Sam Freedman
There is a deep sense of frustration on the centre-left and within the Labour party itself at their progress so far in government. No one ever thought it would be easy, given the fiscal context, global tensions and shambolic state of public services. Trump’s victory has made a poor hand even harder to play.
But they didn’t think it would be this hard. That frustration was explicit in Keir Starmer’s pre-Christmas speech complaining about the British state’s willingness to wallow in the “tepid bath of managed decline”. SPADs and ministers are learning, like many before them, that the levers they’re allowed to pull often aren’t connected to anything.
At the same time there’s frustration from senior officials and advisers that a lack of direction from Starmer makes it even harder to work this creaky machine. As I’ve noted before he doesn’t enjoy discussions about abstract philosophy or strategy; preferring concrete decisions on specific questions. In his first speech outside No. 10 he spoke of leading a government “unburdened by doctrine”. And, especially after the last decade or so, there’s a superficial attractiveness to a managerial leadership that isn’t demanding everything passes a rigid ideological test.
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