In his first speech as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer promised he would “tread more lightly” on our lives.
After months of turbulence during the final days of the Conservative Government this came as music to many people’s ears. The assumption, based on repeated assurances throughout the election campaign, was that Labour had a plan that would begin on day one. In fact that bit was in his first speech too.
Cut to five months later, and it was hard not to wonder if the Prime Minister had missed his own memo today. In a venue that looked identical to the location for Labour’s pledge card reveal back in May, Keir Starmer walked onto a small stage in a hangar at Pinewood Studios in West London and stood under banners almost identical to the ones that hung above him all those months ago.
A series of videos of voters played out before he started speaking, explaining how a Labour Government would make their lives much better. He even had Angela Rayner as the warm-up act again.
The difference? This time the banner on the lectern didn’t read “CHANGE”, as it did throughout the campaign; instead it read “PLAN FOR CHANGE”. You’d be........