Jacketless, the sleeves of his crisp white shirt rolled up and ready for action, Sir Keir Starmer made his personal pitch to the country yesterday from a lectern in West Sussex.
There was more than a touch of Blairite messianism about his tone as he presented himself and his 'changed' party as the answer to the nation's woes.
Acknowledging that voters still don't trust him, it was an attempt to explain the background that shaped him.
This was Starmer the scion of middle England, clever son of aspirational working-class parents, caring for a sick mother, a man with deep reverence for the 'uncomplaining resilience' of the British people.
However, while he was a little less wooden than usual, we are none the wiser about what he would do if elected.
Jacketless, the sleeves of his crisp white shirt rolled up and ready for action, Sir Keir Starmer made his personal pitch to the country yesterday from a lectern in West Sussex
There was more than a touch of Blairite messianism about his tone as he presented himself and his ‘changed’ party as the answer to the nation’s woes
He trotted out a word cloud of election cliches – empathy, respect, values, service, hope, stability and, of course, change. But change to what? Here is the gaping hole in Sir Keir's message. The country is in chaos, he says, the economy crashed, public services broken, taxes stratospheric.
Such an apocalyptic landscape, yet nothing in this 'keynote' speech to suggest how he'd fix it. His much-vaunted 'first steps' to renewal are either peripheral or a rehash of whiskered old ideas.
A new quango won't stop the small boats. Windfall taxes on oil and gas companies will not make a dent in the energy crisis. Imposing VAT on private schools will cost more than it raises as thousands of children are thrown into the state sector. Wishing for economic growth won't make it happen.
And how much has Labour really changed? Jeremy Corbyn has gone but the hard-Left faction is still strong. Also, the party remains in hock to the unions, who will be demanding bumper pay rises in the event of an election win.
Labour governments invariably increase taxes, borrowing and public spending to fund their redistributive schemes. Why should we trust a Starmer administration to be any different?
And how much has Labour really changed? Jeremy Corbyn has gone but the hard-Left faction is still strong
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she would not increase income tax or National Insurance, but tax raids on pension funds, investments, businesses, and motorists have not been ruled out
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she would not increase income tax or National Insurance, but tax raids on pension funds, investments, businesses, and motorists have not been ruled out. Instead of lathering us with soft soap, Sir Keir should be more specific.
The reality is that despite the best efforts of striking unions, anti-Zionist marchers and disruptive eco-zealots, Britain is not in chaos. While hardly perfect, we are growing faster than other European nations, employment is high, real wages are soaring, and inflation has been tamed.
We know the Tories have a credible plan to consolidate and build on these green shoots of recovery, but does Sir Keir? If he does, we certainly didn't hear it yesterday.
Cost of class war
The true cost of Labour's assault on private education is becoming apparent. In a major survey of independent school parents, more than 40 per cent say they will have to leave the sector within the next five years if VAT is imposed on fees.
Even if half that number leave, around 130,000 pupils would be pushed into the already overcrowded state system. So, instead of raising £1.7 billion to recruit more state school teachers, as Labour claims, that would mean a bill running into hundreds of millions.
This spiteful tax is a piece of red meat thrown to the Labour Left. As usual with brainless class-war policies, everyone loses.
