The political climate in the United Kingdom has been characterized by a dispiriting continuity between the conservative Tory leadership and the current iteration of the Labour Party under Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Once a bastion of working-class advocacy and leftist principles, Labour now appears to be slipping into the same political quagmire that defined its predecessors. The lines between the right-wing Conservative Party and Starmer’s Labour are increasingly blurred, as the party has adopted policies that prioritize austerity, appease the wealthy elite, and slavishly follow US-centric foreign policy. In some ways, Labour under Starmer has become more ruthless in its treatment of ordinary citizens, further eroding public trust.

Starmer’s Labour Party, which ascended to power on promises of reform and recovery, has shown itself to be no less cruel than the Conservative government it replaced. One glaring example is the recent decision on the winter fuel allowance, a benefit designed to help over ten million of the UK’s most vulnerable pensioners cope with rising energy costs. Starmer’s budget cuts are hitting those who need support the most, forcing pensioners to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table.

These measures reflect an appalling shift in Labour’s ideological foundation. Once the party of the common man, Labour’s current budgetary decisions reveal a harsh austerity program, outpacing even the cruelty of previous Conservative administrations. Austerity, a term once synonymous with Tory fiscal policy, is now a buzzword for Labour as well. The British Left, under Starmer, appears to have forgotten its historical commitment to social welfare, favoring a neoliberal agenda that leaves the most vulnerable to bear the brunt of economic hardship.

Beyond austerity, corruption has reared its ugly head again in British politics. Despite Labour’s positioning as an antidote to Tory cronyism, early signs suggest little difference between Starmer’s government and that of his predecessor, Rishi Sunak. While the corruption scandals of Boris Johnson’s tenure remain fresh in public memory-his government’s handling of COVID-19 contracts being particularly notorious-Starmer’s administration is no stranger to scandal. Deals benefiting political elites and powerful allies continue to surface, revealing the entrenched cronyism that plagues the British political establishment, regardless of the party in power.

The recent shift in leadership has done little to curb this culture of greed. Labour’s eagerness to participate in similar crony-driven scandals, while mouthing populist platitudes, is deeply cynical. The public, still reeling from years of political deception, is not surprised-only disillusioned by a political elite that refuses to change its ways.

While domestic policies have caused considerable suffering for the British public, it is the realm of foreign policy where the similarity between Labour and the Tories is most pronounced. The UK remains doggedly committed to its so-called “special relationship” with the United States, adopting foreign policy positions that align with Washington’s geopolitical interests, even at the expense of national security and global stability. This subservience to US hegemony has been a hallmark of both Tory and Labour leadership, with no meaningful deviation under Starmer.

A particularly egregious example of this is Britain’s involvement in the proxy war against Russia through Ukraine. The UK has positioned itself as one of the most vocal cheerleaders for escalating the conflict, advocating for launching Western-supplied missiles from Ukraine deep into Russian territory. While Washington appears reluctant to give full backing to these reckless strategies, London’s enthusiastic support for such escalation mirrors the dangerous brinkmanship of the Cold War. The folly of this position is evident, especially as Russia has revised its nuclear doctrine to target not only the direct attackers but their Western backers as well.

It is as if Britain’s political class, in its quest to prove itself indispensable to the US, is willing to risk plunging Europe into an all-out war with Russia. The government’s bombastic rhetoric, embodied by the likes of Foreign Secretary David Lammy, only worsens the situation. Lammy, in his self-aggrandizing speeches, frames the conflict in terms of “imperialism,” painting Russia as the ultimate oppressor while conveniently ignoring the UK’s own bloody imperial past. This historical amnesia not only undermines the government’s credibility but also alienates nations in the Global South, many of which have long tired of the West’s moral posturing.

Lammy’s recent speech, invoking his ancestry to denounce Russian “imperialism,” is a masterclass in hypocrisy. By comparing Russia’s actions to the brutal legacy of the transatlantic slave trade, he sought to draw an emotional parallel between historical atrocities and the current conflict in Ukraine. However, this rhetorical gambit backfired spectacularly, as it only served to remind the international audience of Britain’s central role in the very imperialism Lammy claims to abhor.

The British Empire was one of the most brutal participants in the Atlantic slave trade, responsible for the enslavement, death, and dehumanization of millions of Africans. To this day, the scars of that history remain visible in the economic, social, and political landscapes of the Global South. Lammy’s attempt to appropriate this suffering to score political points against Russia is not only tone-deaf but deeply insulting to those who continue to grapple with the legacy of British colonialism.

Lammy’s speech is symptomatic of a broader trend within Western political discourse, wherein the struggles and sufferings of the Global South are co-opted to serve Western geopolitical interests. The Ukraine war, which is framed in terms of “values” and “rules,” has become a convenient platform for Western leaders to project their moral superiority. Yet, the very countries and peoples the West claims to support often bear the brunt of its imperialist policies. The Global South, long exploited by Western powers, is now being asked to lend its moral authority to a conflict that serves primarily the interests of NATO and the US.

This appropriation of anti-colonial rhetoric for the purpose of justifying Western military intervention is particularly insidious. It seeks to draw a false equivalence between the historical fight against Western imperialism and the current proxy war in Ukraine. In doing so, it trivializes the genuine struggles of colonized peoples and reduces their suffering to little more than a rhetorical tool.

The continuity between the Tory government and Keir Starmer’s Labour administration reveals the extent to which the British political elite has abandoned its responsibility to the people. Whether through austerity measures, corruption scandals, or a blind loyalty to US foreign policy, the political class shows itself as hopelessly out of touch with the needs and desires of ordinary citizens. As the UK plunges deeper into political and economic turmoil, it becomes increasingly clear that the divide between the Left and Right in British politics is little more than an illusion. Both are driven by the same forces of greed, power, and imperial ambition, leaving the common man and woman to suffer the consequences.