Politics and elections are colourful battles about ideas and people. Most people can be persuaded to take some interest, and take sides, at least around election times. Government, by contrast, is usually slow, dull and difficult. It may be necessary, but few people want to know about the detail and the hard work. As Bismarck once said, “Laws are like sausages, you don’t want to know how they are made.”
In recent years, populist politicians have focused increasingly on politics, at the expense of government. The flagship achievement of British government in the last ten years has been ‘getting Brexit done’ – a grand gesture, not a policy, and without a plan. At one bound, we were to be free, happy and rich. When it proved impossible, people became angry and disillusioned with politics. And they began looking for someone to blame.
In place of action, successive Conservative governments had announced policies, with little attention to the boring business of prioritising and allocating time, staff and money. The result was inertia, decline and the famous ‘black hole’ in the public finances.
Anything rather than more of this
So last July, the people reluctantly turned their backs on those politicians and elected a dull, dogged and determined Prime Minister, more interested in doing things than talking about them.
Our bizarre electoral system gave him an unprecedented parliamentary majority, but on the basis of the smallest vote share of any government party since 1945. That majority provides breathing space to tackle some long-term challenges. But voter memories and patience are short-lived, and unexpected crises like the Southport riots can throw the best plans off course. Starmer’s popular support was only ever thin and now he faces the unpleasant choices of real government.
The challenges are long term
We cannot expect miracles, and he has been clear that some of the challenges will take years and perhaps decades to fix. A lot will depend on Labour’s ability to remain in power long enough, and this depends on voters feeling confident of the direction and the competence of the government.
But a YouGov poll in October asked an open question: “Thinking of everything that the Labour government has done since they came to power in July, what would you say has been the single best thing they have done?”. 43% said ‘nothing’, followed by only 4% each for ‘honesty about the economy’ and ‘handling the riots well’. Things may have improved since then, but Starmer’s personal approval ratings remain negative after a brief boost immediately after the election
Some positives
So, what can the new government claim to have achieved in the first six months? A lot has been going on. We list below thirteen areas where the government would claim real achievements. Not everyone will agree on the priorities or whether they have gone far enough, but it is clearly a record of action. It is by no means an exhaustive list: a lot has happened and there are other initiatives which we might have reported.
Tomorrow’s article will explore these in more detail:
- Resolved long running industrial disputes
- Improved the incomes of many of the poorest
- Fast-tracked legislation to improve workers’ rights
- Restored NHS funding
- Launched housing and planning reform – including security for tenants
- Legislated to improve the regulation of the water industry
- Launched a major devolution of powers to local government
- Improved international relations
- Launched a strategic defence review
- Strengthened environmental policies
- Launched improvements in public transport
- Strengthened police response to violence against women and girls
- Strengthened border control and increased returns of failed asylum-seekers
Some negatives
Against this, must be placed a number of disappointments. Some people had hoped for something more radical and some believe we need a clearer overarching vision, rather than long lists of detailed improvements, of ‘milestones’ and ‘missions’. They would point to:
- Disappointing lack of economic growth
- Unecessarily tight fiscal red lines
- Failure to tax wealth
- Setting means test of winter fuel allowance too low
- Continuing uncertainty over relations with the EU
- Collapsing justice system
- No immediate strategy for social care
- No plans for electoral reform
A communication failure
The positive list is a substantial catalogue. Unlike its predecessors, this government cannot be accused of inaction. And most of the actions are broadly popular and will improve life for many people. But the polls suggest a major failure in communication. One may disagree about some of the priorities, but this is not failure to act, nor is it a failure to do popular things. It is a failure to tell people about it. It feels symbolic that in a Google search for a photograph of the Cabinet, all but one are of previous cabinets.
Labour governments always face an uphill struggle against the dominant right-wing culture of the media, but on many of its changes it has been either silent, as if embarrassed by its actions, or simply clumsy and defensive in explaining. An example is the failure to anticipate opposition to the plans for Inheritance Tax on farm estates. As we reported, the government had clear and straightforward evidence on the impact, but allowed the media debate to be dominated by misleading speculation and lobbying.
A paradox
So, we have a paradox: a government which is doing a lot of mostly popular things, but getting little credit for it. In the absence of dramatic moves to differentiate this government from its predecessor/s, most people have not noticed what is actually happening.
And there are some serious gaps. With his parliamentary majority, Starmer has time on his side, but he badly needs better communication.
Tomorrow’s article will unpick some of the detail of the thirteen policy areas identified above, and lay out a much longer list. But surely it should not be left to citizen journalists to explain these things!
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