A sprinkling of nationalism from Keir Starmer

Benito Mussolini, according to one biographer, realised very early in his political career that “nation had a stronger grip on men than class”. It looks like Keir Starmer has come to the same conclusion. His Labour Conference speech was full of “Working People” but avoided “Working Class” – there was no class war rhetoric. In that sense his message was inclusive – most of us relate to the “Working People” descriptor , “Working Class” by comparison is exclusive and divisive.

In place of class war there was, according to Sir Keir, the concept of “Service”. Again this is inclusive and whilst “Public service” is part of it it’s not the only part. The service sector is part public and part private and Starmer seemed to welcome that. He didn’t rubbish the profit motive which by definition drives private businesses. This was not Socialist tub-thumping. The “S” word didn’t get a look in.

And then there was the “Nation” which drove the dictators in Germany, Spain and Italy in the first half of the Twentieth Century and featured strongly in Liverpool. There were derivatives of the Union Flag everywhere in the Conference hall and in Party communications – including the new membership card design.

The slogan “Country First” is a nationalist slogan and a populist one. Brexit was driven by such a motto and it is an uncomfortable thought that Hitler’s Party was the “National Socialists” even though socialism played no role in the dictatorship. Mussolini, of course, was also a self-declared socialist before he invented Fascism

Brexit showed that patriotism morphing into nationalism and then into xenophobia has a populist appeal. “Put out More Flags” is often the instruction of choice for those who want simplistic engagement with the electorate – internationalism garners few votes.

Britain’s role in the world got no mention in Starmer’s peroration – Europe wasn’t there nor were transnational alliances like NATO. It’s as if our future is solely in our hands though he did mention an ambition that “Britain is respected again around the world.” – though how this can be achieved by looking inwards rather than outwards wasn’t clear.

“Patriotism” and its bastard cousin “Nationalism” is a hot button of populist appeal as the twentieth century showed us. But there is a chilling undercurrent in “Country First” which could appeal to raw, insular outcomes like Brexit. Caveat Emptor.