He declares that he will show how Westminster can improve lives, saying Britain is “broken but not beyond repair”. This is a noble desire. Yet the Prime Minister has struggled to share his personal vision or define a core ideology, despite all the “plans for change” and mission statements, while his stock has plummeted rapidly after a series of messy rows, mishaps and muddles that are sparking questions over his political skills.
He believes that one of his biggest successes during his five years as Director of Public Prosecutions was moving from paper to digital files, according to his biographer Tom Baldwin, who said that Starmer saw this as transformative, since it cut costs while speeding up the justice system. Yet even then he was accused by his critics and predecessors of lacking a clear vision.
The governments of Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and even, to some extent, David Cameron offered voters a choice based on an explicit sense of purpose with their policies. Yet under Starmer, the two most pivotal public services are proposing simultaneous reform agendas that appear to be radically different in their approach.
This is long overdue; I have been arguing for almost two decades that sanctification of this public service covered up its deficiencies, inequalities and safety scandals.
Yet now there is a clear sense of how the Government plans to deal with the crisis, after Starmer this week unveiled his strategy with increased community provision and more diagnostic services.
There will be league tables for hospital trusts, with greater freedoms on funding for better performers and failing managers getting kicked out.
Starmer proclaims this as “radical reform” – although as analysts point out, he is building on a strategy adopted by previous Tory and Labour administrations.
Now look at education, the other great delivery department, which is lurching off in the opposite direction to lessen the benefits of competition, weaken accountability, reduce parental choice and stifle freedoms in the system.
Neil O’Brien, the Tory shadow Minister for Education, says that ditching “the magic formula of freedom plus accountability” is “pure vandalism”. He is right since Phillipson’s stance is disturbingly regressive – although his party’s attempt to use the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to push for a national inquiry into grooming gangs is grossly hypocritical.
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Read MoreYet Phillipson complains about “tunnel vision” on exams and a system incentivising “a competitive rather than a collaborative model”.
Sadly, the poor performance of schools in Wales and Scotland shows the impact of this softer, more statist, style.
Perhaps this reflects Labour’s determination to duck the toughest issues, which is seen also with that shameful shunting aside of social care salvation.
It is bizarre, however, to see such ideological divergence as these two major departments grapple with policy. Starmer has promised to “drive reform through the public sector”. But the big question remains: does he really know where he is going with his Government?
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