Mayor Jamie Driscoll warns of right-wing populism risk amid cost of living crisis

Labour’s Jamie Driscoll has warned that the cost of living crisis could become a “breeding ground for right-wing populism” amid the climate emergency, the ongoing pandemic and the threat of global nuclear war.

The North of Tyne mayor has also indicated that he disagrees with Labour’s current approach to disciplinary action, after the party recently decided to expel his campaign manager over alleged links to banned group Socialist Appeal.

Speaking at a Labour in Communications event today, Driscoll said the cost of living crisis had deepened against the backdrop of “a very dangerous and unsafe world”, with climate change, Covid and the potential for nuclear war.

The mayor argued that the cost of living crisis should not be seen as “the raw material” that will necessarily prompt voters to believe it is time to remove the Conservative Party from power.

He instead emphasised the risk of the crisis becoming “a breeding ground for right-wing populism”, describing the current situation as “not massively dissimilar, in some ways, to the 1930s”.

Driscoll said it should be acknowledged that “the same oligarchs” propping up Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US President Donald Trump are “the same people who are taking all the money out of our local electricity company, which is why families are struggling to pay the bills”.

He made the case that Labour should be calling for tougher regulation of the energy industry. If companies cannot make a profit and are providing essential infrastructure, “we should be putting them back into public ownership”, he said.

Asked whether he agreed with the Labour Party policy of proscribing groups such as Socialist Appeal, Driscoll replied: “My thoughts on this are very much always a natural justice point of view.”

But he added: “What worries me is, you were invited to speak at a meeting three years ago, and now you’re going to be expelled. I don’t like that in society. I don’t like it in the Labour Party.”

His comments follow the recent decision by the party to expel Driscoll’s campaign manager Tony Pierre after it was alleged that he was a member of Socialist Appeal. The group was proscribed by Labour’s ruling national executive committee last year.

The Mirror reported that Pierre had been expelled along with Northumberland councillor Holly Waddell. She has since denied ever being a Socialist Appeal member and said she believes Labour has “mistakenly taken likes from my Facebook page as an endorsement”.

The event was hosted by Labour in Communications. Later this month, the group will be speaking to Dan Jarvis, South Yorkshire mayor and MP for Barnsley Central, and Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotherham will be interviewed in early April.