Starmer isn’t “too cautious”: he is ruthlessly tearing Labour apart A year in, the British Labour leader is giving the Tories an easy ride while investing his energy in an all-out war on the party’s left by Jonathan Cook / April 5th, 2021 The completion of Keir Starmer’s first year as Labour leader might have passed without note, had it not been the occasion for senior party figures to express mounting concern at Labour’s dismal performance in opposition to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government. At a time when Labour ought to be landing regular punches on the ruling party over its gross incompetence in handling the Covid-19pandemic, and cronyism in its awarding of multimillion-pound coronavirus-related contracts, Starmer has preferred to avoid confrontation. Critics have accused him of being “too cautious” and showing a “lack of direction”.