“Change” was Sir Keir Starmer’s campaign slogan earlier this month in Great Britain. And it may have been a vague concept from a politician the press has described as “enigmatic”, but from the looks of the July 4th polls, he convinced the British people. Now, Starmer as prime minister is called upon to move on to the next track: to actually bring about change through his government.
A few weeks after the election, for a moderate politician who used to avoid strong rhetoric, Keir Starmer suddenly sounds extremely ambitious. Addressing the House of Commons after the King’s Speech last week, he said his government’s aim was not to “nothing less than the renewal of the country”.
And although he still kind of confuses people by declaring that he leads “of a government without doctrines”as time passes, it begins to clarify the landscape in terms of the policies it intends to implement but also what the so-called “starmerism” stands for: nationalization, labor, housing, energy price reduction, fiscal strictness are just a few of the dozens of news bills to be submitted to Parliament.
State interventionism
To begin with, Keir Starmer’s government looks set to be the most interventionist there has been in Britain since the 1970s, with many analysts arguing that it is seeking to correct market failure by intervening in areas where capitalist models have not worked.
The British “Observer” writes that “it is about capitalism that accepts the free market but not its free-for-all version”.
Town planning reform to give the government more power over landowners to develop new infrastructure and social housing. Labor reforms to ensure fairer wages, more rights for workers and teacher recruitment.
Nationalizing the railways and creating new public services, including an industrial council, an energy company to accelerate investment in new green technologies and reduce electricity and gas bills and a football regulator.
These are just some of the 40 radical laws that were included in the government’s program and read by the king Charles to the throne of the House of Lords. In fact, the number of planned new laws presented in the king’s speech is among the largest ever recorded.
As Britain’s Sky News explains, this is because Keir Starmer wants to give the impression that the party has been hard at work in opposition and is ready to govern – and a government program of 40 new laws makes it clear that the last one hasn’t been drafted. fortnight.
At the same time, Starmer wanted to make clear from the first minute his desire to maintain the stability and fiscal rigor that previous governments, particularly that of Liz Truss.
It was clear in the very first paragraph uttered by the king: “Every decision will be consistent with tax regulations. We will legislate to ensure that any change in taxes or spending is subject to independent review by the Office for Budget Responsibility’ (the independent audit mechanism expected to be given new powers).
The caveats
However, it must be kept in mind that government plans and government achievements are not the same thing. Laws to be passed can always be bogged down, deviated, modified, or the respective government may run out of time or even the will to move them forward. Of course, in this case the government has a comfortable majority, so any “rebellion” within the party would have to be very powerful to cause any real problems for Starmer, giving him the opportunity to implement his program more freely.
For now, Labor wants to make the most of the “grace period” that every government enjoys during its first term in office – and which for the Starmer government will likely be short-lived, according to the Guardian, in a country where public services have been torn apart by the austerity that followed the 2008 financial crisis and where inequality and child poverty are the highest in Europe, with citizens expecting results as soon as possible.
Under these circumstances, the British newspaper explains that Starmer is trying to show that he is fulfilling his pre-election promises, or at least that he is starting the process to do so. But he said he would avoid the “temptation of the easy fix”, warning that serious reforms would take patience and time, in which he would need to convince a largely skeptical electorate of the government’s ability, but also to keep his party together. – the country is exasperated by infighting, as demonstrated by the Conservatives’ low turnout in the election.
However, crucial elements of the government’s intentions, especially how it plans to approach public sector reform, remain murky, with the Financial Times noting that Starmer and his party are set to be shaken by events that are still unpredictable and conflicts that have yet to take place as these are only their first few weeks in office. Even so, “starmerism” is slowly starting to take shape.
“To build a better, different Britain”
In June 2023, a year before the election, Starmer gave an interview to Time in which he was asked to define “Starmerism”: “Recognizing that our economy needs to be fixed. That solving climate change is not just an obligation, it is the greatest opportunity we have for our country in the future. To realize that public services must be reformed, that every child and every place must have the best opportunities and that we need a safe environment, safe streets, a reduction in crime.”
In the same year, when asked about the same issue, he replied to the “Economist”: “Let’s build a better, different Britain. “Starmerism” is about both the “how” and the “what”. We have an inefficient, over-centralised state and five ‘missions’: growth, the NHS, decarbonisation, crime and education. We will accomplish “missions” with individual, bold objectives. Economic growth is the cornerstone for everything. Above all, this means providing a stable environment after a decade of political turmoil – which inspires great political puns, but for the economy and investment is a disaster.”
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