Doctor MP quits post as Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health citing Starmer’s decision to discontinue mental health portfolio
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan has resigned from Keir Starmer’s front bench, citing Starmer’s display of contempt for those suffering mental health in his decision not to even have a mental health portfolio in a Labour government.
In a letter otherwise full of the usual political camouflage, Allin-Khan states:
As discussed previously, and in our call earlier, you made clear that you do not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour Cabinet, which is why I told you many weeks ago that I would not be able to continue in this role.
This is by no means Starmer’s first display of disregard for those suffering mental health and ability issues. He retained right-winger Wes Streeting as Shadow Health Secretary even after Streeting caused widespread disgust by making a ‘joke’ about dementia from the Commons front bench.
Now Starmer is confirming his lack of concern, adding mental health to child poverty and hunger as issues he is uninterested in doing anything about – but the ‘mainstream’ media is unlikely to highlight the root cause of Allin-Khan’s departure.
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The betrayals are coming thick and fast. Just the other day, it was reported that Labour would not oppose proposed changes in water standards.
The question of mental health is closely linked to the appalling number of suicides in this country.
Our goal should be to bring Starmer down.
P.S. Your sub- headline appears to have an error in it.
Actually, apologies. It does not.
Comes to something when his own right wing shills are resigning
Allin-Khan’s not particularly supportive of Starmer’s atlanticism and centrism, is she?
I’d not thought of her as a loyal, right-wing shill. She’s on record as a defender of Palestine and would, in my opinion, have been a significantly better buffer against Starmer’s deep-blue ineptitude than Angela Rayner manages.
Credit to her for standing by her guns against the atrocious wobbly leader that Labour has inflicted itself with.
She wasn’t exactly Corbyn supportive and always seemed a bit sketchy tbh, like so many other centrist Labour MPs.
But on this and committing to an NHS that’s wholly publicly run and owned, she’s 100% correct. Currently, the private sector creams off all the low complexity / high volume procedures, giving a false impression of a failing NHS.
There’s nothing wobblie about that square bonced nonce protector.
There’s been rumours for ages that it’s not a happy ship. Yes, electorally, they’re seemingly performing well – if polls are to be believed? But “Look at the faces listen to the bells, It’s hard to believe we need a place called hell,” as a certain song’s lyrics go. The shadcab all look defensive and deeply unhappy under Starmer’s right-wing tyranny, a tyranny in which everyone is one ‘wrongthink’ tweet away from losing the whip and being kicked out of the PLP.
Starmer is a man with Blair magalomania portensions without a similar base of popular support, or the charisma to win people over to the wannabe autocrat act. If Labour MPs had anything about them they’d accept Starmer is just an obnoxious ‘bad faith’ individual; that the party mood is terrible; the lack of democratic debate or consultation atrociously undemocratic, and remove him.
Interesting that I have just been reading a piece by Chris Hedges about mental health and the situation in the US. Here’s a snippet:
“The core traits of psychopaths — superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance, a need for constant stimulation, a penchant for lying, deception, manipulation and the inability to feel remorse or guilt — are celebrated. The virtues of empathy, compassion and self-sacrifice, are belittled, neglected and crushed. The professions that sustain community, such as teaching, manual labor, the arts, journalism and nursing, are underpaid and overworked. The professions that exploit, such as those in high finance, Big Pharma, Big Oil and information technology, are lavished with prestige, money and power.”
And here’s the link to the article:
https://scheerpost.com/2023/09/03/chris-hedges-our-collective-trauma-is-the-road-to-tyranny/
Thing is that psychopaths just lurve mind-fucking people, and especially empaths, and making them mentally ill and/or feeling suicidal. They select their victim, and then they start a whispering campaign amongst the target’s friends and acquaintances to discredit them, twisting things they said that were completely innocuous into them saying something critical or nasty about this particular friend, and that particular friend. They just totally lurve all the subterfuge and deceit and manipulating, and the buzz they get from doing it is tantamount to a vampire drinking someone’s blood, and energises them and boosts their feelings of power and superiority. They are, in effect, sucking psychic energy out of their victim and the people they are duping and deceiving, but especially the victim. Needless to say they are totally TOTALLY evil, and get high on ‘transforming’ their target into the opposite of what they actually are (in the minds of the target’s friends) and, at the same time, ingratiate themselves with them.
They are devious and duplicitous and deceitful, and of course sadistic to the core of their being – ie their otherwise empty being. And many of them are in positions of power of course precisely because they ARE!
One political leader’s name immediately springs to mind providing a classic example of ‘the core traits of psychopaths – superficial charm, grandiosity and self importance, a need for constant stimulation, a penchant for lying, deception, manipulation and the inability to feel remorse or guilt ………’ Now who do you think fits the pen portrait?
Steve, sorry mate can’t narrow it down to less than 600 odd. I’ll keep trying.
……..yes I see the logic!
It’s probable part of Starmer’s motivation is to avoid having a supporter of Palestinian rights on his front bench. No doubt he’s already had the messages from the usual culprits. The Israeli lobby has been so successful it now feels it can shut down on even the mildest criticism, and Starmer is entirely in its pocket. Then, of course, mental well-being problems are suffered only by the weak and inadequate aren’t they? Real men and women got on with life, make money and kick the poor in the teeth. Notice how close Labour’s present position is to Mussolini’s. Growth, speed, expansion, greatness, strength. And like him, Starmer has to strut. Interestingly, Khan introduces free school meals for all primary school kids. Jamie Oliver says it’s a great day. But the Labour front bench?
STARMER For his Own Oblique Purposes CONTINUES DRIVING OUT THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST
The recent piece about 2017’s GE, highlighting how it’s effectively been erased from history was informative.
Theresa May called the election assuming she’d easily increase her modest, Cameron inherited majority, remember. Labour started the campaign on 25% and ended it on 40%, in the process denying May a majority and leaving her needing bought DUP support, in an expensive supply and confidence arrangement.
The reverse of that campaign could well happen to Starmer at the next GE, by being so unambitious & uninspiring. The way Reeves chuckled at a recent FT event, when the host sarcastically asked if she’d announced no new wealth taxes just to please their audience, says much. File that alongside Starmer brazenly boasting he’s happier mingling with among others, investment bankers at Davos, over being in the UK, because, “this is where you get things done”. Get things done, as in US private healthcare bosses? How can these people be trusted?
Rosena seems to be saying Stammer has been less than honest? Say it aint so someone, say it aint so.
Murray Head 1975….say it ain’t so – a song about Pres. Nixon.
Good singer and a great clinician, completely naive politician, bit like JC
No matter, now she has been taught a harsh lesson, would make a great joint leader with Jamie Driscoll
She was happy to grovel, when standing for the deputy leadership, and parrot the AS narrative.
The question of whether or not a lesson has been learnt is very much an open one.