‘It’s more incrementalism’: Starmer’s safe king’s speech fails to quell mutiny
For Keir Starmer’s Labour critics, his second king’s speech, in which the government set out what it would do in parliament over the next 12 to 18 months, was a crystallisation of everything that was wrong with the prime minister’s strategy.Over 34 bills and three draft ones, Starmer set out a programme he said would “make this country stronger and fairer”.But the package, which included limiting trial by jury, reshaping the NHS and moving the country closer to the EU, fell short of what some in the prime minister’s party feel is needed to win back voters’ trust.“Most of this is incrementalism,” said one Labour MP.“This sums up where we have gone wrong in the first two years in government.
We talk about not going back to the status quo and then propose boosting growth by tweaking the wording of regulators’ remits.”Harry Quilter-Pinner, the head of the Institute for Public Policy Research, called for “much bolder action on the cost of living, including rent controls, alongside longer-term reforms to growth, the state, and Britain’s relationship with Europe”.Starmer’s legislative agenda is made up of measures that have previously been announced but for which the government has not yet found time.Some of them involve major changes to the way public services are run.An NHS modernisation bill will legislate for the abolition of NHS England, which the health secretary Wes Streeting has already announced.
An education bill will enact the sweeping changes to special educational needs provision that the education secretary unveiled at a speech earlier this year.A courts bill will limit trial by jury in a bid to reverse some of the backlog gumming up the courts system.Other bills, however, appear to do less than they promise, and display what critics say is Starmer’s characteristic reluctance to embrace trade-offs.A regulating for growth bill promises to help Britain to “compete on the world stage”, something it will achieve largely by giving regulators a mandate to promote growth.When asked whether this would mean giving less priority to other factors such as safety or the environment, Downing Street said this would not have to be the case.
“It’s not about deregulation,” the prime minister’s spokesperson said,“It’s about giving greater weight to economic growth when making decisions, without weakening safety, environmental or consumer protections,”The problem for the prime minister is that the king’s speech came against the backdrop of a major policy debate within the Labour party, prompted by the manoeuvrings of various potential leadership candidates,In competing publications on Wednesday, two groups of Labour MPs set out their visions for what the party should be doing instead,The Labour Growth Group, whose chair, Chris Curtis, is an ally of Wes Streeting and called this week for the prime minister to resign, wants a significant rise in capital gains tax to pay for a reduction in national insurance.
The group also wants a major package of devolution that would allow mayors to tax and spend, as well as changes to the structure of government, including the creation of a new office of the prime minister.Meanwhile the soft-left Tribune group, many of whose members want to see Andy Burnham replace the prime minister, want greater public ownership of utilities – particularly Thames Water.They are also calling for changes to the government’s fiscal rules to allow it to borrow more, but only after the next election.In the immediate term they want to levy a new land and property tax to replace stamp duty.For some of Starmer’s critics, these proposals show the party is having the kind of in-depth policy conversation it should have had before the election.
“We weren’t discussing ideas for how we were to run the country, and we didn’t develop a good enough or sufficient plan for government for when we got there,” Curtis told an event in Westminster on Tuesday evening.Some of the prime minister’s allies say the ideas being promoted by competing factions within the party are not very different from what the government is doing anyway.Starmer was planning to launch his own plan to create an “office for the prime minister” this week before he was derailed by having to defend his job against a possible leadership coup, sources say.Even his critics argue the party should continue to be bound by the manifesto on which he was elected – limiting the scope for major changes, for example to the UK’s relationship with the EU or the amount the government can borrow.“We need to stick to our manifesto,” said Miatta Fahnbulleh, one of the ministers who resigned this week.
“It’s more about how do we put the manifesto up in lights.”Curtis is blunter in his assessment of the prime minister’s policy failings.“What we need to hear from the prime minister is what are the barriers he needs to remove so change can happen quicker, and so that we can get our economy back into the place where it’s growing and delivering for people,” he said on Tuesday evening.“Because at this moment in time isn’t.”
