Keir Starmer has given up trying to define what a ‘working person’ is after last week’s debacle, announcing at the start of his pre-Budget speech today that working people know who they are. The Prime Minister said:

‘I know some people want to have a debate about this, and I know there will always be an exception that proves the rule. Welcome to the wonders of a diverse country. But I also know that the working people of this country know exactly who they are.’

Even though Starmer is explicitly copying the Tories in 2010, he sounded more like Nick Clegg in that era

It’s a better move than attempting to draw increasingly tight circles around the people Labour isn’t going to raise taxes on. But it does also mean that some voters will be surprised come Wednesday to discover that, regardless of how they describe themselves, it turns out they’re still going to be worse off.

Anticipating a negative reaction from those people and others, Starmer repeatedly told the audience in Birmingham that he would not change course.........

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