DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Some reset! It was blather and big talk
Sir Keir Starmer was apparently peeved his keynote speech had been widely described as a reset of his ailing administration.
Sir Keir Starmer was apparently peeved his keynote speech had been widely described as a reset of his ailing administration.
His spin doctors vehemently denied this. It was, they said, a chance for the Prime Minister to flesh out his policy agenda.
But after a rocky first five months in power, a reset it most definitely was. For Labour to need to explain its purpose so soon after winning a landslide majority is a clear sign something has gone horribly wrong.
Sir Keir dubbed it a plan for change. And its complicated, involving seven pillars of growth, six milestones, five missions and three foundation stones. The only thing missing was a partridge in a pear tree.
If it works, Britain will be born again – a veritable Utopia. Everyone better off, a housebuilding revolution, the streets rid of crime, slashed NHS waiting times, children given the best start in life, a greener country.
But where in this grand scheme is any detail of how it is to be achieved? It was not so much a policy platform as a wish-list.
There was plenty of blather and big talk from the PM, but almost nothing original. And most of his targets had gaping holes.
Take Sir Keirs ambition to have more police on the beat. Thats all well and good, but simultaneously he believes officers should waste valuable time pursuing so-called non-crime hate incidents.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers his plan for change speech at Pinewood Studios on December 5, 2024 in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England
The Prime Minister detailed six milestones he hopes to reach by 2029 including a pledge to raise real household disposable income, to raise the proportion of children deemed ready for school at age 5 from 67.7 per cent to 75 per cent, increase police on the street numbers by 13000 and build 1.5 million new houses
His promise of 1.5 million new homes and 150 major infrastructure projects is also admirable, but is he willing to tear up the obstructive environmental laws that are thwarting development? We doubt it somehow.
In a humiliating concession to reality, the PM watered down his green plan for 100 per cent zero-carbon electricity by 2030. Why though, when it was in black and white, did he lie and say there had been no change?
No one could quibble with Sir Keirs pledges to raise living standards and deliver a new approach to wealth creation. But so far, his policies could not have been designed more perfectly to achieve the opposite.
By lumbering firms and workers with an extra £40billion in taxes in the Budget, the Government is strangling growth, losing jobs and hitting wages.
In a bold passage of his speech, Sir Keir criticised the civil service for complacency and failing to properly serve the public.
His plan for change, he said, would land on the desks of Whitehall with the thud of a heavy gauntlet being thrown down.
But which bureaucrat would ever see it? Barely a desk in Whitehall is occupied as civil servants work from home in their droves – a damaging practice about which ministers are supremely relaxed.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner sits with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as he waits to give a speech in Buckinghamshire to set out his Governments plan for change promising a shift away from Whitehalls declinist mentality
In many ways, Sir Keirs speech was more notable for what was absent. Missing was any target to boost defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP or get some of the 2.8million claiming long-term sick benefit back to work.
And it was simply inexplicable that curbing immigration was not a priority. Net migration has reached a scarcely believable 906,000, while a staggering number still cross the Channel in small boats.
The PM, rightly, said it was unforgivable the Tories allowed migration to spiral out of control. But if hes unwilling to implement tough measures to rectify this scandal, it will look like he too doesnt really care.
The first five months of Labour government have done little to inspire confidence in its competence. Indeed, they have served to worsen almost every area of life.
So does anyone, apart from Sir Keir and his acolytes, really believe they will one day be our salvation? Judging by their ever worsening poll ratings, the answer is no.
