It is mission critical that Labour repairs the contract between citizen and state | Andrew Rawnsley

Proving that government can be a force for good is essential if Sir Keir Starmer is to see off the populist right

Listening to Sir Keir Starmer’s recent lament that the “flabby” state is failing Britain was to experience deja vu all over again. More than a quarter of a century has passed since another Labour prime minister, one Tony Blair, vented his frustration with the public sector by complaining that trying to reform government had left him with “scars on my back”. In similar vein, David Cameron’s lot used to excuse their struggles to get stuff done by blaming resistance from the amorphous administrative “Blob”. Dominic Cummings told Boris Johnson that the solution was to pack Number 10 with “weirdos”, “misfits” and “wild cards” – a self-description if ever there was one – while purging the senior civil service. He was still working his way through his “shit list” of mandarins when he got the boot himself. You will not recall the Johnson administration as an able and stable outfit dedicated to serving the needs of the public. The grim chaos of that period is a warning to the current government that braggadocio, stunts and wheezes will not make the state smarter.

Most prime ministers become exasperated with the bureaucracy under them at some point. It has taken eight months for Sir Keir to conclude that a “weak”, “overstretched” and “unfocused” state is failing to properly perform its “core purposes”. He’s not wrong. The contract between government and citizenry is in a bad way. “The public has lost faith in the state to deliver,” says one cabinet minister who worries about this a lot. “People find themselves paying more in tax, but do they feel the benefit in the public realm? They don’t.”

Topics

Labour MP Mike Amesbury to stand down over assault conviction

Resignation will trigger first by-election of Sir Keir Starmer’s government
Financial Times - 5d
Keir Starmer plans to reshape the Britain's ‘flabby’ state. But don’t compare him to Elon Musk

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has won praise for his efforts to marshal international support for Ukraine as President Donald Trump’s economic and foreign policies roil the world
ABC News - 3d
UK helped Ukraine and US reach ceasefire deal, government sources say

Sir Keir Starmer led European efforts to mend Trump-Zelensky relationship, UK government sources tell the BBC.
BBC News - 4d
Chris Mason: Starmer echoes Liz Truss on reform of government

Sir Keir's argument overlaps with the former PM's - that the proliferation of arm's length bodies slow down change.
BBC News - 3d
UK financial regulators in retreat as prime minister piles on pressure

City cheers Sir Keir Starmer’s crackdown on red tape but there are questions over how much it can boost growth
Financial Times - 3d
Keir Starmer’s poll ratings leap after Trump withdraws support for Ukraine

Around 30% of voters say they prefer Labour for dealing with ‘allies against threats to the UK’ in boost to party leader. Keir Starmer’s approval ratings have shot up since Donald Trump returned to ...
The Guardian - Mar. 8
Keir Starmer scraps NHS England to put health service ‘into democratic control’

Health secretary says end of ‘biggest quango in world’ is final nail in coffin of Andrew Lansley’s 2012 reorganisation. . Keir Starmer has brought the health service back under the control of ...
The Guardian - 3d
Keir Starmer defends planned welfare cuts to anxious Labour MPs

Prime minister wants to reform disability benefit payments to help fund greater spending on defence
Financial Times - 5d
‘Not good enough and overpaid’: Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s attack on United players

Co-owner backs Ruben Amorim to stay for ‘long time’ He admits not sacking Erik ten Hag in summer was error Sir Jim Ratcliffe has launched a blistering attack on Manchester United players, ...
The Guardian - 5d

More from The Guardian

59 killed and more than 100 injured in North Macedonia nightclub fire

Interior minister says blaze at pop concert in eastern town of Kočani probably caused by pyrotechnics. Fifty-nine people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a fire that broke out in a ...
The Guardian - 2h
Airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthis may continue for weeks, US officials say

At least 31 killed and up to 100 injured after Trump orders strikes on Sana’a and Saada in response to shipping attacks. US officials have said airstrikes launched by Donald Trump against Yemen’s ...
The Guardian - 2h
Trump and Putin expected to speak this week about ceasefire terms, envoy says

Steve Witkoff says US discussions with Russian president ‘positive’ and ‘solution-based’ and leaders likely to speak. Donald Trump ’s envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that he expected the US ...
The Guardian - 37m
Peruvian fisher rescued after three months stranded at sea

Maximo Napa, 61, says he survived by eating cockroaches, birds and a turtle – and thinking about his mother. A Peruvian fisher was found alive after drifting at sea for 94 days, a navy official ...
The Guardian - 4h
‘Great to see our friends arrive’: SpaceX capsule docks with ISS to bring back stranded Nasa astronauts

The arrival of four astronauts will allow Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return to Earth after nine months on the International Space Station. There were emotional scenes of smiling astronauts ...
The Guardian - 1h