Labour is in danger of walling itself off from working people

Keir Starmer tried to claim he had not changed the party’s position on public ownership for the railways. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Observer

Last week was a watershed for Labour under Keir Starmer’s leadership, laying bare the limitations of the party’s project as it stands.

Labour aimed to start last week with a set-piece speech on economic growth. Instead, it succeeded in turning it into rows with itself – over dropping public ownership of the big utilities, its stance on the wages crisis, and its handling of strikes.