At his speech at a Hull business campus this morning, Keir Starmer was introduced by a man who proudly noted that the site was home to various brands, including Durex. So it was fitting that ‘protection’ was a constant theme throughout the Prime Minister’s speech on his planned reforms to the civil service – and his announcement that NHS England is to be scrapped.
‘National security for national renewal’, the PM promised, stressing the need to have an ‘active state’ to deal with challenges both abroad and at home. The beginning of the Ukraine war gave Boris Johnson’s premiership purpose in 2022; the conflict’s looming close offers Starmer a narrative for overhauling warfare and welfare.
It was a critique which will have many Tories nodding along in agreement.
To do this, Starmer wants public sector reform: that three-word phrase beloved of all politicians. In front of a group of beaming women, the PM declared he wanted to ‘tear down the walls of Westminster’, getting the state to ‘operate at maximum power’ by making it ‘closer to communities.’ Shirtsleeves rolled up, he paced back and forth, earnestly setting out his diagnosis to the nation’s ills. He noted how the state now employs more people than it has done for decades, yet, perversely, it is ‘weaker’ than ever before. This bloated, sprawling Leviathan tries to do too much and ends up, overstretched, unfocused and ‘unable to deliver the security people need.’ It was a critique which will have many Tories nodding along in agreement.
So what’s to be done about it? Starmer offered two solutions: a greater focus on growth and more control for ministers. He railed against regulation, citing examples of ‘jumping spiders’ and ‘cricket balls’ being used to stop new homes being built. With repeated reference to his party’s manifesto and talk of ‘democratically elected ministers’, he offered a much more Cromwellian view of executive power than that advocated by Lord Hermer. This led to the speech’s big flourish: the news that NHS England is to be abolished and taken back under ministerial control. Another top-down reorganisation of the NHS? Let’s see how this one fares.
There is already evidence to suggest that Starmer’s new-found loathing of red tape is working: his much-mocked letter to regulators appears to be the reason why DEI rules in the City are being dropped. Elite cues do matter and No. 10 is clearly intent on making the most of its bully pulpit. But there remains two tensions at the heart of Starmer’s much-touted ‘Plan for Change’.
The first is the refusal to say that Labour wants a smaller state – even though Starmer implied that 130,000 extra officials since Brexit is too many. The second is the innately authoritarian nature of government. Starmer told his audience today that he wants the state to ‘take the big decisions’ so ordinary people ‘can get on with their lives.’ Given his ministers’ plans on encryption, personal liberties and education, it seems implausible that his ‘strong state’ will really produce a politics that will ‘tread more lightly‘ on peoples’ lives.
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