Labour's Political Paralysis

Following Labour's drubbing across Britain, we were told Keir Starmer was about to make the speech of his political life. The stakes had been raised as Catherine West of Catherine West fame did the rounds on Sunday saying she was going to challenge him if the cabinet didn't come together and pass the baton on to someone else. The Prime Minister needed to impress jittery MPs and signal a change of direction. The inside politics gossip faithfully transmitted by BBC and Sky stenographers told us that Starmer was impatient and wanted to abandon incremental change. Was he about to break with six years of plodding leadership and strike out on a new, exciting path? No, of course he wasn't. His talk may have been a touch more spirited than other recent set pieces. He wasn't wearing a tie, after all. But there was nothing new here. Having watched more of these than most people, it was a classic of the Starmer genre. A few genuflections to his humble origins, and a re-announcement of policies…