All the Keir and no idea: what’s Starmer up to now?

Keir Starmer has given another one of his speeches that seems aimed at his own party rather than the general electorate. This one is about what Labour would do to encourage economic growth (or in his words, ‘growth, growth, and growth’). But it has garnered the most attention for a row about what the party wouldn’t do: nationalise things – a preoccupation of the left of the party, who argue that nationalising industries such as rail and water are popular policies with the electorate and sent voters Labour’s way in 2017. 

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves dropped those commitments this morning, arguing that they had been a factor in the party’s worst result since the 1930s. But then a number of her shadow cabinet colleagues kicked off, including shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, who reiterated that Labour ‘is committed to public ownership of rail’.