disenfranchised, Coogan said.
'But if any government wants to address that extremism, what they have to do is tackle the root cause,' he added.
'The root cause is poverty and economic decline in the post-industrial landscape, especially in the north. If Labour addressed that problem, Reform would go away – all their support would dissipate.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
We have only ourselves to blame for the UK's land monopoly
While we might fume at the eviction of a whole village by its landlord, we only have ourselves to blame for allowing such power to remain in the hands of so few (An entire village in Dorset is facing eviction – proof that private money holds all the power in rural England, 28 June). Even socialist governments have balked at dealing with the issue of land monopoly, and we have failed to hold them to account. In 1909, when landed power was largely synonymous with the aristocracy, Tom Johnston, later to become secretary of state for Scotland, noted that land titles had originally been created 'either by force or fraud'. He urged the people to 'shatter the romance that keeps the nation numb and spellbound while privilege picks its pocket'. As George Monbiot's article shows, land monopoly today is not confined to the aristocracy. The most effective way to neutralise its power would be through land value taxation, which would ensure that those who claim to own the country bear its running costs. In 1910, the Inland Revenue initiated a full survey of land use, value and ownership across Britain. It was completed in five years, but the outbreak of war and a change of government meant the proposed tax measures were never implemented. Our present Labour government has four years to repeat the exercise and reform our broken tax system. It should start DigneyStirling The eviction of the inhabitants of Littlebredy in Dorset by their new owner Bridehead Estate Ltd, excoriatingly exposed by George Monbiot, has a strong historical echo from the 1770s at Milton Abbas, less than 30 miles away. Lord Milton bought Milton Abbey, near Dorchester, in 1752. Capability Brown was brought in to 'improve' the surrounding landscape. He faced the problem of what to do about the unsightly medieval village of more than a hundred households. The solution was to move it. In 1774 Brown drew up plans for a new 'model village' of new homes. Over the next decade the villagers were decanted, some against their will, to new homes in Milton Abbas. Barely a trace of the old village exists. Lord Milton is often cited as one of the worst examples of the callous ostentation common among the English landowning Whig oligarchy of the 18th century. But at least he felt obliged to rehouse his tenants. Judging from Monbiot's piece, it seems that a corporate landowner in today's Britain is not even obliged to do that when it decides to socially engineer an inconvenient community out of house and GutchLondon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Keir Starmer told not to 'punish' children by keeping two-child cap
The SNP urged the Prime Minister to end the limit amid reports it could stay as a result of Labour watering down most of its welfare reforms. KEIR Starmer has been urged not to 'punish' children by keeping the two-child cap following Labour's partial U-turn on benefit cuts. The UK Government had attempted to save around £5 billion a year by cutting welfare, mostly for those claiming disability and health benefits, but made concessions following a revolt from MPs. READ MORE: At least 42 Palestinians killed by Israel as doctors warn babies facing death The move means the Treasury may not see any savings at all as the welfare budget is still set to rapidly rise in the coming years. Media reports suggest the move could see ministers keep the cap in order to save money. The Prime Minister previously indicated the Government would only abolish the two-child cap, which prevents parents from claiming child tax credit or universal credit for more than two children, when it had the money to do so. Asked in May whether he would scrap the policy, he said: 'We'll look at all options of driving down child poverty.' The SNP, which will mitigate the limit in Scotland by 2026, has urged the UK Government to scrap the cap, which it says is pushing thousands of children into poverty. The party said analysis from the House of Commons Library found that 2.3 million families could be lifted out of poverty if the UK Government matched Scottish Government policies. These included the Scottish Child Payment, abolishing the two-child benefit cap and scrapping the so-called bedroom tax. According to the House of Commons Library, these measures would lift 96,000 families in Scotland out of poverty. The analysis also shows that over the past decade the number of children living in poverty in the UK has risen from 3.7 million (27%) in 2013/14 to 4.5 million (31%) in 2023/24. That number is expected to rise to 4.6 million (33%) by 2029-30, according to the data. SNP deputy Westminster leader Pete Wishart urged the Prime Minister to have a rethink on his welfare plans. Pete Wishart MP (Image: PA) He said: 'Keir Starmer must not punish children for his disastrous mistakes over the Labour Party's cuts to disabled people. 'It is utterly shameful that as a direct result of Labour Party austerity cuts, child poverty is rising to record levels in the UK – and the Prime Minister is failing to lift a finger to tackle it. 'Scrapping the two-child benefit cap is the absolute bare minimum – and it should have been done on the Labour Government's first day in power. READ MORE: Here's why banning Orange marches would be a bad idea 'It's pathetic that senior Labour Party figures now want to keep this punitive welfare cut just to show rebel MPs who's in charge. 'Saving Keir Starmer embarrassment is not more important than tackling child poverty.' Wishart urged Starmer not to 'drag his feet' on the two-child cap and to instead match the SNP's Scottish Child Payment with a similar policy for the entire UK. He added: 'Thanks to SNP action, Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is falling. 'Unless Keir Starmer urgently follow's Scotland's lead, his lasting legacy will be pushing millions of children into destitution.' A UK Government spokesperson said: 'We are determined to bring down child poverty. We've just announced a new £1 billion package to reform crisis support, including funding to ensure the poorest children do not go hungry outside of term time. 'This comes alongside the expansion to free breakfast clubs and the move to make over half-a-million more children eligible for free school meals. 'We have also increased the national minimum wage and are supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a fair repayment rate on universal credit deductions. 'We will publish an ambitious child poverty strategy later this year to ensure we deliver fully funded measures that tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty across the country.'
