May Day. Usually it's our day. Labour's day. But Christ, not this time.

I've spent twenty-odd years celebrating May Day with comrades, singing the old songs, remembering the fallen who built our movement from nothing but sweat and hope. The miners of Durham, factory workers crushed by machinery, sailors lost at sea – all trying to feed their families while the bosses counted profits. These weren't just statistics to me. My grandfather was a Durham miner who helped build those burial societies when nobody else gave a damn if workers lived or died.

When Your Cradle Becomes Your Tomb

But this May Day? Total disaster.

We just watched County Durham – COUNTY DURHAM – fall after a century of Labour control. Let that sink in. The place where Labour was practically born just told us to piss off. Our cradle literally became our tomb.

I sat there watching the results come in with my old union mate Dave (who's been campaigning for Labour since 1978) and he just put his head in his hands. "We're done for," he whispered.

The Tories Are Rotting Before Our Eyes

Look, the Conservatives got absolutely hammered worse than us. But that's hardly comforting. They're just showing us our future if we don't change course.

Remember 2019? I do. I was in Hartlepool watching lifelong Labour voters – people whose families had voted Labour since their grandparents' time – walk into polling stations and vote Conservative. It was like watching someone set fire to their own house.

The Tories promised to "take back control" and manage immigration. Then did the opposite. Now they're paying for it.

I've Seen This Movie Before (And It Ends With Trump)

Back in 2017, I got an unexpected invitation to Trump's inauguration. Don't ask me how – long story involving an academic conference and too many whiskeys with an American professor. But I went.

The energy at those MAGA rallies wasn't what the media portrayed. It wasn't just racism or stupidity (tho there was plenty of that). It was rage against being ignored. Against elites who talked down to them while shipping their jobs overseas.

And now Farage is playing the same tune here. He's a saloon-bar Thatcherite who'd sell his grandmother for publicity, but he understands something we've forgotten: working people's anger is real and justified.

Five Things Starmer Must Do Now (Or We're Finished)

Keir's a decent man. I've known him for years. But he needs to wake up and smell the political coffee before it's too late.

First – rebuild our Armed Forces. Double them in five years. This isn't just about defense – it's about pride, sovereignty, and jobs. When I visited my cousin's son at his army base last year, he showed me equipment from the 1980s they're still using. Embarrassing.

Second – we need a proper industrial strategy tied to defense. Stop buying weapons from abroad and build our own. I've been to Ukraine 12 times since the war started (my wife thinks I'm mad), and I'm telling you – our partnership with them could transform British manufacturing.

London-Kiev must counterbalance Paris-Berlin. France and Germany are circling the drain while the EU paralyzes itself with bureaucracy. We escaped that trap – let's use our freedom!

Universities Aren't Working

Half our universities should become vocational colleges linked to industry and the military. My nephew graduated with £60K debt and a media studies degree. He's driving for Uber. Meanwhile, we're importing welders and engineers because we don't train enough.

Third – leave the European Court of Human Rights. Now. The ability to deport criminals shouldn't depend on whether Albania serves decent chicken nuggets in prison.

God. I remember when human rights meant protecting people from torture, not ensuring drug dealers get premium cable in detention.

Water, Steel, and Treasury Reform

Fourth – nationalize water and steel immediately. It's insane that Chinese companies control our steel while Saudi investment funds own our water. These aren't luxury goods – they're strategic assets.

And for heaven's sake, abolish the Treasury as a separate department. No successful business is run by accountants unless it's in receivership.

The Demon We Must Exorcise

Fifth – and I won't mince words here – we need a judicial inquiry with arrest powers into grooming gangs. Televise the trials.

What happened to thousands of working-class girls in towns across England was an abomination. The establishment's failure to protect them has unleashed something dark in our politics. Only justice will heal this wound.

Keir was once a prosecutor. He knows how to do this.

Labour called itself "Labour" for a reason. We were the party of working people. By them, for them, of them.

We've forgotten that. And unless we remember fast, we'll be watching Nigel Farage moving into Downing Street in 2029.

The clock is ticking.