Starmer’s policy platform reflects what any serious leader would do.
Starmer’s speech to the Labour Party Conference, was in some ways deeply political — weaving a narrative about the respect owed to working people and the lack of it from a Government that is ‘shallow’ and ‘chaotic’. However look underneath the bonnet of it, at the policy prescriptions — NHS reform, the devolution agenda, building on the ‘grey belt’ — and the thread between them is not so much political as practical. They are what any serious leader would do.
To take them in turn.
The NHS is facing one of the most dire crisis in its 75 year history, with post pandemic (elective care) waiting lists at a record high. The service needs much more money, but the economic situation will not allow it. The problem urgently needs to be addressed, so reform of the system is the only game in town. Particularly a reform that focuses on prevention, that could in theory reduce costs down the line.
Then take the devolution agenda, regional inequality is not only a political issue, it is also a straight jacket on the UK’s productivity and prosperity. However again, there is little money to spend on, for example, grand infrastructure projects (like the recently cancelled Manchester leg of HS2). So managing local economies better, by empowering local government is the prudent place to look.
Building on the green (‘grey’) belt, seems more political, and in some ways it is. But again it is also a sensible response to the issues. The UK needs economic growth to remedy almost all of its problems — from the cost of living crisis to crumbling public services. Very few measures available to government can really make a difference to GDP. While debated, one of the few that might is getting building. Restrictive planning laws especially around the green belt are an obvious blocker to this. Again a practical response is to change them (not least because Starmer’s observation that much of the green belt hardly resembles the Lake District is undoubtedly correct).
Each of these to me looks not like a governing philosophy that is overtly ideological, but the response you might expect of a sensible and serious person looking at the problems the country faces and the options realistically available to them. It is what you might expect from a former Director of Public Prosecutions. This conference speech may have sparkled, with Sir Keir ending up looking more like Bowie than a bank manager. However ‘sensible Starmer’ seems to have remained. After years of anything but, that is not a bad thing.
