the neolib side of labour have always (since '97 at least) taken the stance that the british public are simply more right wing than us lefties would like to believe, thus it is only possible to be elected by being sufficiently right wing.
they cling to this idea so dearly, ignoring the fact that there were extenuating circumstances surrounding new labour's success (ample media support e.g. the s*n; collapse of conservative's establishment and popular support due to pro-eu stance etc.), that when they get their way and it still doesn't work out (e.g. losing the election despite forcing corbyn to concede to a brexit redo that nobody wanted, or starmer's perpetual unpopularity) they immediately start talking about how racist the common unwashed are and that we must become blue labour and focus on immigration and social conservatism.
when that inevitably fails, they'll probably start going on about how we must become the fascist labour party in order to appeal to the sensibilities of the average brit.