The Labour Party has often been wracked by disputes over ideological differences, but there has always been an internal consensus among the various factional players that a minimal aim of Labour in government is to reduce poverty. Gaitskellite, Bevanite, Blairite, Brownite, Corbynite: all agreed that Labour had a distinctive distributional mission that sought to use the state … [Read more...] about Labour and ending poverty
Social democracy
Starmer risks self-harm by alienating his party
Political parties with commanding parliamentary majorities are often tempted by the promise of assertive leadership and decisive action. Yet, as the events of the last few weeks reveal, a large majority is no substitute for the subtler arts of political management, party cohesion and narrative discipline. Missteps like suspending four MPs and sacking three trade envoys are not … [Read more...] about Starmer risks self-harm by alienating his party
The spending rollercoaster is well and truly back
Rachel Reeves has delivered the outcome of the Spending Review for both resource and capital budgets across departments and devolved administrations.It was a speech long on detail about many capital projects, but much of the lead was buried. In our preview last week, we noted that the envelope set out in the Spring Statement promised to be a reversal of Robert … [Read more...] about The spending rollercoaster is well and truly back
Insurgent, disruptive or flailing Labour?
When key Labour advisers, and the prime minister himself, are throwing around consultancy-speak words like disruption and insurgency then it’s clear the government has a deep problem. It doesn’t actually know what it's there for, let alone how to be popular – and the feeble, ever narrower repetition of the word ‘growth’, as growth stalls, is not helping. Keir Starmer told his … [Read more...] about Insurgent, disruptive or flailing Labour?
The change election: UK and Scotland
On Friday, world leaders including Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen queued up to offer congratulations to Keir Starmer on his landslide Labour victory. But Hungary’s Viktor Orbán was, outrageously and provocatively, in Moscow meeting Vladimir Putin. His pretence at representing the EU was swiftly rejected by the actual president of the European Council, … [Read more...] about The change election: UK and Scotland