Beth Rigby of Sky News put the question to the Labour Party Leader at the party’s manifesto launch. (You can read the manifesto here) The website Politics Joe picked out some highlights here.
Perhaps it makes the media’s job that little bit harder if a manifesto launch only highlights things that have already been announced. But that does not mean the public know about them – and us political nerds need to remember that such things are not aimed at us, but the wider public that does not follow politics and current affairs in Westminster.
“There is not a single new policy in it that you haven’t already announced”
Beth Rigby of Sky News to Sir Keir Starmer – 13 June 2024
“Every policy has been carefully thought-through…It’s not about rabbits out of a hat”
Sir Keir Starmer’s response to Beth Rigby
Above: King Kongo pulling Chris Rabbit out of a hat in Henry’s Cat – The Lost World
They don’t make cartoons like they used to!
Hardly any geographical places – i.e. towns and cities, were mentioned. Not even Cambridge.
This contrasts with opposing manifestos from other parties – perhaps reflecting target areas or, in the case of the Conservatives, their existing policies in the recent government. Therefore we don’t know what Labour’s formal alternative to The Case for Cambridge actually is. Thus it may be that Labour’s candidates either have to ask their party’s HQ for formal briefing on how to respond, or they will have to extrapolate from the announcements on planning and house-building to figure out a holding line until (assuming they win the general election) more detailed policy can be developed and announced by their potential ministers.
How high are your expectations?
Every talking head and their institutions have got something to say – and why wouldn’t they given that Labour are the clear favourites to form the next government?
The Institute for Fiscal Studies released this thread saying the proposals are not nearly big enough to deal with the challenges ahead/mess the Tories have left behind (delete as per your political opinions). Others – from commentators on policy areas such as rail, through to senior political figures in smaller opposition parties were very critical at what they see as the lack of ambition in the manifesto.
A very safe manifesto – but one that gives enough policy flexibility once in government
In one sense it was tactically smart because unlike the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto, there are far fewer big ticket things to pin Labour down on in the run up to the next general election after this one (likely the late 2020s) on manifesto commitments. One of the things the current PM is struggling with are those political hostages to fortune where when he made a series of pledges upon taking office. And let’s face it, Rishi Sunak was never going to succeed in a task of keeping the Conservatives in office after one PM was ejected by his own MPs for lying to Parliament in the face of Partygate, while his predecessor was ejected – again by his party’s own MPs for crashing the economy. But then he shouldn’t have volunteered for it.
The phrase that pays…
It’s worth doing some keyword searches of the Labour manifesto because that hints at how they have given themselves the policy flexibility. Phrases such as:
- “We will work [with]…” (appears 20 times)
- “Partnership…” (appears 32 times)
- “Strategy…” (appears 26 times)
- “Local…” (appears 59 times)
- “ensure…” (appears 101 times)
- “Review…” (appears 19 times)
- “Commitment” + “Committed” = 34 times.
There are some numbers in there – £X billion for this, Y billion for that – but do the numbers mean anything to the general public? On BBC Look East earlier this evening, one young voter highlighted the lack of education in politics and democracy.
Above – what are the responses from political parties to citizenship education?
This was something I raised in my previous blogpost. Politicians can talk about how important democracy is all they like, but if we’re not being educated on what it is and how to use it, their words sound hollow. And it’s not like this is a new thing. Cllr Henry Thomas Hall (Radical, Barnwell Ward) of Cambridge Borough Council made the point to his opposing councillors in the late 1800s.
“the people of the country were not intelligent or moral enough to understand the principles of a Republic, which was government of the people by the people and for the people, and it was necessary for that high standard of government that the intellect and moral power of the people should be developed.”
Where does that leave the voter?
There are a host of tools that voters can use to help them come to a decision on who to vote for without having to go through hundreds of pages of political reading, or watching footage of leading politicians playing soundbite tennis.
- Who Can I Vote For? – use your postcode to find your local candidates, read their social media pages, watch their videos, email them your questions
- Vote for policies – filters policies in the manifestos so you can compare your chosen areas of interest across the parties
- Political Compass – shows how close your own political views are to the main political parties on the economic left-right spectrum crossed with a social libertarian-authoritarian axis,
Above – the Political Compass matrix for the General Election 2024
Note the above scale is neither perfect nor ‘impartial’. It has its critics. Do not mistake ‘the centre’ as being some sort of utopia that all political parties should be aiming for.
Videos of hustings in/around Cambridge
I’m saving videos of the Cambridge Climate Hustings to the playlist here – the opening speeches are up already with more to follow in due course. More events have been listed by Phil Rodgers here. Tonight is the first set of exchanges between the candidates in the new St Neots and Mid Cambs hustings. Furthermore The Rector of Girton Parish Church has confirmed that the hustings they are hosting for the same constituency will be on Youtube. The next hustings for Cambridge constituency is on Wed 19 June at Friends Meeting House and will be debating the Growth of Cambridge – free tickets here.
I will also be filming this event. (For anyone who would like to support my filming expenses – not least my ageing editing equipment that needs replacing soon! – please feel free to donate here).
Above – please support my filming, community reporting, and local historical research
The Cambridge Town Owl 