The resignation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer marks yet another chapter in the extraordinary political instability that has gripped Britain over the past decade. Few in Britain would have been genuinely surprised by his departure. He inherited a nation deeply scarred by the divisions unleashed by the 2016 Brexit referendum, whose votes began to be counted exactly ten years ago this week.

Since then, the country has struggled to find a sense of purpose or cohesion. Economic stagnation, rising unemployment, soaring living costs and the growth of populist politics created a hostile environment for any government.

Yet, Starmer’s critics argue that he compounded these difficulties by displaying a tendency to compromise when firmness was required and by failing to produce imaginative policies........

© Free Press Journal