Labour Retreats: Campaigning and Brain-Dead Strategy
- Many of us, when struggling in one part of our jobs, end up retreating to our comfort zone. For some Labour MPs, examining a surreal week in which...
- The persistent problem for this government is the large gap between what works on paper and the real-world effect of its choices and decisions.
- Last year's Budget was full of them - a higher minimum wage, a series of taxes that targeted Britain's wealthiest residents, tax rises on farmers and money for...
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The Perils of ‘Good on Paper’: labour’s Internal Divisions and the Reality Gap
Table of Contents
The Retreat to Comfort Zones
Many of us, when struggling in one part of our jobs, end up retreating to our comfort zone. For some Labour MPs, examining a surreal week in which Downing Street appeared to have declared war on itself, the bizarre attack by “senior aides” (generally believed to have been Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s chief of staff) on the health secretary, Wes Streeting, was just such a retreat. McSweeney is generally credited with being an adroit campaigner and drawer of dividing lines, but he now appears to be picking opponents from within Starmer’s own government. As far as dividing lines go, “stick with Starmer or the bond market freaks out” is not a bad one, at least on paper.
The Gap Between Theory and Practice
The persistent problem for this government is the large gap between what works on paper and the real-world effect of its choices and decisions. If this month’s Budget is, in fact, a sensible mixture of broad-based tax rises and reforms to bring the public finances into surplus, then a markets dividing line works. But much of the plan has been thrown into doubt at the eleventh hour as a potential casualty of another one of McSweeney’s dividing lines, this time on avoiding taxes on working people. It is yet another idea that works on paper but dissolves upon contact with reality: all taxes, sooner or later, are paid for by working people.
The Fragility of Budgetary Lines
And what is a good line now may turn out to age badly. Last year’s Budget was full of them – a higher minimum wage, a series of taxes that targeted Britain’s wealthiest residents, tax rises on farmers and money for the NHS paid for by raising employers’ costs. This year’s Budget is taking place against a backdrop of persistent inflation, especially food inflation, an agricultural sector in acute distress and a construction industry that has slowed to a crawl due to reduced demand from buyers.
Here’s a breakdown of key economic indicators as of early March 2024:
| Indicator | value (march 2024) |
|---|