Mike Freedman is concerned that there is no vision enabling us to understand what the country will look like after a period of Labour rule, while Peter Walker says Starmer and his allies need to build on the momentum Labour achieved leading up to 2017. Plus letters from Des Senior and Barbara Gray
Andy Beckett is right (If Keir Starmer wants to ‘rethink Britain’, he’ll need some bigger ideas, 8 April), but there is a missing link in his thinking as well as that of the party and its leader. Without a clear strategic framework within which to situate big ideas, policy initiatives and election manifestos, there is a dangerous void that will serve to confuse not just the electorate but members, activists and affiliates such as trades unions. Currently, there is little or no coherence or linkage between the various policies being advocated.
The result is that there is no vision enabling us to understand what the country will look like after a period of Labour rule. For example, what will the nature and direction of our education provision and lifelong learning commitment be like? What can we expect the nature, structure and rewards of employment to be? What reforms will there be to people’s incomes and the benefits system, and how will they be linked to taxation and pensions?
