Labour Has Too Many Policies, Not Too Few
If only Labour had fewer darlings to start with, Keir Starmer’s party wouldn’t have a reputation for constantly killing them.
Either/or?
Photographer: Leon Neal/Getty Images EuropeOne of the biggest criticisms of Labour these days is that the party’s priorities aren’t clear. One recent poll found 42% of respondents didn’t know what Labour’s actual economic commitments were. Another found even less favorable results for party leader Keir Starmer: 55% thought him indecisive, and 50% said they didn’t know what he stood for.
Many attribute this lack of clarity to a dearth of policies — but in fact, the problem is that the party has too many policies rather than too few. More specifically, Labour is suffering from a surfeit of almost-policy — plans just real enough to need denying, but still subject to very public chopping, changing and U-turns.