Keir Starmer wants to frame the choice facing Britain as one between decency and division, but will a restless electorate anxious to see results let him? Asks Douglas Beattie
There are three types of party conference – the dreary, the victorious and the tense. The first of these often emerges after a long period in government, while the second is borne out of electoral triumph – and therefore has been seen on too few occasions by Labour down the years.
This week’s gathering in Liverpool was of the third variety – it was an edgy affair with much on the line, despite the party coming to power with a landslide little more than a year ago.
Labour, its delegates, affiliates and government ministers all rocked up to the great city on the Mersey trailing in the polls to Reform UK, in the midst of a deputy leadership election and with Andy Burnham giving the impression he is happy to be seen as a king over the water.
There were several things we learned about the mindset of those at the top of the party.
Rachel Reeves has been clear she will not be moved from the core of her fiscal position. That was the big message from her speech on Monday, with the Chancellor warning delegates of the dangers of the idea that “we could just abandon economic responsibility.”
While that may have been a nod to the markets and others closer to home who would have the party change economic direction, it was notable that she also held out the prospect of scrapping the two child benefit cap, telling the media that this was “a matter for the Budget” in November.
The lifting of the cap – which is a hangover from George Osborne’s time at 11 Downing Street and accelerates relative child poverty year on year – now seems to be the settled will of almost the entire Labour movement.
Paid for by properly taxing the vast profits of online gambling, as Gordon Brown has suggested, it would represent a significant gear shift for the government, demonstrating that Labour is both willing and able to improve the lives of the neediest in our country by doing what is in its historic DNA.
These are exactly the measures which can take the wind out of Reform’s sails, something Keir Starmer was also seeking to do when he described Nigel Farage’s policy of scrapping indefinite leave to remain as “racist” and “immoral”.
Immigration on the agenda
Though the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, did her best to lean into Reform’s position – suggesting migrants must prove they are contributing to society in order to remain here – there was a boldness to Starmer’s remarks which we have all too rarely seen from him since taking office.
This continued into his own speech in Liverpool. Starmer, amid all the flag waving and with Reform squarely in his sights, spoke of the future as a “fork in the road”, of Britain facing a “defining choice” between decency and division, renewal or decline.
These are words likely to resonate well beyond the conference hall, but the question now will be whether a restless and volatile electorate is willing to move at Labour’s pace down what the Prime Minister called a “long and hard road” in the stated bid to renew Britain.
Meanwhile, what we know without doubt is that two issues – immigration and economic growth – are likely to continue to dominate our politics for some time to come.
What Labour can’t afford is to allow Reform to define the terms of the debate – this in truth was the essence of Starmer’s speech. Were that to happen there is the very real risk they end up boxed in, unable to carry out the changes which are the key to future success.
Douglas Beattie is a journalist and author of Victory at the Ballot Box: The History of How Labour Built Britain