1. Keir Starmer is listening to his MPs in rural areas
No 10 has been worried for weeks at the slightest hint of rebellion or discontent from Labor MPs. Today’s announcement of support for households using heating oil is an example of the growing power of Labor MPs in policy making. The Rural PLP – a group of 120 or so Labor MPs with wholly or partly rural areas (80 or so are wholly rural, another 40 are seen as “edge cases”) – has lobbied No 10, the Treasury and the whips for support for constituents using heating oil in the past week since the election began. Their swift action is a sign of a Number 10 increasingly ready to respond to demands from Labor MPs – for better and for worse.
2. Ed Miliband is all powerful
Starmer’s five-point plan to address the cost of living crisis was outright Milibandism, including his reluctance to draw further into the conflict in the Middle East. Under pressure from other parties to reopen the North Sea drilling issue, the Prime Minister doubled down on clean energy and the “long-term plan to build Britain’s energy security and independence”, stressing: “We will not slow this down. We will go faster”.
3. Starmer claims political credit for his approach to Iran
The Prime Minister returned to the original question of handling the US-Israeli intervention in Iran and defended it more forcefully than ever. “Committing British troops to military action is the most serious responsibility of any prime minister… I have been attacked… but at every stage, I have stood by my principles,” he said. Trump’s pursuit of an illegal war without a plan would not have been leading, he said, but trailing. We know voters are largely on his side on this issue, but the initial press coverage was less than kind. Starmer took it head on and is looking to bankroll some political credit for his approach.
4. Access to the Strait of Hormuz has not yet been decided
Donald Trump’s call for allies to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz to protect merchant shipping and unblock global oil supplies has been met with a muted response so far. Starmer said the UK was working with “all allies” – including European allies – on a “workable collective plan” to restore shipping as quickly as possible while easing economic impacts. This did not make it clear whether Britain will end up sending resources to the Strait of Hormuz or not.
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5. We still don’t know what will happen to energy bills after June
Starmer reiterated that the energy price cap will be lifted by June, but there is still an unanswered question about what happens to energy bills after that point, with voters concerned about rising costs. It was fatally expensive for the Truss presidency to provide universal support after the energy price shocks caused by the war in Ukraine. It seems unlikely that Labor will be able to deliver anything on that scale, but with the cost of living their top priority, they are under pressure to deliver something significant. That work is still ongoing.
(Further reading: Donald Trump’s war is driving me crazy)
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