In Starmer’s bulging in-tray there are some serious issues in the folder marked “business and industry“. A significant number of British businesses are at risk of collapse or are already laying off workers this summer – many of them in Labour seats:
Will Starmer follow the interventionist policy you’d expect from a big state Labour administration – stepping in to save the vast majority of these roles – or does he now feel he can afford a bit of free market pragmatism regarding businesses which are set to fail? Rachel Reeves may not be keen to constantly cough up for loans, bailouts and rescue packages…
Under extreme political pressure from the unions and Labour MPs, Starmer and Reeves’s decisions in this sphere will slowly reveal their priorities and lay the ground for any future tensions. Campaigning is easy, governing is harder…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”