Labour neoliberalism and gig work in Britain

Britain’s Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer – Labour is allegedly a left-center party - is pandering to xenophobes. He posted this on Elon Musk’s X/Twitter platform on July 23:

With a “left” party like this, who needs fascist xenophobes?

The Austrian left writer and activist Natascha Strobl replied on Bluesky on the same day: “Labour is digging its own grave with the increasingly scurrilous right-wing course.” (my translation to English)

Britain is one of the countries that has had the experience of centrist parties embracing xenophobic talking points and that redounding to the benefit of the far-right. It’s inhumane and it’s dumb politics – dumb, that is, if they actually want to defang the far right, which in Britain right now is Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party. And they have a real shot at taking the place of the Tories, the Conservative Party, as one of the two normally leading parties. And in a system like Britain’s and America’s with winner-take-all electoral districts, that could be a serious and longterm setback for the Tories.

And for democracy in Britain: “Even if you ignore the asylum issue (which you shouldn't or don't have to): What does that mean? A Labour prime minister sends data to employers so that they can take action against employees? In one of the worst industries ever?“

What does she mean by food delivery drivers are working in “one of the worst industries ever”? Presumably something like this:

The big delivery apps have not only reduced the fees paid to drivers, but removed peak hour “boosts”, paid during heavy rain or at the weekends. “I know very experienced drivers who have been doing it longer than me, who are now working 10 or 11 hours a day …”

Pay is the only thing they have any ability to influence through striking. Conditions are out of their control. Food is regularly stolen from the backs of bikes and mopeds. The lack of sick pay means they work through illness. “Right now, there’s a guy with a broken leg working. My neighbour was working with a broken finger for two weeks. When he had to turn left, he had to use his arms. He couldn’t afford to stay at home.” (1)

Gosh, I wonder why apparently this industry relies so much on immigrants and asylum-seekers to do this work? It’s a mystery.

Notes:

(1) Malik, Nesrine (2024): When your food comes via a delivery app, the exploitation is baked right in. Guardian 02/19/2024. (Accessed: 2025-25-07).