It’s been a long year in politics, but it’s easy to wonder if you’ve accidentally fallen into a time machine and transported yourself back a few months given the whispers in Westminster corridors this week.

“He’s a nice guy, he’s just not very political… he can’t see the bear trap until he’s fallen into it and by then it’s too late”.

“It would do him good to spend some time in the tea room with his MPs instead of flying around the world on his private plane.”

“He’s just not really in touch with how people around the country feel – he doesn’t really get it. How can he?”

If you think you’ve heard it all before, you have. And so have I. These are the things MPs and Westminster watchers were whispering about Rishi Sunak at the end of his time in office. The chief concern was his lack of political judgement and a creeping sense that he just wasn’t very good at politics.

Fast forward six months or so and here we are again, but this time, Labour MPs are lamenting the lack of political foresight from their leader Keir Starmer, and wondering increasingly loudly whether the project can survive the next five years.

This week, the decision not to award compensation to the Waspi women, who have been fighting against the way changes to their pension age were communicated by a previous government, has sparked even greater concern.

Aides are also tearing their hair out over Starmer’s refusal or........

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