They’re looking like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Labour’s upper echelon, both the prime minister and his rivals, have served up a performance of such political ineptitude, walking into doors and tripping over their own feet, that it’s hard to argue with the cabinet minister who glumly told me this was the week when the government did itself damage that can never be repaired, if not the week that Labour confirmed its defeat at the next general election.
As so often, the lead was set from the top. Keir Starmer’s allies had billed his speech on Monday as a major address, one that would meet the scale of the moment and recognise the need for Labour to chart a new course, given the shellacking the party had suffered at the hands of voters in England, Scotland and Wales on 7 May.
