A senior business leader told me, “they’ve done part one well, in a more traditional Labour way, but to get a real shape, they need a very strong part two… creating the vision, energy and specific incentives and plan for growth and wealth creation – that still needs work.”
On the other side, Labour’s union backers are pleased with extra cash for some public services, and the tweaking of the borrowing rules so more money is available to spend on long term projects.
But there’s concern, as one leader puts it, that the NI rise for employers will be “raised in every negotiating room”, as an excuse for lowering wages. And unhappiness on the left about the two-child benefit cap, and the winter fuel allowance, remains – with a judicial review of the decision on those pensioner payments in the offing.
But forget the inevitable skirmishes and stresses. The Budget has filled in many of the blanks about this government, answering part of that common question: what does Keir Starmer really stand for?
And the response could almost be a line from a Gordon Brown Budget of days gone by – economic stability, more public spending, with schools and hospitals at the top of the list.
Starmer’s backers says the discipline on day-to-day spending – even cuts to some departments – makes it different to Labour Budgets of the past, claiming they have taken the Conservatives’ mantle for being the party you can trust with public money.
But no doubt the Budget illuminates the priorities of classic Labour instincts, not the mushy middle.
A government source suggests none of it should really be a surprise.
“Traditional centre-left arguments were were all there in the election – ending non-doms, VAT on private schools – overall it passes the fairness test and that is the most important thing.”
“Labour in its veins,” says a cabinet minister. And in the next few weeks Labour will publish what’s been described as a “programme for government” that will make it even more clear.
Source:
www.bbc.com
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