Labour

Labour's unlocking problem

7 July 2021 1:20 am

Labour is unhappy with the government’s plan for unlocking, with leader Sir Keir Starmer calling it ‘reckless’. In the Commons…

Labour’s disastrous switch to economic nationalism

5 July 2021 8:48 pm

The government will ‘Buy British’ whenever possible. A new law would force every public body to publish the percentage of…

The problem with linking trade deals to human rights

4 July 2021 5:30 pm

Trade deals are in the air post-Brexit, but not everybody is happy. In a speech this week Frances O’Grady, the…

Can Labour afford to continue its culture war?

2 July 2021 9:51 pm

After being soundly beaten by the Tories in Hartlepool and winning a paltry 1.6 per cent of the vote share…

How Keir Starmer can rescue his leadership

2 July 2021 8:23 pm

In January 1990 things looked truly bleak for Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager. He had not won a trophy…

What does Starmer actually stand for?

29 June 2021 11:55 pm

The biggest reason Keir Starmer has proved a flop is not that he leads an unelectable rabble, or that Labour’s…

How crises shape government

28 June 2021 9:14 pm

Crises often exhaust the capacity of governments to renew themselves. All consuming problems do not allow prime ministers to have…

Why Labour should stick with Starmer – even if he loses Batley

28 June 2021 8:19 pm

Things could be bleak for Labour in the Batley and Spen by-election this Thursday. Throughout an ugly and dispiriting campaign…

Labour's worrying descent into communalism

23 June 2021 12:26 am

Labour’s candidate in Batley and Spen, Kim Leadbeater, reportedly pulled out of a hustings featuring George Galloway over the weekend.…

Keir Starmer is alienating both sides in the Brexit debate

15 June 2021 10:32 pm

What is it with Labour and Brexit? An issue that during Theresa May’s premiership looked like it could rip the…

How Starmer can beat Boris

12 June 2021 3:30 pm

How should Keir Starmer deal with a problem like Boris Johnson? Despite the Prime Minister’s mistakes in the handling of…

Labour is in last chance saloon

5 June 2021 5:30 pm

If they have any sense – a proposition I will test later – officials from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and…

Keir Starmer’s interview gamble pays off

2 June 2021 6:52 pm

One of the biggest challenges for any leader of the opposition is getting noticed. Doing that requires taking some risks…

Watch: Keir Starmer refuses to deny taking drugs at university

2 June 2021 7:17 am

Keir Starmer’s appearance on Piers Morgan’s ‘Life Stories’ is a sign of desperation. The Labour leader knows he must do…

'There is no alternative': Why Boris will keep winning

30 May 2021 4:00 pm

Those of us who generally wish this Government well and consider Boris Johnson a preferable holder of the office of…

An electoral pact would be disastrous for Labour

26 May 2021 4:00 pm

How do you tell a politician who has just been punched in the face by the electorate that something is…

Andy Burnham is Labour's king over the water

19 May 2021 3:00 pm

There are few things so perilous for an under-performing opposition leader as the emergence of a ‘king over the water’.…

Is it time for Keir Starmer to forget about uniting his party?

17 May 2021 4:25 pm

Campaigning to become Labour leader last year, Keir Starmer said Harold Wilson was his favourite party leader of the last…

Labour are deluding themselves about Boris's 'vaccine bounce'

15 May 2021 3:30 pm

That vast battalion of pinko pundits who confidently expected Boris Johnson to get a drubbing in last week’s elections has…

Can Labour survive the next election?

14 May 2021 3:13 am

Keir Starmer is having a torrid time. Today brings another poll showing his personal approval rating falling. The Labour leader…

Keir Starmer and the 'Pasokification' of Labour

12 May 2021 4:00 pm

As the Greek debt crisis took hold in the wake of the financial crash, there was one big political casualty.…

Nine lessons from the elections

10 May 2021 10:44 pm

Here are the big things I learned from Thursday’s elections and their aftermath. 1. The Scottish parliament will vote to…

Starmer is Labour's Iain Duncan Smith

10 May 2021 9:25 pm

After a gruelling election campaign the most important thing to do is to have a rest and have a think. Everyone…

Who is more upset about Labour's results: Starmer or the BBC?

9 May 2021 6:00 pm

It’s not just the Labour Party which is institutionally incapable of understanding why the Conservative Party kicked the hell out…

Andy Burnham makes life more difficult for Starmer

9 May 2021 3:40 am

As Keir Starmer spends the weekend working out how exactly to bounce back from disappointing results for his party in the…