The dilemma facing the Labour movement, a desire to end to Tory power but frustration with the leader most likely to achieve that, was laid bare on Saturday as around 200,000 people attended the 137th Durham Miners’ Gala.
Understandably, given the Big Meeting is one of the largest socialist gatherings in Europe, there was mostly genuine anger towards the current Government, and the ongoing, eye-watering, cost of living crisis.
This is no longer about unemployment, speakers on the racecourse in Durham City said, but working families, some with multiple jobs, who cannot make ends meet with grossly inflated costs for food, fuel and energy as corporations bank record profits.
Read more: The 137th Big Meeting, as it happened with pictures and videos
Rishi Sunak is currently struggling in the polls with just 25 per cent of people who were asked saying they would vote Conservative if an election were called compared to 47 percent who would vote Labour under Sir Keir Starmer.
Despite this apparent ‘open goal’, as the country moves closer to a General Election, there was also vitriol directed at the Labour leader, the man who could be the next Prime Minister with the power to introduce real changes.
There were calls for unity ahead of the annual event, which was this year dedicated to picket line activism, and certainly, among the speakers and attendees, the sense of solidarity was palpable.
The crowd enthusiastically embraced traditional left-wing ideas of support for striking workers and the nationalisation of key public services and utilities.
In his editorial piece for the Northern Echo on Saturday, Sir Keir, who has faced criticism for failing to support union activity, pledged his support for working people, saying: “It’s in every fibre of our being."
But his unpopularity with vocal members of the crowd, and on the cobbled streets of Durham, as well as anecdotally among bar room political analysts, was clear.
There were ‘boos’ when Sara Bryson, of Tyne and Wear Citizens Assembly, started her speech saying she wanted ‘to talk about Keir’, before, with a knowing smile, going on to eulogise Labour Party founder Keir Hardie.
Frustration with Starmer, and not his namesake, appears to come from his moving of the party towards the centre ground of British politics, away from the left championed by Jeremy Corbyn, who despite his continuing rock star status, for myriad reasons, four years ago led the Labour Party to its biggest loss since 1935.
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Alan Mardghum, General Secretary, of Durham Miners’ Association, which has organised the event since 1871, threw down the gauntlet to Mr Starmer, who had said he could not attend the event due to a prior engagement, challenging him to come next year.
Drawing comparisons with Tony Blair, who also did not attend, Mr Mardghum said the next Gala was on July 13, 2024, and Mr Starmer would be invited ‘as per the constitution’.
But, as the crowd shouted ‘Starmer out’, he said: “I’ll tell you my stance on the Labour Party leader’s position on picket lines where he has disenfranchised MPs who have had the audacity to stand should to shoulder with workers in struggle.
“It’s an absolute disgrace.”
By contrast Mr Corbyn, now sitting as an independent MP after he was exiled by Mr Starmer following the row over allegations of antisemitism in the party, was hailed by supporters, who resurrected once familiar chants on ‘Oh Jeremy Corbyn’ to the tune of Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes.
The tune was adapted for another of Mr Starmer’s previous allies, the North of Tyne mayor, who also sat on the stage, although it must be said it took a while for the group to get ‘Oh Ja-amie Driscoll’ to scan as effectively.
Earlier in the day Mr Corbyn had been watching the brass bands and banner parades march down Old Elvet, past the County Hotel.
When asked about the row with Starmer he said: “I joined the Labour Party in 1966. It is about ideas and plurality and debate.
“Labour wins when Labour includes all of its wonderful rainbow of supporters and removing people actually damages and weakens the whole cause.”
Mr Corbyn said he was confident the Tories would lose the next election but said an alternative vision for the economy and social justice must be offered.
Socialist film maker Ken Loach, the director of I, Daniel Blake, said: “You get a sense mood of the Labour movement at the Gala in Durham and this morning I have heard nothing but anger against Starmer.
“Not only has he forced the expulsion of some good people, good comrades, but also gone back on some of the promises he made when he replaced Jeremy Corbyn.
“It is very deep-rooted now. The problem is people will not vote for someone they do not trust and many people do not trust Starmer.”
Here's what Jeremy Corbyn had to say:
Although the leader was not present his deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who addressed the Gala crowds in 2017 and previously attended as a trade unionist, was.
She told the Northern Echo said: “I hope Keir Starmer is the next Prime Minster.
“I think people need to understand we are a movement - a collective. Keir has got a huge amount of integrity. He has got a different style to me, we're ying and yang. Are we going in the right direction? Yes, I believe we are. We'd cease to be a political party if we couldn't do debate.”
We spoke to deputy leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner:
Politics aside, crowds enjoyed blazing sunshine during the morning as the carnival sounds of brass band music filled the air and there was dancing in on the city’s historic streets with some, less ideologically-motivated, coming purely for the party.
Friends with armfuls of beer and picnics set themselves up for a day of festivities on field by the River Wear, undeterred by a heavy lunchtime downpour that cooled down the crowd but not the impassioned and principled political invective aimed at the current Tory Government by trade union leaders.
The final speech of the day came from the only politician to address the crowd, Zarah Sultana, who said she was 'proud to be called a socialist' despite it being something that was 'not fashionable' in her party at the minute.
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Afterwards she said: “It has been such an honour to speak at the Big Meeting alongside trade unionists and so many comrades during a cost of living crisis with the cost of food and people’s rent going up.
“It is really important that we talk about public ownership of utilities and giving the NHS the funding it needs.”
“It is important to bring these ideas to heart of working-class culture and expression that is Durham Miners’ Gala.”
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