Has Starmer already missed his chance?

Hindsight is the easiest weapon to employ in politics — as Keir Starmer of all people should know. When you have witnessed events unfold already, it is simple to point out what politicians should have done. Yet when it comes to post-Corbyn Labour, some mistakes have been made that may just have been avoided — and hindsight is not required to reach that conclusion. The clues were there this time last year.

Starmer has moved too slowly and has made the error that many unsuccessful Labour leaders tend to make: assuming that the party requires less mending than is actually the case. Sir Keir has employed the same logic that Gaitskell, Miliband and Brown did, thinking that with a few minor tweaks here and there Labour could win again. Suspending Jeremy Corbyn was a momentous symbol — but that is really all it was, a symbol.

Starmer started his premiership by bringing in a broad constellation of Corbynites including Rebecca Long-Bailey, his former socialist challenger.