Voters still aren’t listening to Labour

Sir Keir Starmer has launched Labour’s local elections campaign today, focusing on the need for a ‘proper pay rise’ for NHS staff. Of course, local government has nothing to do with the way NHS pay is set in England, but that’s by the by if you’re an opposition trying to turn every poll into a referendum on the government.

Starmer’s call for Boris Johnson to give nurses and other health service workers a 2 per cent pay rise is in keeping with the approach he has taken over the past few months which is to look for a government problem and hitch a ride on that, rather than go on the offensive with distinctive policy offers. It’s hardly a surprise that the opposition is taking this strategy at this stage in the parliament, as there is little point in setting out lots of big policies this early. But it has led to rumblings within the party that Starmer is being far too safe as Labour leader.

His allies retort that they need to convince the public of just this point – that Labour is safe after five years of being wildly unpredictable under Jeremy Corbyn – before trying to woo voters with anything particularly distinctive.