KEIR STARMER is the new British prime minister (PM), replacing Rishi Sunak-who at just 44 years old has several years to rebuild and return, especially with the family business wealth to support future political ambitions.

The profile of PM Starmer is on the Internet for anyone interested in reading it. My interest was stirred when there was a scramble by local political-lawyers and others to claim knowledge and legal interaction with the PM in Trinidad and England, thereby establishing a past relationship with the PM.

What does his profile reveal as lessons for our politicians?

• The new PM graduated in 1987 and practised as a defence attorney in the criminal courts, focusing on human rights issues, and became a King’s Counsel in 2002 at 40 years of age after a mere 15 years of experience. It states he was recommended for King’s Counsel by Desmond Allum, an outstanding human being with whom I enjoyed a golf and liming relationship full of political discussions.

• He was a public servant from 2008 to 2013, serving as the DPP and head of Crown Prosecutions. His parliamentary experience included serving as a Labour Party parliamentarian in 2015; Labour leader in 2020; opposition leader, 2021 to 2022; now PM in 2024. His experience spanned public sector service, political party involvement and parliamentary procedures. The statement ‘what knows he of politics who only politics knows’ does not apply to him.

• He authored 11 monographs (specialised books) over the period 1996 to 2021, of which ten are texts on justice and human rights. The most recent monograph is on Fabianism, which is a British form of democratic socialism as opposed to revolutionary socialism. This was of interest because in 1967 the Fabian Society was a subject we studied at the Mona school of development economics (informal label). Seems the PM is a Fabian socialist making his philosophical position clear. What are the political philosophies of our party leaders? Is it a hope for a theocratic state dependent of divine guidance for managing the affairs of the country, such as crime and criminality, and pervasive corruption?

• The leaders of the main political parties in Trinidad, not Tobago, are tenplus years older than the new British PM and have entrenched themselves for another term or two. Have they produced any political literature to guide their members when they eventually depart?

• PM Starmer is an atheist (non- believer) but our Opposition Leader is calling on some mythological lord to bless him and his government, in much the same vein as the Police Commissioner and many politicians in the so-called Red and Yellow gangs (ref Delroy Dopwell). For an atheist such blessings are insulting their intelligence. Are they aware that countries with the highest standards of living like Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Japan have populations with high percentages of atheists? Is there a correlation?

Haven Allahar Diego Martin