Angela Rayner’s showdown with Peter Mandelson highlights how difficult the Opposition is finding it to unite around a programme for government.
As strike leader in 1984-85 he was incompetent, closed-minded, and devoid of tactics or strategy. During the course of the year, he walked into every trap set for him by the National Coal Board (NCB) and the Government.
Yesterday marked fifty years since Edward Heath asked voters “Who governs Britain?” and received the polite but firm reply of “Not you, mate”.
Does the caginess reveal an opportunist leadership, prepared too launch key policies without working out the details? Or is there in fact a detailed programme in place – but they believe it is either too complicated or too contentious to spell it out?
Also: the Welsh Government’s ‘Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales’ has reported and you’ll never guess, but they think Cardiff Bay needs even more powers.
Fifty years ago, the battle between government and the National Union of Mineworkers fatally undermined the corporatist model by which both parties had governed Britain.
There is no easy way out of the toxic combination of already-high taxes, corrosive inflation, low productivity, and a Health Service funded exclusively by the taxpayer.
Victoria Atkins tells Laura Kuenssberg that “we want our doctors and nurses to be able to work in the NHS”, but stresses the impact of strikes on services.
The Government may be looking ahead to another winter of mild disruption, lengthening waiting lists, and protracted negotiations. Nonetheless, the prognosis is not half as gloomy as this time last year.
If you’re thinking the NHS cannot possibly appropriate any more of the country’s time, energy, resources and money, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warns otherwise.
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown inherited a strong economy and low taxes, and thus plenty of scope for more spending. Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves would take office in vastly more difficult circumstances.
He blames industrial action for longer waiting lists, and claims that the Government’s “plans were beginning to work” prior to the dispute.
Labour leader says the current situation is “the government’s mess, and it’s for them to sort it out”.
The waves of strikes we are seeing punish patients, children, and commuters. Acceding to the inflated pay demands of the unions would punish us all by making our inflation problem worse.
They have the opportunity to present immediate and long-term solutions for the challenges facing the Health Service, including workforce and retention and mental health services.