When Labour activists, MPs and unions meet at its “national policy forum” in Nottingham this month, it will be a novelty to hear what the party is for. The past six weeks have seen the leadership distance itself from key policies. It has already ruled out universal childcare for young children and scaled back plans to borrow £28bn a year to invest in green jobs and industry. Keir Starmer has touted dropping a promise to reinstate the Department for International Development. He still refuses to commit to axing the two-child benefit limit, or to supporting the provision of free school meals for all primary school children. The effect is that he appears to spend more time ruling out all the things that Labour won’t do if it wins power than selling the things it will.
This isn’t an accident – it’s entirely deliberate. Labour insiders have suggested the party is actively looking to “make sacrifices” in areas it had previously flagged as important in order to show its “fiscal responsibility”. As strategies go, it is akin to a divorced man burning all his possessions to prove to his ex he doesn’t really want them.
