Sir Keir Starmer speaks of ‘frustration’ at Boris Johnson’s ‘unforgiveable failure’ to level up – but says idea was ‘right’
Sir Keir Starmer has admitted Boris Johnson was “right” to propose levelling up but said he was “frustrated” by the former prime minister’s “unforgivable” failure to deliver.
The Labour leader also claimed the policy, which defined Mr Johnson’s premiership, was “strangled at birth” by his successor, Rishi Sunak.
Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby at the launch of Labour’s local election campaign in Dudley, Sir Keir said “the idea” of levelling up that was put before the electorate in 2019 by Mr Johnson was “right”.
But he added: “What that requires – and this is where I get frustrated – is if you really believe that… I’m afraid you’ve got to roll your sleeves up, you’ve got to put a plan on the table, you go the hard yards.
“And so what is unforgivable about Boris Johnson is, having made that the focus, he didn’t do the hard yards of delivery and that’s why people feel even more let down.”
The Labour leader was equally critical of Mr Sunak, whom he said had “strangled levelling up at birth because he wouldn’t put the funding behind it – and we know what the consequences are.”
However, despite criticising the Conservatives for their failure to put money behind the policy, Sir Keir refused to commit any new funding to local councils, which are straddling an estimated funding gap of £4bn over the next two years.
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Starmer pushed on council funding crisis
He told Rigby his party “can’t turn on the spending taps” for cash-strapped local authorities but that funding settlements could be made longer to provide more stability.
“If we stabilise the economy, that will reduce inflation,” he said. “That’s been a big drag for councils.”
Another change Sir Keir put forward was a ban on no-fault evictions, which he said added to the “strain” on councils which then have to find alternative accommodation.
The ban on no-fault evictions is one of a number of measures that have been held up in the long-delayed Renters Reform Bill, which Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, has been accused of watering down to appease sceptical backbenchers.
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But Mr Gove said the Labour leader “couldn’t be more wrong” with his assessment of the government’s record.
“We are the party that’s been leading on levelling up for years now,” he said.
“The areas of the country in the Midlands and the North that Labour neglected for decades have had an infusion of cash and a power surge thanks to this Conservative government.
“We’re the people who’ve given power to mayors in the Tees Valley and in the West Midlands, who’ve had a decisive impact on raising wages, levering in investment, empowering local communities.
“Labour are late to this game and also they come with nothing new to say. No new money, no new powers, no plan at all.”
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The two-child benefit cap: To scrap or not to scrap?
There is an ongoing row in the Labour Party about welfare spending and how to cut it while maintaining protections for the most vulnerable.
Those on the left are suspicious of anything that may look or smell like balancing the books on the backs of the poorest in society.
Those on the other side point to an unsustainable welfare bill that has been allowed to balloon under the Conservatives and looks set to continue under Labour.
Rachel Reeves will have to weigh up finding between £3bn and £4bn to scrap the cap, or face the wrath of Labour MPs on small majorities who believe they were elected to deliver on ‘Labour values’ like lifting this very cap.
But perhaps there is a compromise the chancellor could opt for, which may placate the left of her party while needing less cash.
For example, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, lifting the cap from two to three children would cost £2.6bn; or a tapered system, where parents got the full amount for the first two kids and then half the amount for any subsequent children, would cost around £1.8bn.
But Labour big beast David Blunkett – the only senior Labour figure against lifting the cap – wants to see a more nuanced approach.
Blunkett believes the cap ought to remain, but he wants there to be exemptions for disabled children and parents who have been widowed, and he would prefer the government to focus on anti-child poverty measures and improving pathways to work for parents, all paid for by a tax on gambling – something former prime minister Gordon Brown has been agitating for.
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At a time when the government perpetually reminds us of how little money it has and how much strain public finances are under due to austerity, finding several billion to scrap a policy that is broadly popular with the public may seem like an unwise move.
According to the latest polling from YouGov, 59% of the public are in favour of keeping the cap in place, and only 26% thought it should be abolished.
But politically, the chancellor is aware of the strength of feeling within her party about reducing child poverty as soon as possible, and her colleague, the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, has stressed the party has a “moral mission” to tackle child poverty.
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Irrespective of what Reeves chooses, her political woes do not end there.
Taxes are set to go up in the budget later this month, and Reeves has refused to rule out breaking her manifesto promise of not raising taxes on working people.
This combined with persistently disappointing voter intention polling for Labour, could spell deep dissatisfaction among the public.
A decision to lift the two-child benefit cap may boost morale among Labour MPs, but if it’s not enough to prevent the loss of hundreds of political foot soldiers in May’s local elections, Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer will need to find more red meat to throw to their party before too long.
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