Most Labour party supporters are motivated by two things: outrage at injustice and a vision of a better world. But, while Keir Starmer shares the first, he seems to lack the second. He is a lawyer, and lawyers fix problems. They work with the world as it is, dealing with individual issues, not visions of the future. As his biographer, Tom Baldwin, has said, he is passionate about injustice but uncomfortable with ‘the vision thing’. Labour has a long tradition of preferring heroic defeat to grubby compromise, and his lawyer’s drive to find solutions that work, disappoints the more messianic members.
The demand for radical change
Many people feel that our current institutions are not coping with the growing pile of problems. Many of those who voted Labour last year hoped for radical change, not tinkering with the machine, especially when the fixes are small, incremental and slow.
But Starmer’s instincts to correct the imperfections of existing institutions, rather than to overthrow them is a limitation that shows in his polling. People are disappointed by modest gestures over genocide in Gaza, when they want heroic outrage. And they are shocked that he tolerates economic orthodoxy when it tells him that we cannot afford to abolish the two-child cap on benefits. So, as a politician, he has severe limitations, and speculation is growing that this may prove fatal for him, and perhaps for the party.
Media focus on failings
The failure of communications has allowed a hostile media to flood public awareness with a few bad, but not catastrophic, decisions. So, a few, relatively minor, unpopular decisions have come to characterise the whole government. The decision to abolish the Winter Fuel Payment may have been an attempt to improve the targeting on fuel support on those in greatest need. But it was seen as a vindictive, penny pinching, attack on all pensioners. And many of the criticisms are not about active decisions, or broken promises, but about disappointed hopes. The two-child benefit cap inflicts suffering on many families, and increases child poverty, but Labour never promised to abolish it, and the government will claim that the dire legacy of previous governments forced them into such uncomfortable decisions.
Weighing the balance
In a rational world, a balance sheet would set achievements and failures side by side and weigh the difference. But politics is not a rational business, and perception matters. Nevertheless, it is worth cataloguing the achievements because there have been some. And those on the left who criticise this government might want to consider which of these would have happened if the Conservatives had held on to power last year.
The Full Fact website has been tracking government commitments, including those in last year’s election manifesto, and others made since then. They have identified 76 ‘key pledges’ and been monitoring performance for each. Fifteen are shown as ‘achieved’, 16 are ‘on track’ and 20 are ‘in progress’. Sixteen are ‘wait and see’, and only nine are ‘not kept, off track, or disputed’.
Of course, events overtake any government, and they do – and fail to do – many things which were not in their original plans. However, examining achievement against promises is one important measure, and we list them all below. The Full Fact website provides a detailed explanation of how each was arrived at.
Reckoning
This analysis shows two thirds of Labour’s promises being kept. It also does not include other achievements which were not promised, but which will have a major impact on millions of people, including raising the minimum wage or maintaining the triple lock on the state pension. This is not an insignificant body of achievement, and some of these will certainly make more impact on most people’s lives than the negatives which have received most media attention.
But, in the end, most people pay little attention to politics, and most do not systematically weigh up costs and benefits. If they did, Keir Starmer would look more secure. But often they don’t.
So here is the Full Fact account.
Economy
Achieved
- End the use of offshore trusts to avoid inheritance tax
- Abolish non-dom status
- Submit all fiscal plans to the independent Office of Budget Responsibility
- Establish a National Wealth Fund
On track
- No increase in VAT
- No increase in Income Tax
- Cap Corporation Tax at 25%
- Balance the budget and reduce debt in five years
- Legislate to implement Make Work Pay plan
In progress
- Raise living standards in every part of the UK
- Achieve the highest economic growth in the G7
Not kept/ off track/ disputed
- Provide £7.3 billion to capitalise the National Wealth Fund (reduced sum allocated)
- Disputed whether raising of employers National Insurance is really a tax on working people is debateable
Wait and see
- Deliver productivity growth in every part of the country
- Replace business rates with a fairer system
Crime, police and justice
Achieved
- Review of sentencing
On track
- Scrap effective immunity for shoplifting
- Create a new offence of assaulting shopworkers
- Create Respect Orders to ban persistent offenders from town centres
In progress
- Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee
- ‘Hillsborough law’
- Young Futures Programme to stop young people being drawn into crime
- Raise confidence in the police
Not kept/ off track/ disputed
- Raise confidence in the criminal justice system
- Ensure that every young person caught with a knife will be referred to a Youth Offending Team and receive a mandatory plan, with penalties for breach
Wait and see
- Reverse the Conservative decision to downgrade monitoring of Antisemitic and Islamophobic hate
- Halve violent crime
Health & Social Care
Achieved
- 2 million extra appointments a year
On track
- Ensure that the next generation will never legally buy cigarettes
In progress
- Recruit 8,500 more NHS staff during first term
- Restore and return to NHS performance standards
- Double numbers of scanners to catch cancer earlier
- 7,000 additional dental appointments
Not kept/ off track/ disputed
- Train thousands more GPs
- Train thousands more midwives
Wait and see
- Create a National Care Service
Migration
Achieved
- Create new Border Security Command
- Negotiate additional returns agreements
- End Rwanda deportation scheme
In progress
- A new returns and enforcement unit with 1,000 staff to fast-track removals to safe countries
Not kept/ off track/ disputed
- End use of asylum hotels
Wait and see
- Reduce net migration
- Increase number of safe countries failed asylum seekers can be returned to
Democracy
On track
- Reform voter ID rules
- Give 16–17-year olds a vote
- Remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords
- Create an independent Ethics and Integrity Commission to ensure probity in government
Wait and see
- Introduce retirement age of 80 for the House of Lords
- Introduce a participation requirement for members of the House of Lords
Education
Achieved
- End VAT exemption and business rates relief from private schools
On track
- Free breakfast clubs
- Recruit 6,500 more teachers in key subjects
- Limit branded school kit
Wait and see
- Ensure 75% of 5-year-olds are school ready
Energy
Achieved
- Create Great British Energy
On track
- Ban new coal licences
- Ban new oil and gas licences
In progress
- Capitalise Great British Energy with £8.3 billion.
Wait and see
- Energy Independence Act
Culture & Society
Achieved
- Football governance Bill and Regulator to ensure sustainability of clubs
In progress
- Ban trans conversion practices
- New Race Equality Act
Wait and see
- Modernise gender recognition law
Defence
Achieved
- Defence Review
- Plan to reach 2.5% of GDP on defence
In progress
- Bring forward 2.5% target to 2027
Housing
Achieved
- Update National Planning Framework, including restoring mandatory targets
On track
- Abolish no fault evictions
Not kept/ off track/ disputed
- Build 1.5 million new homes by 2029
Foreign Policy
Not kept/ off track/ disputed
- Restore development spending to 0.7% (as soon as fiscal circumstances allow)
Wait and see
- Recognise a Palestinian State as a step towards a two-state solution
Environment
In progress
- Ban trail hunting
Wait and see
- Halve sewage pollution by 2030
- Phase out new internal combustion cars by 2030
Transport
In progress
- Fix 1 million potholes every year
Work & Benefits
Wait and see
- Review Universal Credit to make work pay and tackle poverty
The Full Fact government tracker, with details of all these policy promises and progress can be found here.
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