Unless Starmer Delivers In 2025, The 2029 Election Is Over For Labour

6th January 2025

It's back to work day for most in the UK, Keir Starmer included. If he had any sense, he'd have one priority for 2025, which is making the UK government work again.

It's back to work day for most people in the UK today. And, I suspect that Keir Starmer is amongst those who will be returning to his desk with a long list of things to do. My problem is that I think that Keir Starmer's list of things to do will not be those things that people in this country want him to do.

Keir Starmer is dedicated to the grand gesture, the political plan, and the desire to leave a legacy, even though he's only six months into office already. But the simple fact is that most people in this country want something very mundane from him. They want a government that works. That is not what he's going to promise us in 2025.

I know that because Rachel Reeves has already told us the money to make government work isn't going to be made available. That is ludicrous. It means that everything he plans for 2025 is bound to fail in the way that he wishes to do it. And that is unnecessary because the government can create all the money it needs to deliver what we, the people of the UK, want.

ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY
Richard Murphy is Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best known book is ‘The Joy of Tax'.