The battle is over “What’s the Plan”
Firstly, let me congratulate you on your decisive victory in Makerfield, and secondly, the easy bit is done. What we do know is that Keir was never cut out to be a Prime Minister, and his victory in 2024 had literally nothing to do with him; rather, the voter’s disdain for the 10 years of failures by the Tory government, from the Brexit con to migration and the myth of trickle-down economics. Then there was also the short stint of Truss and Kwarteng, less Prime Minister and Chancellor, more Dick Dastardly and Muttley. Starmer’s “mission-led” economy submitted to his MP’s, the fiscal rules, otherwise known as handcuffs, and his inability to connect, let alone engage with the public about the challenges facing this country. These challenges range from the economy to the future of work, AI, and the tricky issues of redistribution and defense expenditure. He thought the more he mentioned the national interest and growth, that these words would suffice as forward-thinking public policy, in other words, bones without meat. This was akin to Keir mentioning on numerous occasions during the election that his dad was a tool maker.
I will start by recommending three books that you must read. The first is Darren McGarvey’s The Social Distance between Us: How remote politics wrecked Britain. At the heart of this book is the question of how we, as a nation, build a new and engaging democracy. Two key elements of this are creating a more participative and a deliberative democracy, where the electorate are not treated as mere receivers of public policy. This new type of democracy will allow you to make public policy which far exceeds a single 5-year term. This should include areas such as tax, AI, the future of work, defence expenditure, energy security, and the climate crisis.
The second book is Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth. This is a groundbreaking understanding of economics that places the ecosystem and our species at the heart of economic policy, rather than relying on GDP as the sole measure of human welfare. Unfamiliar words need to be introduced into the economic vocabulary, such as pre-distribution and redistribution. So, do not be daunted by the bond markets; what they need is a credible vision and road map out of our country’s decades of malaise. Kate is not against growth but frames it as regenerative growth where we humans do not pass the irreversible ecological ceiling. This is the biggest leadership challenge of this century, and I think you should take a bite out of her Doughnut.
The final book is Mariana Mazzucato’s The Common Good Economy, which presents a collaborative approach between the public sector, the private sector, and the people. Included in this new economy is also tax reform, which could include a wealth tax, reward sharing and a direction of a country co-created by citizens.
Bruno Maçães in his book World Builders, suggests that control of physical territory will be superseded by who controls the new digital territories. This battle is now between China and the US, and we, the UK and Europe, are metaphorically left back in the dressing room. The amazing seven, all of which are US companies, have a market value equal to the entire GDP of the EU. In this context, taking back control actually means something and building a closer bond with the EU is critical to this. Advice to our European colleagues is, don’t make it difficult, and any grumpiness about 2016 should be set aside. It’s clearly time for pragmatism on both sides. The question that we must face is how can we ensure that the likes of Zuckerberg, Thiel, Musk do not define our futures and how companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Anthropic, ChatGPT and X can be regulated and accountable to the public?
Sorry, a little more to read.
So, I would advise you to make Kate, Mariana, and Darren advisors. This is the time for new thinking, both politically and economically, but key to its success is what I mentioned earlier: to reframe democracy in a much more participative and deliberative fashion and not, as Blair put it, the need to reconfigure government.
My final bit of advice is to ignore the past sell-by date, Blair, because his so-called essay is like a man advising from the top of an ivory tower. Please, do not make the mistake of being labelled soft left when what we need is a radical and progressive agenda that is future-focused.
PS: If you have a spare cabinet position, give me a shout, and please make sure you have no donation skeletons in your cupboard, you know what I mean, like suits and Labour Friends of Israel.
Suneil Sharma
22nd June 2026
BREAKING NEWS: Keir has resigned as Prime Minister, with his dignity intact. I wish him and his family a bright future. He was a good man, but unfortunately was not a great PM. The issue that I will remember him for is his failure to call out the ethnic cleansing in Gaza as GENOCIDE
The Gob 
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