‘Hold the line’: Burnham tells allies in parliament he still has options to return
Andy Burnham has told Labour MPs they should hold the line and that he has options to return to parliament after several seats identified by his allies failed to materialise.Two seats that backers of the Greater Manchester mayor had described as “nailed on” as recently as Monday night are now out of contention after the MPs concerned got cold feet.Burnham spoke to a number of MPs by phone on Tuesday and assured them that he still intended to seek an imminent return to parliament.The Guardian was told by two MPs on Wednesday that Jeff Smith, who represents Manchester Withington, an affluent suburb of the city, was in talks about stepping aside for Burnham, but his friends denied it. Asked whether he was about to make way, Smith told the Press Association he was not
EU proposes end to ‘five tabs, three apps and a prayer’ for cross-border train bookings
Cross-border train journeys through several European countries are the stuff of many a holidaymaker’s dreams.But the reality of trying to buy the tickets, navigating multiple websites without knowing who can help if a connection is missed, can prove less than relaxing. As one MEP puts it, it can often require “five tabs, three apps and a prayer”.Now, however, the European Commission has proposed that before the end of the decade passengers should be able to buy one ticket for one journey and be better protected when trains are late or cancelled.“Europeans will be able with the click of a button to plan, compare and purchase multimodal journeys across borders while benefiting from stronger rail passenger rights, greater transparency and better protection every step of the way,” the EU transport commissioner, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, said on Wednesday, as he published new rules intended to transform the “excessively complex” experience he said rail travellers met when booking tickets
What is the king’s speech and what is the state opening of parliament?
The king’s speech is the centrepiece of the state opening of parliament, the main ceremonial event of the parliamentary calendar, and the only regular occasion when the three constituent parts of parliament – the sovereign, the House of Lords and the House of Commons – meet. It marks the start of the new parliamentary year,Although delivered by the monarch in their constitutional role as the UK head of state, the speech is written by the government to outline its policies and proposed legislation for the new parliamentary session. Formally called the “speech from the throne” because it is delivered from the throne of the House of Lords, the monarch reads it out in a neutral tone. Whatever their private feelings the monarch must not show any preference for any political party or its policies.The event is taking place as the prime minister, Keir Starmer, fights for his future in Downing Street after heavy losses in the 7 May elections
Online safety campaigners reveal Starmer frustrations after Phillips exit
Internet safety and children’s rights campaigners have accused Keir Starmer of failing to act on proposals to stop children sending and receiving nude images on their phones, after Jess Phillips resigned from the government saying she was tired of seeing “opportunities for progress stalled and delayed”.The Labour politician was one of four ministers who quit on Tuesday and joined more than 80 MPs calling for the prime minister to go.In a coruscating letter she focused on a lack of urgency and boldness in tackling child abuse images, accusing Starmer of failing to take action to stop children being able to take or send naked pictures.She said: “Over a year ago I presented solutions, long worked on by brilliant civil servants, that would end the ability for children in the UK to take naked images of themselves.“We could stop this abuse
Are working-class voters lost to Labour for good? | Letters
It would be helpful for progressive parties and the media to focus more on why so many people voted for Reform UK. Your article (What’s behind surge in support for Reform and Greens across England? Five key takeaways, 10 May) indicates that it gained more support in deprived areas – but this doesn’t answer the question why.What sort of UK do Reform voters want? Do they want councils that reduce local care services for their vulnerable elderly relatives and children, to save a few pennies off council tax? The ending of environmental protections? The scrapping of equal-opportunities policies that protect women and minority groups?When Reform voters are asked about the party’s policies, they fail to articulate much apart from “stop the boats” – because Reform’s plans have very little detail or real‑world application.The Labour government has been in power for less than two years and has delivered the Renters’ Rights Act and the Employment Rights Act, removed the two-child cap on universal credit, increased provision of free school meals and facilitated millions more NHS appointments.The focus on personality-driven politics has left the door open for local governments to be led by privately educated multimillionaires who dismiss the climate crisis and favour cryptocurrency
Labour MPs channel Tory psychodrama as Starmer keeps hiding in plain sight | John Crace
It used to be football managers who measured their time at a club in months. Or even days at Spurs. Anything over two years qualifies you for a long service medal. Now it’s prime ministers. In fact it’s worse than that
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