Martin Ivens, Columnist

Labour's Keir Starmer Gets Lucky Once Again

It has been a very good week for the Opposition leader to bury bad news.

June 17, 2023 at 6:00 AM UTC

Martin Ivens is the editor of the Times Literary Supplement. Previously, he was editor of the Sunday Times of London and its chief political commentator.

A good week?
Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe

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The sound and fury of Boris Johnson’s resignation as an MP dominated the airwaves last week, but a more consequential political battle has gone almost unremarked.

The opposition Labour party — tipped by the opinion polls to win power in 18 months — has effectively scrapped its flagship policy to spend £28 billion ($35.9 billion) a year to promote green growth. That sum represents a larger proportion of national wealth than President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.