Tony Blair and Gordon Brown inherited a strong economy and low taxes, and thus plenty of scope for more spending. Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves would take office in vastly more difficult circumstances.
Perhaps sticking up for Farage is a bridge too far, even for the former human rights lawyer. Perhaps it doesn’t seem worth picking that battle when there are more substantive policy disputes to win.
If the Opposition take office next year they will inherit a very difficult situation. If MPs haven’t dipped their hands in the blood of a Starmerite programme, ill-discipline may be the result.
The tentative signs are that the Shadow Chancellor is switching from an emphasis on industrial strategy and “green prosperity” to one on housebuilding and planning reform.
Even if future governments can succeed in delivering our eye-raising targets for banning non-electric cars or installing gas boilers, we are still going to need fossil fuels.
Depending on ACOBA’s recommendations, there is the possibility of Gray being unable to work with Labour in the run-up to, or even after, their transition to government.
From Labour’s perspective, the one thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.
A Labour government would be free to hugely expand housebuilding in London’s commuter belt- helping its voters move there.
To go from opposition to government in a single election requires Starmer to move on from the Corbyn era as quickly as possible. Driving his predecessor and his acolytes out of the party – even via the courts – is the fastest way to do that.
The tragedy of the puritan is that they will never actually be free of “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be having a good time”.
In contrast with the Prime Minister, who made five specific commitments, the Labour leader told the nation that he will have objectives and will unveil them soon.
Labour cannot dismantle the British nation as a political community and expect it to long endure as a taxpaying one.
As we know, simply paying poorer parts of the country more will not abolish inequality – or the Barnett Formula would have gone years ago.
Stopping MPs for making an income outside of Parliament would further dilute the quality of the Commons.
To avoid a 1997-style wipe-out, the aim is to imitate the strategy of John Major’s remarkable victory from five years earlier.