In the wake of a brutal set of local election results, MPs from across the Labour party are trying to establish what went wrong. To me, it’s very clear that this was no fluke: it was the entirely foreseeable outcome of my party’s approach to Reform UK. And as the party moves forward and prepares to face Reform at future elections, it’s key that we learn the right lessons.
From flip-flopping on climate commitments to framing disabled people as part of the undeserving poor, Labour thus far hasn’t challenged Reform’s worldview – it has legitimatised it. However, there are some perhaps surprising areas where Labour isn’t copying Reform: public ownership of water for one.
