The general election campaign has begun – as Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer focus on the economy
There may be months to go until the general election, but in both style and substance the long campaign has already begun – with both leaders zoning in on fruitful attack lines and ignoring inconvenient truths.
In his first Sunday morning interview of the year on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Sir Keir Starmer told Wilfred Frost the prime minister should set a date for the vote now and accused him of vainly waiting to clock up two years in Number 10 before calling an election.
A couple of miles across town, in another TV studio, Rishi Sunak seemed unable to make it more than a few minutes without uttering his rival’s name and suggesting questions for his interviewer to put to the Labour leader.
As far as policy is concerned, the crossfire has centred on that traditionally decisive ballot box issue – the economy.
For Labour, a definite pivot is in motion on the party’s 2021 conference pledge to spend £28bn a year on green investment.
The Tories have started vigorously targeting this expensive promise to try to turn it into an example of what they see as Labour profligacy.
Sir Keir said today if Rishi Sunak wanted a fight between “energy independence versus stagnation” then he should “bring it on”.
It’s a fact learned the hard way by many a party leader that the fight you want to have in an election campaign isn’t always the fight you get.
That’s probably why Sir Keir also tried to shift the emphasis from the precise figure to the broader promise of decarbonising electricity by 2030.
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‘I want the election asap’
Many doubt either of these pledges can actually be met.
But for the Opposition, it’s the big-ticket borrowing that risks the votes – so it’s that which is being polished up into a more politically palatable offer.
There’s a similar sense of reality denial around the discussion on tax.
Rishi Sunak gave his clearest indication yet that more tax cuts are on the way in the March budget with a further big offer to voters ahead of the election.
The price of government debt and levels of revenue being brought in by frozen allowances and thresholds mean this is probably feasible in the short term.
Read more:
Can the spring budget reverse Sunak’s electoral fortunes?
PM accused of ‘desperate’ inheritance tax briefing
But the picture is more complicated if you look further ahead.
The prime minister says curbing benefit spending and making the state more efficient is the only way to sustainably cut the tax burden.
To start with, economists will point out that more expenditure in this area goes on benefits for households where someone works and on pensions.
But there are broader pressures too.
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Party leaders gear up for election
Given more money is set to go to areas like health, defence and education, overall spending levels for the years after the election look implausibly tight.
So much so that many conclude the long-term fiscal lookahead is quite simply a fiction designed to clear the way for pre-ballot tax giveaways.
Once again, the priority here appears to be votes.
The rest can be dealt with when the election is won – or, indeed, lost.
Politics
Wes Streeting ‘crossed the line’ by opposing assisted dying in public, says Labour peer Harriet Harman
Wes Streeting “crossed the line” by opposing assisted dying in public and the argument shouldn’t “come down to resources”, a Labour peer has said.
Speaking on Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harriet Harman criticised the health secretary for revealing how he is going to vote on the matter when it comes before parliament later this month.
MPs are being given a free vote, meaning they can side with their conscience and not party lines, so the government is supposed to be staying neutral.
But Mr Streeting has made clear he will vote against legalising assisted dying, citing concerns end-of-life care is not good enough for people to make an informed choice, and that some could feel pressured into the decision to save the NHS money.
He has also ordered a review into the potential costs of changing the law, warning it could come at the expense of other NHS services if implemented.
Baroness Harman said Mr Streeting has “crossed the line in two ways”.
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“He should not have said how he was going to vote, because that breaches neutrality and sends a signal,” she said.
“And secondly… he’s said the problem is that it will cost money to bring in an assisted dying measure, and therefore he will have to cut other services.
“But paradoxically, he also said it would be a slippery slope because people will be forced to bring about their own death in order to save the NHS money. Well, it can’t be doing both things.
“It can’t be both costing the NHS money and saving the NHS money.”
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Review into assisted dying costs
Baroness Harman said the argument “should not come down to resources” as it is a “huge moral issue” affecting “only a tiny number of people”.
She added that people should not mistake Mr Streeting for being “a kind of proxy for Keir Starmer”.
“The government is genuinely neutral and all of those backbenchers, they can vote whichever way they want,” she added.
Read more on this story:
‘Fix care before assisted dying legislation’
Why assisted dying is controversial – and where it’s already legal
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously expressed support for assisted dying, but it is not clear how he intends to vote on the issue or if he will make his decision public ahead of time.
The cabinet has varying views on the topic, with the likes of Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood siding with Mr Streeting in her opposition but Energy Secretary Ed Miliband being for it.
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is said to support the bill. Pic: Reuters
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has concerns. Pic: Reuters
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The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being championed by Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who wants to give people with six months left to live the choice to end their lives.
Under her proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.
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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater discusses End of Life Bill
The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.
MPs will debate and vote on the legislation on 29 November, in what will be the first Commons vote on assisted dying since 2015, when the proposal was defeated.
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