Starmer has also boxed himself in by saying he doesn’t plan to increase any taxes beyond those already announced. That risks angering voters if Labour reneges on its tax-and-spend pledges to balance the books.
“There’s a real challenge to be the party of stronger growth again, when the policies they might want to effect — state and private — feel outwith the capacity they have when they get there,” said Claire Ainsley, Starmer’s former director of policy and now a director at the Progressive Policy Institute.
