Labour MPs these days are experiencing whiplash. When in opposition, the party attacked the Tories’ proposed benefits cuts for ‘effectively turning on the poorest in our society’. Now, Keir Starmer plans to drive through £6 billion in welfare cuts of his own. Labour ministers previously spent much of their time scolding the government for showing insufficient respect towards civil servants. Now, Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has launched a crackdown on poor performers. Since the start of Starmer’s premiership, ministers have announced 27 new quangos – yet this week the Prime Minister scrapped one in a signal of intent, telling his cabinet they cannot do what the Tories did and hide behind regulators to avoid hard decisions. As one downbeat Tory peer puts it: ‘They’re doing all the things we should have done.’
Yet Downing Street aides insist that their cuts are not a Tory tribute act. They argue that in an uncertain world where security demands are changing and Europe is having to spend more on defence, tough choices are needed. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump aside, the truth is that with negligible economic growth and no public appetite for more tax rises, cuts are the only option Starmer and his Chancellor have left.
How will an army of Starmtroopers elected on a promise to boost public services take to the new orders? On Monday, Starmer appeared at a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party to make his case. The initial signs were encouraging. MPs cheered when he spoke of Ukraine. ‘My Tory constituents have said they’ll even vote for us next time if he stops the war,’ says one newbie.
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