LABOUR Leadership contender Rebecca Long-Bailey has made a veiled attack on rival Sir Keir Starmer by drawing attention to the danger of Labour falling into the hands of 'Establishment' figures in 'shiny suits.' 

The trouble is she is 25 years overdue with this accurate depiction.

Her comments recall the very bad old days of Blair's misnamed 'New Labour' from 1995 to 2010.

Fifteen years of Blair, Mandelson, Blunkett, Campbell et al paved the way for the return of the original Tories in 2010, the launching of the anti-working class "austerity" programme and vicious persecution of the sick, the disabled, and the unemployed.

Starmer is very much in the "New Labour" mould, although he is claiming adherence to Corbyn's policies in a shameless, disingenuous bid to win the support of Labour's overwhelmingly Corbynite membership.

A "Knight of the Realm" like Starmer is hardly likely to enthuse either the 500,000-strong Labour membership or the longsuffering British working class.

So Long-Bailey is right to warn that Starmer is the "Establishment" choice for Labour Leader.

His "shiny suits" portend yet another extended period of the slippery snake that is Blairism, slavish support of US imperialism and its warmongering around the globe, and yet more "austerity."

Long-Bailey is the choice of the Corbynistas and UNITE Trade Union bureaucrats, who haven't lifted a finger against Tory Council cuts or wage freezes since 2015 when Corbyn became Leader.

James Roberts, Wallasey