DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Perils of Sir Keir Starmer and a super-majority
There is a worrying sense across the country that the General Election result is a foregone conclusion.
The only question now in many people's minds is not whether Labour is going to win, but what the margin of victory will be.
If the polls are to be trusted, the word 'landslide' may not express the scale of it.
Survey after survey predicts Sir Keir Starmer is on course for a victory that would eclipse even Tony Blair's whopping 179-seat majority in 1997.
Sir Keir Starmer, addresses the audience during a Sky News election event with Sky's political editor Beth Rigby
'Democracy,' wrote acclaimed author Poul Henningsen (pictured), 'can only be measured by the existence of an opposition'
But if the Conservatives are reduced to a rump of a few dozen MPs – troublingly feasible with tactical voting – who will hold a Labour government's feet to the fire?
Not the Lib Dems if, by some nightmare, they form the official opposition. They disagree with Sir Keir on virtually nothing.
This is why it is so vital that disillusioned Tory voters do not fall into the trap of handing Labour a 'super-majority'.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps is right to warn that would be 'very bad news'.
Ex-attorney general Sir Geoffrey Cox is even blunter. We risk, he says, 'sleepwalking into a one-party socialist state'.
Of course, it is understandable that many voters think the Tories deserve all the punishment they get. Their failures on everything from immigration to levelling up are seen by millions as a betrayal.
But the consequences if the country's main centre-Right party is wiped out are too grim to contemplate.
'Democracy,' wrote acclaimed author Poul Henningsen, 'can only be measured by the existence of an opposition'.
Without an effective adversary in Parliament, Labour could ride roughshod over all other points of view. This is catastrophic for democracy.
There is another reason such untrammelled power is dangerous. Sir Keir has been troublingly vague about what he has in store for the country.
This matters because his most radical ideas have not featured in the campaign at all. We may be enlightened by Labour's manifesto today, but let's not hold our breath.
There are deeply worrying elements of class war socialism in the limited policies that have been unveiled so far – especially the spiteful tax raids on independent schools which could well end up placing an additional burden on the state sector.
How else is he going to raise money for his promised public sector spending splurges? The nagging fear is he will target hard-earned wealth and pensions.
Without an effective adversary in Parliament, Labour could ride roughshod over all other points of view. This is catastrophic for democracy
Nigel Farage arrives at a fundraiser for Donald Trump, hosted by former Neighbours star Holly Valance, in London on June 12
A super-majority would also allow Labour to rig the electoral system to its advantage. Sir Keir favours giving votes to 16-year-olds who are traditionally (and naively) Left-wing. What will stop him enfranchising EU citizens? Or even prisoners?
And he plans to place more power in the hands of the unelected, Left-leaning judiciary and quangos. Such constitutional vandalism could make it near-impossible to remove Labour from government.
Nigel Farage is long on rhetoric but the vagaries of our electoral system mean his insurgent party has no chance of winning more than a tiny number of seats, if that.
There is no better way of inadvertently giving Labour a blank cheque to wreak havoc on the country than voting for Reform UK – or staying at home – on July 4.
So disgruntled Tories who think there is nothing at stake should think again.
Even if they hold their noses, their votes can make a difference to the size of Sir Keir's majority.
If they act in haste, under a Labour government they will repent at leisure. Perhaps for a generation.
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