‘This government believes in equality and social justice,’ began Liz Kendall. Which government she was describing is anyone’s guess. I suspect that if you were to ask the general public what they thought the government believed in, ‘equality’ and ‘social justice’ wouldn’t even make the top 100 printable responses.
The government were facing a backbench rebellion so great that even the cabinet – who, as anyone who has ever seen them give an interview can attest, have an appetite for humiliation which appears to be almost sadomasochistic – were having second thoughts
Kendall was at the House for the start of a monumental climb-down: think Hillary and Tenzing in reverse. The hapless one-time leadership candidate was now the face of the Starmer government as it explained why it was backtracking on its flagship welfare reforms. Kendall claimed it was because this Labour government listens. In fact, it was because they were facing a backbench rebellion so great that even the cabinet – who, as anyone who has ever seen them give an interview can attest, have an appetite for humiliation which appears to be almost sadomasochistic – were having second thoughts.
The great climb-down was delivered in a sort of identikit motivational speaker voice. Kendall had the general air of someone leading a team ice-breaker exercise for a depressed corporate team at the Best Western off the Reading Ring Road. In a just world, this is exactly what most of her colleagues would be doing.
‘We are delivering on our promises,’ Kendall whirred, all misplaced emphases and faux sincerity. There came a sort of apologia for what the government had done which, though technically delivered facing the Tory benches, was basically directed at the rebels.
Kendall referenced what she presumably believes to be government successes. We heard at length and at volume about the ‘Right to Try’ scheme. This policy which enabled disabled people to try out the world of work is clearly an attempt to produce a catchy title and legacy akin to Thatcher’s famous policy. To use a cinematic analogy: this is less an affectionate remake and more like someone filming a blockbuster on a handheld camera at the back of a cinema, with every other scene interrupted by someone going for a pee, and then trying to sell it out of the back of a van.
After this bluff came the catering sized portion of Humble Pie. ‘We have listened carefully,’ Kendall said, ‘in particular to disabled people and their organisations’. This must be some new policy on behalf of Kendall since she was one of the core cabinet cheerleaders of the Assisted Suicide Bill, which disabled groups opposed unanimously.
The shadow secretary of state, Helen Whately didn’t spend long responding to the absurdity of what had just been said. ‘Nothing we’ve seen of Labour over the last few weeks suggests they have the courage and conviction to deal with this problem’. As Donald Trump once said, ‘many such cases’. She asked one question of the Secretary of State: how were they going to pay for this?
‘I’m in listening mode,’ said Kendall in response which actually drew a laugh. She then reverted to an old trick of talking about how awful the Tories had been. For this she got some lukewarm cheers. Behind her, the crocodiles began to circle. This won’t be the Starmer government’s last cock-up and climb-down, but it might prove to be the first which its obituarists reference as leading to the inevitable.
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