Sir Keir Starmer’s party slogan has a lot to live up to, says TERRY MURDEN
This will be the 11th general election that I have worked on during more than four decades as a journalist and in each one the opposition has had one underlying campaign message: the need for change. It’s the “go-to” phrase, the ready solution to the rotten state of affairs created by the incumbent government. A simple message to the electorate that things can only get… well, you get the idea.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour is so confident of success that the word Change has replaced the party’s name on its placards. It will be form the theme of every announcement. Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is a committed change man, repeating the word mantra-like every time he speaks. In one general election warm-up speech earlier this year he mentioned change 34 times. Goodness knows how many more times it will be uttered by the time we reach 4 July.
Promising change is one thing. Delivering it is more demanding. The crisis in the NHS and the underperforming economy, the two priorities of the electorate, need the sort or major surgery that has eluded Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives who have also struggled to get the economy firing on all cylinders.
The incumbent regime has been accused of many things, but let’s for a moment give the Tories the benefit of acknowledging that global circumstances have been unkind these past few years. Three Prime Ministers in this parliament have been faced with geo-political tensions, climate change and a global pandemic, none of which were its responsibility, and have proved mighty difficult to handle. As former Tory Prime Minister Harold MacMillan said when asked what was the greatest challenge for a statesman, he replied: “Events, dear boy, events”.
Add to this Labour’s pledge to stick with the Tories’ plan to reduce debt and a clear lack of room for manoeuvre that will require either more spending cuts or higher taxes. Unless the party is growing magic money trees, its plans depend on growth that is hard to find.
One of Labour’s big ideas is Great British Energy, a state-owned company borne after the SNP abandoned its own similar plan. Labour says it will “give us real energy independence from foreign dictators. It will be owned by the British people, built by the British people and benefit the British people. It will invest in clean energy across our country, for example by making the UK a world leader in floating offshore wind.”
It’s not yet clear how it will operate alongside the existing energy companies or how it will buck the market to bring about cheaper prices that have eluded those companies. Without global agreement on wholesale prices it can only provide subsidies and there is no detail on that front. There was talk of an £8bn budget but recent reports seem not to provide a figure.
Labour says GBE will invest in projects that might otherwise be too risky for existing companies and help reduce the 40% domination of Britain’s offshore energy by foreign companies. We’ve been here before, with the Green Investment Bank, which was sold to Australian company Macquarie.
Sir Keir Starmer’s Change message will follow him for the next six weeks
Before that we had British Energy which was established and registered in Scotland in 1995 by the Tories to operate the eight most modern nuclear power plants in the UK. British Energy was the largest independent energy generator in the UK and owner of sites viewed by industry as the most suitable for new nuclear power stations. In January 2009 the Labour Government sold its 36% interest in the company to EDF Energy – the state-owned French company. Oh, the irony.
The Big Issue has pointed out that after running for the Labour leadership on a platform promising nationalised public services, restricted foreign arms sales, and tax hikes for the richest, Sir Keir’s policies now look a little different.
Sir Keir’s Change agenda looks pretty hollow when he’s developed a reputation for u-turns and adopting many of the Tories’ positions on fiscal policy, Brexit, the charitable status of private schools and the future of the House of Lords.
Labour’s promise to scrap tuition fees was a core part of its manifestos in the 2017 and 2019 elections and it became one of Sir Keir’s key pledges while running to be leader in 2020. He now says it is unaffordable.
He promised common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water. Only the rail industry has remained part of the plan.
All this suggests the transition will be a seamless one, from Tory to Tory Lite. Change? Perhaps the Labour slogan should be “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (the more it changes, the more it’s the same thing).
Terry Murden was Scotland editor and Business Editor at The Sunday Times, Business Editor at The Scotsman, and Business and City Editor at Scotland on Sunday. He is now Editor of Daily Business
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