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We are a little wiser now about what the Labour leadership contenders stand for

Editorial: We asked all three candidates to write for The Independent, setting out why they should be leader of the opposition

Saturday 22 February 2020 18:31 GMT
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There is little of substance that divides Long-Bailey, Nandy and Starmer
There is little of substance that divides Long-Bailey, Nandy and Starmer

We hope that you, the reader, will agree that this is a worthwhile exercise. As the voting opens in the Labour leadership election, we asked all three candidates to write for The Independent setting out why they should be leader of the opposition and therefore a candidate to be prime minister.

Keir Starmer’s contribution is big on unity. “United we will win,” he declares. Well, it certainly helps, but it might depend on what the policies are on which the party is united.

Here, Sir Keir operates mostly at the highest level of generality: “Peace, justice, equality and dignity for all.” Of these values, his article suggests equality is the most important, but he says nothing about how it is to be achieved except to talk about the “radical socialist tradition” and strengthening trade unions.

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