Keir Starmer's Austerity Trap

Why is a Labour Prime Minister allowing himself to be defined by the same failed ideology voters have just so roundly rejected?

What is Keir Starmer’s Government actually for? That’s the question that is already being asked by some Labour MPs, as polls show public opinion turning against his administration.

For the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, the answer is clear.

“We were elected first and foremost to sort out the public finances”, one Treasury spinner told journalists this week.

“That means tough decisions. Rachel has the total backing of No 10 in doing this.”

But was this really what the Government were elected to do?

Were voters, who just so roundly rejected a Government that ran our public services into the ground, really motivated by a desire to “sort out the public finances”?

Some Labour MPs aren’t convinced.

“I’m told that Rachel is a smart operator but I’ve been really confused by what we’ve seen so far”, one newly-elected Labour MP told me this week.

“The whole winter fuel payments situation has been handled terribly and I don’t know why we’re even doing it. All this trouble for a billion pounds.”

So why are they doing it?