Labour’s in need of early reboot
AS Sir Keir Starmer approaches his first Christmas as PM, no one could have foreseen how swiftly his stock has plummeted.
Despite winning a massive majority, Labour at times looks more like a government limping through its fourth year rather than in its first six months.
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It is confronted by a faltering economy, shocking rates of worklessness, plummeting popularity and a growing perception of being less than entirely trustworthy.
Today the Prime Minister is attempting to press the reset button by promising a no-nonsense approach to delivering change.
Setting tough targets to track progress is a positive step.
His swift action in ousting the Transport Secretary Louise Haigh was also commendable — even though his distinct lack of curiosity about her fraudulent past when he originally promoted her does raise questions.
Sir Keir frankly admits reforms will have to be pushed through in the face of bureaucratic “obstacles and blockers” put up by civil servants — and compares reform to turning around an oil tanker.
His predecessor Tony Blair famously complained of “the scars on my back” from his efforts to reform the public sector.
And the PM must avoid the pitfalls of the last Government, which found itself a hostage to a hostile civil service.
Given the vast problems now facing the country, we can only welcome Sir Keir’s new urgency and realism.
Burden of choice
AN assisted dying law could fundamentally shift our view of suicide from being taboo to being a state-approved way to die.
But critics warn that people who feel their lives are a burden to others, such as some of the severely disabled, could come under unfair pressure to take this route.
This must not be allowed to happen as it sadly has in some countries where similar laws have been enacted.
Now Parliament has voted in theory for this historic change, the most critical phase has begun, where the legislation must undergo the most rigorous scrutiny.
MPs must ensure that the final legislation is so watertight that its safeguards cannot be eroded.
And the Government must fund much-improved end-of-life care so people have a real choice.
Many MPs spoke with real emotion about the personal experiences that had led them to vote for the reform.
But head must guide heart if the law is to be workable and fair for all of society.
It must not gain such a head of steam that a flawed version is hurried through.
It is a matter of life and death to get this right first time.
