There Is An EU-Sized Hole In Starmer's 'Growth' Manifesto

Growth is our core business,” Keir Starmer said as he unveiled a Labour manifesto aimed 7 squarely at reassuring disaffected Conservative supporters who have not yet moved into the Labour column.

- ANDREW GRICE

"Growth, growth, growth" is Starmer's equivalent of Tony Blair's "education, education, education". With some, but not all, tax rises ruled out, Labour would need to grow the economy to honour Starmer’s “no return to austerity” pledge because he would inherit £20bn of Tory public spending cuts. He argued that repeating the growth levels of the Blair-Brown governments would raise tens of billions of pounds a year for public services.

Seeking “a mandate for economic growth” doesn’t make it happen. Starmer admitted there is “no magic wand”, but insisted he had “a plan for growth”. However, there’s a new cloud on Labour’s horizon that it doesn’t want to talk about.

I’m told senior figures are worried that the weakened positions of France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz after the far-right’s success in the European parliament elections will make it harder for Starmer to reset UK relations with the EU. Labour regards reducing trade barriers with the bloc as one of the easiest ways to boost growth.