Even its natural supporters are stunned by its sheer ineptitude. This morning, Will Hutton at the left-wing Observer newspaper said Labour has made more early mistakes “than any postwar government”.
He wrote that BEFORE today’s shock news that Sue Gray has quit her role as PM Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, which has plunged Labour even deeper into crisis.
Labour is having a shocker and it all started with chancellor Rachel Reeves’ unhinged decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment for 10million pensioners.
And that’s where it should end, too. The only way Labour can get out of the hole it’s dug for itself is to backtrack on its first and worst policy error of all.
It should then take a look at the others, too. There are plenty to choose from. Everything this government touches turns to chaos.
Seconds after scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment, Reeves announced she was killing off the proposed £86,000 cap on social care costs.
While the cap wasn’t perfect it did at least prevent families from being bankrupted by long-term care fees.
Labour further infuriated its own supporters by voting to retain the two-child limit on benefit payments.
And “giftgate” has united the country in rage as Starmer and Reeves inflict austerity while grabbing all the freebies they can for themselves.
They’ve also made the disastrous decision to talk down the UK economy, with endless burbling about that £22billion black hole.
Every tax hike Reeves is targeting will cost the Treasury more money than it raises.
Imposing VAT on private school fees will backfire as the Treasury has to spend more educating thousands of children driven back into the state sector.
Reeves thought hiking capital gains tax (CGT) would raise £15billion, but it could cost us £2billion as people hold onto assets in the hope that CGT will be cut later, while entrepreneurs flee to avoid the levy.
Now Reeves is looks set to break a pre-election pledge and borrow another £50billion, which she will justify by fiddling with the fiscal rules.
That will only add to the nation’s debt and drive up borrowing costs, too. Which could trigger disaster for mortgage borrowers.
It’s a catalogue of errors and it all began with the Winter Fuel Payment. Labour must rethink that now.
The rot started with Labour’s mad decision to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment (Image: Getty)
That’s where Labour lost the country. Because it demonstrated that it didn’t really understand how Britain works.
Many on the left convinced themselves that “baby boomer” pensioners were all super wealthy and wouldn’t miss they £200 or £300 they got once a year towards their winter fuel bills.
It probably didn’t sound like much to well-heeled Reeves, but it could be a matter of life or death to thousands of shivering pensioners.
Axeing the Winter Fuel Payment won’t save anywhere near the £1.5billion she originally claimed – because it’s triggered a surge in Pension Credit claims from the poorest.
The political damage is huge, the financial benefit negligible.
Reeves needs to admit her mistake and reverse the Winter Fuel Payment today. Then she and Starmer need to get to work on the rest of Labour’s backfiring policies. There’s a long list and it’s growing by the day.
SEE MORE :
Keir Starmer’s first 90 days have been total chaos – no wonder everyone’s abandoning him
It has been just 90 days since the General Election. Not that you’d know it.
Labour’s government is in chaos. Internally, it is ridden with scandal. Keir Starmer has lost or been forced to kick out seven rebellious MPs. Number 10 has been beset by briefings and petty squabbles over who sits where and who controls the Prime Minister’s diary.
Tory leadership candidate Robert Jenrick. (Image: Getty Images)
Meanwhile, his golden 100 days – normally a honeymoon period for Governments to get on with their big changes for the country – have been dominated by scandal. After years of droning on about how brilliant a Labour government would be, Starmer’s reality is laid bare.
The tens of thousands he and his cabinet took in freebies betray the appalling hypocrisy at the heart of this Labour Government.
Meanwhile, his special advisors are in open revolt over who gets paid what while Sue Gray banked more than the Prime Minister.
Keir Starmer has lost or been forced to kick out seven rebellious MPs. (Image: Getty Images)
Her resignation was no surprise. After months of infighting and a series of terrible decisions for the people of Britain, it feels as if she’s fleeing a sinking ship.
Starmer has no national security advisor. He’s had to replace his private secretary. And the Cabinet Secretary – the country’s most senior civil servant – is rushing out the door. This is free-fall.
But aside from the internal battles, the picture for the country is far more worrying. For – when it has found time amid the infighting – this government has taken decision after decision to make life that much tougher for working families.
Upon entering office, Starmer scrapped rather than strengthened the Rwanda scheme. The result? On Saturday, we saw the highest number of illegal small boat crossings in years for a single day.
His energy policy – which will ban North Sea oil and gas – will put thousands out of work and hike all of our bills as we pay for expensive offshore wind instead.
Sue Gray is ‘fleeing a sinking ship’. (Image: Getty)
Serious criminals that should be in jail have been released onto our streets en masse. Many of whom have gone on to commit yet more crimes.
Rachel Reeves’ doom and gloom has sent investors fleeing and the budget’s tax hikes are set to hit ordinary people hardest.
And it’s not just domestically that things are getting worse. He’s handing over sovereign British territory to an ally of China and paying them for the privilege. Meanwhile, he’s been in Brussels preparing to sell out Brexit and our fishermen.
His only big idea so far? Banning smoking in pub gardens.
With a record that bad, is it any wonder that Starmer’s closest aides are abandoning him?
