Kelly’s Eye

THAT jointly written article by Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner last week – promising to revive the “levelling up” policies first proposed by Boris Johnson – was significant as much for what it inadvertently revealed as for what it actually said.

Most obviously, it was an electoral ploy. By praising Johnson for the idea, it aimed at the latter’s disillusioned 2019 voters in the so-called RedWall seats who had bought into those plans.And it provided Starmer with a handy stick with which to beat Rishi Sunak, as he blamed the PM for killing levelling up “at birth” while Chancellor.

But, however much the Labour leader might deny it, his endorsement of levelling up illustrates too the dearth of alternatives his party has to offer. Short of the proposed 20 per cent VAT on private school fees, there are members of Starmer’s shadow cabinet who would struggle to name a present Labour policy, let alone any of us voters.

Even its plan to end UK tax breaks for non-domiciled people (who live here but keep their home overseas for tax purposes) was stolen by Jeremy Hunt in his most recent Budget.

That’s further proof of how effectively indistinguishable the Conservatives and Labour have become, reduced to petty squabbling in the absence of any genuine divide to debate.

Lastly, Starmer’s new-found respect for levelling up exposes how laughable were all the lurid claims that Johnson was some sort of right-wing Conservative. Give him the choice between reining in public spending or grand project gesture politics, he’d go for the latter every time.

But as the Tories are learning with every dire opinion poll, they should have held their nerve two years ago and let the voters decide Johnson’s fate.The consequence of not doing so looks likely to be a landslide, ushering in by default

– in Starmer and Labour – the most unenthusiastically-greeted government yet.