One of the problems of the last 12 years has been the lack of a credible Labour candidate to be Prime Minister.
Ed Miliband was a decent man with a big intellect who still has a role to play in UK politics.
But he was never seen as a potential PM and he lost to the awful David Cameron.
Jeremy Corbyn was certainly principled and managed to make Labour popular among younger voters.
However, the left-winger was wildly unpopular among key voter groups and should never have been leader in the first place.
Keir Starmer, Corbyn’s successor, looks like he is in a different category to his two predecessors.
At a time of chaos in Downing Street, he comes across as a calm professional who is committed to making change happen.
Boris Johnson dismissed Starmer this week as a “lawyer not a leader” but the idea that once leading the Crown Prosecution Service is a negative CV entry is laughable.
Labour should be concerned that their poll lead is not larger than it is but there are signs Starmer is the real deal.
His last reshuffle, during which he promoted sensible Labour figures, was clear evidence he means business.
His interview in today’s Daily Record also shows he is aware of the importance of Scottish voters to securing the keys to Downing Street.
Many Scots want constitutional change and Starmer seems ready to deliver.
Starmer is the first Labour leader since Gordon Brown who looks and sounds like he could be Prime Minister.
Tax us for fools
Scots already know we are heading towards a cost-of-living crisis.
Heating bills are set to double, that is if your account hasn’t already been moved from a defunct power company.
Prices are going up in the shops and in the bars of the big cities a pint of beer is almost £7.
The Tory solution is to stick up National Insurance a whacking £130 a year for someone earning just £20,000 and far more for the squeezed middle.
Meanwhile, the carbon giants, the oil companies who pollute and profit at the same time are raking it in from surging oil prices.
The combined recent profits of Shell and BP, it is estimated, would raise half of the revenue a National Insurance hike would bring in.
It is time for a raid on companies that make more out of government subsidies to the North Sea than they pay in taxes.
Windfall taxes were Gordon Brown’s masterstroke at the Treasury.
Rishi can borrow the magic wand any time he likes.
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