A defence of Labour was overdue, but Keir Starmer needs to listen to his opponents | Letters
Yes, Polly Toynbee, the Labour government has managed some worthwhile achievements, but its route to those achievements has been convoluted to the point of obtuseness (Let me tell you the good things the government has done in 2025 – because it certainly won’t, 22 December).Keir Starmer’s biographer Tom Baldwin has noted that Starmer is an iterative problem solver who gets the right solution, eventually.There are three problems with this approach; most importantly, when his starting point is too distant from the right solution he wastes time that could be better put to increase the number of successful achievements; second, he ends up looking weak to parliamentary opposition and the electorate because he’s reversed his position so often; and lastly, he causes anger, frustration and resentment within his own party.In short, Starmer should listen seriously to his opponents in his own party.When his initial instinct is to instead suppress opposition, it is no wonder that it takes him so long to work out when he is in the wrong.
Hylton GuthrieNorth Shields, Tyne and Wear Polly Toynbee rightly draws attention to Labour’s successes, but, as she says, “what’s the use” when the government and its leader are so unpopular.She is correct that voters have little patience with incumbents’ failure to produce change, compounded in this case by policy errors and an inability to tell a convincing story.The danger is that without some restoration of Labour’s fortunes, defeat by the far right beckons at the next general election, when many of Labour’s achievements will be dismantled.In these circumstances, the prospects under an alternative leader will continue to be a matter for speculation.One of the hardest choices for a leader will always be to consider whether their own position helps or hinders the prospects for their party and the country.
Keir Starmer may well come to reflect that stepping aside at the appropriate time would enable transition to a new leadership better equipped both to unite the party and collaborate with others to ensure there is no return to the destructive rightwing policies of the past.Dr Anthony IsaacsLondon Polly Toynbee points to the achievements of the government since July 2024, but we have been here before.It was not popular on the left to say so, but New Labour did some positive things – from the minimum wage to investment, albeit qualified by privatisation.All that, however, was overshadowed by the Iraq war, just as currently Gaza rightly looms large.Labour needs to get rid of its imperial delusions, or, as the Sex Pistols sang almost 50 years ago now, there is no future in England’s dreaming.
Keith FlettTottenham, London Finally, someone with the courage to list the positive achievements of this government,I am heartily sick of the expectation that so many years of Tory mismanagement can be turned around in five minutes,Get behind this team and give them a chance,The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about,Julia MorrisonNewcastle upon Tyne Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
DIY shops enjoy bumper year as UK property market slows
Retailers of home improvement products are having a glittering year on the London stock market, as cash-strapped UK consumers turn to DIY projects after being priced out of moving home or undertaking expensive renovations.Publicly listed retailers including the B&Q owner, Kingfisher, as well as Topps Tiles, Wickes and the sofa seller DFS are on track for double-digit percentage share price increases of as much as 56% this year.Kingfisher and Topps Tiles have posted share price increases of 26.5% and 13% respectively, their best annual gains since the pandemic, while a 23% year-to-date rise at DFS is its strongest year since 2019.Kingfisher, which also operates in France and Poland, has issued two profit upgrades since September on the back of the company’s strong performance in the UK
Copper price on track for biggest rise in 15 years amid global shortage fears
Copper, the metal that underpins the fast-growing renewable energy industry, is on course for its biggest annual price rise in more than 15 years as traders react to fears of global shortages.As one of the main beneficiaries of the “electrification of everything”, copper has soared by more than 35% in value this year, spurred by US tariff uncertainty and concerns about mining disasters that could restrict supply.Analysts said copper had also joined silver and gold as a safe haven asset for investors wanting to hedge against the falling value of the dollar.Silver reached a record high on Monday, pushing the value of the Mexican mining company Fresnillo, which is listed on the London stock market, to a record high this month. The price of gold has jumped above $4,400 (£3,263) an ounce, up more than 70% since the beginning of January
Nearly half of Americans believe their financial security is getting worse, poll finds
Twice as many Americans believe their financial security is getting worse than better, according to an exclusive new poll conducted for the Guardian, and they are increasingly blaming the White House.The poll, conducted by Harris, will be a further blow to Donald Trump’s efforts to fight off criticism of his handling of the economy and contains some worrying findings for the president.Nearly half (45%) of Americans said their financial security is getting worse compared to 20% who said it’s getting better.57% of Americans said the US economy is undergoing a recession, up 11% from a similar poll that was conducted in February.The US is not experiencing a recession, which is typically defined as two quarters of negative growth
Influx of cheap Chinese imports could drive down UK inflation, economists say
The UK is poised for an influx of cheap Chinese imports that could bring down inflation amid the fallout from Donald Trump’s global trade war, leading economists have said.After figures showed China’s trade surplus surpassed $1tn (£750bn) despite Washington’s tariff policies hitting exports to the US, the Bank of England said the UK was among the nations emerging as alternative destinations for the goods.Stephen Millard, a deputy director at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said: “There is an expectation that given the high tariffs the US are imposing on China, that China will divert its trade elsewhere and one of those places will be the UK.”This month Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank’s rate setting monetary policy committee, told MPs on the Treasury committee there were early signs of trade diversion affecting UK inflation.“Import prices have started to moderate on the back of sterling appreciation and some of the spillover of the diversion of Chinese products from the US tariff burdens to other places, including to our docks
UK accounting body to halt remote exams amid AI cheating
The world’s largest accounting body is to stop students being allowed to take exams remotely to crack down on a rise in cheating on tests that underpin professional qualifications.The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which has almost 260,000 members, has said that from March it will stop allowing students to take online exams in all but exceptional circumstances.“We’re seeing the sophistication of [cheating] systems outpacing what can be put in, [in] terms of safeguards,” Helen Brand, the chief executive of the ACCA, said in an interview with the Financial Times.Remote testing was introduced during the Covid pandemic to allow students to continue to be able to qualify at a time when lockdowns prevented in-person exam assessment.In 2022, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the UK’s accounting and auditing industry regulator, said that cheating in professional exams was a “live” issue at Britain’s biggest companies
Help UK ceramics industry or ‘lose piece of national identity’, government told
Britain will lose a piece of its national identity if the country’s ceramics industry is allowed to descend further into crisis without state assistance, the government has been warned.Ceramics producers including the struggling potteries of Staffordshire have come under huge pressure owing to factors such as the UK’s sky-high energy costs, leading to job losses.In a report, unions and the Green Alliance thinktank urged the government to step in to support the centuries-old sector.“Tens of thousands of working-class jobs rely on the ceramics sector so we cannot afford to leave its future to chance. But so far we aren’t seeing enough action from a government grappling with the unique challenges the sector faces,” said Chris Hoofe of the GMB union
UK medical regulator warns against buying weight-loss jabs from social media channels
Most Europeans think state pensions will become unaffordable, polling shows
‘I tried. I felt everything’: readers tell us how they would use their last chance to send a letter
Gambling firms spent nearly £5m to advertise on TfL since London mayor’s ban pledge
AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this winter
Dagenham’s sewing machinists did not go on strike primarily for equal pay | Letters