Even Starmer Loyalists Doubt His Future After Budget Rewrite

Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street on Oct. 29.Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

When news broke late on Thursday night that the UK government would U-turn on its plan to raise income tax at the budget, one of Keir Starmer’s oldest allies thought the game was up.

“It’s over,” the person despaired, as taxpayers and government officials alike tried to make sense of the extraordinary reversal.