The pair should have plenty to talk about. As well as the official agenda of Ukraine and the Middle East, the two have much in common – both are social democrat lawyers. They hit it off early in Starmer’s premiership with the German newspaper Der Spiegel suggesting their joint lack of charisma might be why “they like each other so much”.
In a few weeks, Scholz’s party will go to the polls in the national German elections where they are expected to receive an electoral battering. The expectation is a result fitting into the pattern of centrist left governments losing support while radical parties on the right make gains.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz greets British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Chancellery on October 18, 2024 in Berlin, Germany (Photo: Getty Images Europe)
The challenge is how do Labour become the disrupters not defenders of a bloated, misfiring status quo that never delivers?
“There’s been a shift,” says a senior Labour figure. “I was even in a conversation the other day with colleagues where we were speaking positively about Javier Milei.”
After a tricky start to government, Labour ministers are becoming disillusioned with Whitehall and the state. Starmer’s supporters are coming round to the idea that to get things done they need to be radical – the status quo won’t do. The buzz word around Labour think tanks is “disruptors”.
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Read MoreYet six months into governing and some of Starmer’s party are having these views run up against the reality of a system where it is hard to get much done.
What does that look like under a Labour government?
“It’s Operation Chainsaw,” says a senior party figure. There’s also a desire to create a more nimble state through the use of tech, data and AI. Some MPs are even pushing the government to adopt digital ID as a way of making it easier for citizens to interact with the state.
Reeves has decided that with a large majority, this Labour government will have the nerve to push through divisive plans against vested interests.
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Read MoreBut an even tougher sell to the Labour Party is the coming Welfare battle. The government is finally catching up on welfare reform and how the system is unsustainable.
A green paper is due in March – with ministers ultimately having to find ways to reduce the number of people on benefits. “It’s not very Labour to take people’s benefits away but it has to be done,” says one figure privy to the conversations.
The work is underway – the question that remains is how far Keir Starmer is really willing to go. His meeting with Scholtz will serve as a reminder of what happens when centre left parties fail to adapt.
Katy Balls is political editor at The Spectator
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