The National
an hour ago
- The National
John Curtice gives verdict on Labour's first year in power
Reflecting on Keir Starmer's first year in office, the top pollster said Labour's problems in government have largely come from them failing to set out their stall and communicate their 'story' before being handed the keys to Number 10. After winning a huge majority last July, Labour's first year in power ended in chaos this week as they were forced into several U-turns on the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Bill – one of which was made during the parliamentary debate - with one Labour MP calling the episode 'crazy' and 'outrageous'. Even with those concessions made, nearly 50 Labour MPs still voted against the government, with one backbencher having now put forward a fresh amendment to the legislation to prevent the cut to the health component of Universal Credit. It was hardly Labour's first rocky moment in the Commons, with unpopular policies such as the Winter Fuel Payment cut and the refusal to lift the two-child benefit cap causing them headaches over the course of the last 12 months. READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn confirms launch of new party - read the full statement Speaking exclusively to the Sunday National, Professor Curtice said Labour are now paying for the 'lack of vision' they failed to present to the public in the run-up to the General Election. 'The complaint the public had before the election was 'well, we don't really know what they stand for, what is Starmer's vision?'' said Curtice. 'Once you hit the problems of government, if you don't have a story, it's much easier for you to be seen to be buffeted by events. 'It's very striking I think, if you listen or read any of the speeches ministers have made recently about 'our successes', and they come up with this enormously long list of things they've achieved. What they don't come up with is a two- or three-point summary that says, 'this is the big picture of what we have done'.' Failure to do the groundwork On Friday, Labour's problems mounted as former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would be launching a new left-wing party which he described as a "real alternative", backed by former Labour MP Zarah Sultana. Corbyn said the Labour Government had "refused to deliver the change people expected" adding that "poverty, inequality and war are not inevitable". Reflecting on difficulties Labour faced in getting the welfare bill through Parliament – mainly because of unpopular proposals to change the eligibility criteria for PIP - Curtice said it was clear in the run-up to the General Election that Labour 'campaigned to win' but 'did not campaign for office' in their failure to prepare the public for their policy agenda. 'This is not the first Labour government to try to reduce the welfare bill,' Curtice went on. 'It was very much what New Labour were about. Now, they hit some parliamentary trouble, but the crucial difference was this – before 1997 Blair was attacking [Margaret] Thatcher for wasting money on unemployment benefit. 'Blair prepared the ground and although people didn't necessarily entirely believe it beforehand, once they [Labour] did it, you saw voters falling behind the message. (Image: Jack Hill/The Times/PA Wire) 'The problem for this government is they didn't prepare the ground and because there wasn't a broader synoptic message about what this government is about, in so far as people had expectations of this government, then there were the kind of standard expectations of a Labour government – they want to reduce inequality etc.' He added: 'A lot of this is the result of how Labour positioned themselves beforehand or the things they didn't do beforehand, then those weaknesses then become evident as you have to make tough decisions in government.' Curtice said despite the difficulties Starmer has faced, he has managed to carve an image of himself as 'unflappable' when it comes to dealing with bad news, but that has also come with problems. 'Because he is in some senses so bland, Starmer still comes across as completely unflappable,' he said. 'The problem is what he doesn't do is jump up and down and say 'hooray, this is brilliant, this is what we're trying to achieve'. It's the lack of a positive direction [that's the issue]. It's that lack of a broad vision.' Welfare cuts 'an absolute travesty' For Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick, a social security expert at Ulster University, Labour's failure to communicate that broad vision has seen her feelings of 'hope' last year turn to 'despair'. She said the policy-making process around the welfare bill had been 'diabolical and shameful', as she criticised how it was going to be 'rammed through Parliament' next week with little scrutiny from experts or the disabled and sick people it is going to impact. READ MORE: Word cloud exposes what people really think of Labour after 1 year While the changes to PIP eligibility criteria have been parked for now pending a review, the health top-up of Universal Credit is still being cut for new claimants from £97 per week to £50 per week from April – a reduction to £217.26 per month. Fitzpatrick said there was nothing in Labour's manifesto to suggest 'brutal' cuts would be made to social security benefits, as she criticised the party for 'belittling' people it has 'blindsided'. 'I think that is an absolute travesty that this hugely important legislation has not been given sufficient time for scrutiny, for expert input, for the input of those people who are going to be impacted,' she said. 'They are going to ram it through parliament next week and I just think that is immoral. 'It keeps me up at night. It's beyond anything I thought was in the realms of possibility from a Labour government.' MPs will continue to scrutinise the bill when it returns to the House of Commons on Wednesday. Richard Burgon's amendment would reverse the Universal Credit cut, keeping the health element at its current rate of £423.27. Fitzpatrick went on: 'I had hope when Labour were elected that we would see change. There was nothing in the manifesto to suggest they were going to make the most brutal cuts to social security since the coalition government in 2010. 'I think a lot of people who put their faith in Labour after 14 years over Conservative government have been blindsided and I think Labour themselves have completely overlooked that and belittled that. They are selling it to us as something they have to do, but we just know it isn't. 'I was full of hope and now I'm full of despair and it's hard to see any hope on the horizon in terms of the government's really hard-line fiscal arrangements that they are not prepared to flex in order to [help] people who have had a really hard time for the last 14 years. 'I speak for a lot of people, I think, that feel an utter sense of betrayal that we have a Labour Party who are not proving they are the party of social justice and they are the party of working-class people.'
