A government with no plan for ‘change’

Labour merchandise depicting UK prime minister Keir Starmer on the opening day of the UK Labour Party conference
Labour merchandise depicting UK prime minister Keir Starmer on the opening day of the UK Labour Party conference

Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool was supposed to be a celebratory jamboree. It is the party’s first such gathering in power for 15 years and the first after a period in Opposition of more than a quarter of a century.

Instead it is an uncertain affair, dominated by the row over free gifts from donors and union objections to the cut in winter fuel allowances. The conference gave a rousing reception to Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader, even as she faced fresh questions over accepting free accommodation from Labour donor Lord Alli.

She claimed that all politicians took freebies, therefore all that mattered was whether the rules were observed. Whether the voters will see it that way is another matter.

This row has become so toxic that the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Sue Gray, who is locked in an internal power battle, is not attending the conference.

Ms Rayner and others have accused the media of focusing on personalities and not policies. So let’s look at those. In Liverpool, the word “change” is everywhere, bandied about as though its repetition will bring it about by some osmotic process. As the Victorian premier Lord Salisbury remarked, “Why change – aren’t things bad enough already?”

But Sir Keir Starmer is forever insisting that he has a mandate “to change the country” which is patently not the case. The country emphatically voted to change the government but that is not the same thing.

Voters had become weary of the Tories after 14 years in office and wanted something different. But since Labour won just 34 per cent of the vote on a 60 per cent turnout this cannot be taken as a green light for wholesale change even if we knew what it entailed.

What people felt they were not getting from the Conservatives was competence and direction. Promises made were not delivered. They are not looking to Labour to reverse past policies but to make them work. Voters want the economy to grow, the health service to improve, immigration to be controlled, green policies to be sensible and benefits reduced but without savings being squandered on public sector pay rises.

We are not seeing “change”, however many times Sir Keir and his ministers repeat the word over the coming few days. Change is something you plan for before embarking on the project. Sir Keir is just governing by the seat of his well-tailored pants.