The far left should form their own party and let the grown-ups get on with running Labour

It’s about time we faced the fact that Keir Starmer isn’t the reason why the Labour Party is failing to make strides in the opinion polls. Rather, its far-left activist base is – and the sooner they form their own party, the better.

That’s because their version of left-wing politics is completely incompatible with the average voter – but even if Starmer managed to remove all trace of Jeremy Corbyn from the party, nothing will change until far-left activists are able to find a new political home. Until then, the public will automatically presume they are speaking on behalf of Labour.

What happened outside the London School of Economics recently – unsettling footage of students on the anniversary of Kristallnacht screaming and intimidating the Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely to such a degree that she fled the university in fear – is nothing short of a disgrace.

The Instagram page “LSE Class War”, led by students, describes itself as a campaign group that wishes to “bring a return to being an institution of class solidarity, not to serve the interests of the privileged few”.

This mission statement is strikingly similar to Labour’s previous message under Corbyn’s leadership: “For the many, not for the few”; and of course, class struggle is a conversation that naturally finds itself on the left.

But the students sent the following disturbing messages to its followers ahead of Hotovely’s appearance: “Whoever smashes the Ambassador car window (Lincoln’s Inn Field), gets pints. Let’s f***in’ frighten her” and “18:25, we’re storming in. Let’s make her shake. F**k the old bill”.

If linked to Labour by the general public, this intolerant (and frankly frightening) behaviour will be a massive turn-off to voters at the next general election. No matter how “sleazy” the Tories are proven to be, reasonable people will not want to align themselves to a movement that is so dripping in toxicity.

I suspect that if you were to ask these students who they are most likely to vote for in an upcoming election, few (if any) would say Conservative – but they may indeed be inclined to vote Labour, as the party for some time has become openly preoccupied with the Israeli-Palestine conflict, aided by MPs such as Richard Burgon and Zarah Sultana, who continue to push this message to their Twitter followers.

Of course, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Labour discussing this issue – but when incidents like this occur, you could be forgiven for thinking this is a representation of the party itself, because of its involvement in the conversation.

When boundaries are crossed – and students push protest to the absolute limit – this reflects badly on the party. They may or may not be members or supporters, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to make the distinction.

The electorate aren’t brainwashed by Johnson – it’s not as if he’s worshipped across the country. But they simply have nothing in common with the far left. In my view, the far left already feel entitled to act with total impunity under a Tory government – so imagine how they would behave if they’d won! I genuinely shudder at the thought.

Once again, Keir Starmer is not the cause of Labour’s failure to woo the public – the far left who hang around the party like a bad smell are to blame for it. The average working-class voter has nothing in common with far-left ideals which can be both abstract and, at times, extreme.

Those who feel that the Conservatives are not right wing enough can find a home in Reform UK and Ukip. If they believe the “right” isn’t “right” enough, they have somewhere to go – and therefore their more extreme demands do not tarnish the Tories.

But right now, the Labour Party is as far left as you can go, and this will continue to be an obstacle for the party itself. Any public display of far-left behaviour will end up injuring Labour’s reputation – it cannot be blamed or attributed to anyone else.

Labour is in a position where it clearly feels it has to cater to every disparate need and want within one framework – and it’s a recipe for disaster.

Within one single party there are those who want to discuss poverty, the ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict, business, green solutions, gender identity, patriotism, and much more. Its vision (if you can call it that) is confused and incoherent.

Yes, the Tories are accused of corruption; but the average voter will look at the left and think to themselves, “better the devil you know”.

Remove Starmer and I suspect that Labour will continue to remain stationary in the opinion polls. Until the far left forges a new base far away from those who want to sell a relatable and palatable image to the electorate, it will stay paralysed in opposition.

Perhaps it’s time that we all started a crowdfunding page for the far left to form their own party. I would happily pay for them to go and fight under a banner that is in no way related to Labour.

For the good of democracy itself, they need to be placed as far away as possible from the political mainstream.