Why are Labour u-turning on their policies?

By

Billy Merrin, Editor-in-Chief

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Kier Starmer announced a new immigration plan to reduce the net migration figures by 2029. Plans include new language requirements, an updated foreign-student visas plan which would allow students to remain in the UK for a maximum of 18 months after they complete their studies and an increased number of 10 years for non-UK nationals to obtain ‘settled status’. This can be seen as a u-turn due to the common interpretation that Labour are more sympathetic to the immigration phenomenon, despite Starmer promising to tackle the immigration numbers in his manifesto promise’s where policy on this matter has been fairly weak up until his announcement this month. 


An obvious answer to why Starmer made this announcement was the slaughter his party received at the local elections on May 1st, losing 187 councillors and winning a projected vote share of only 20%. This seems like the Prime Minister’s strategy to fight the looming Reform threat, which benefited most from the election, picking up a new MP in Labour’s “Red Wall” and picking up 677 councillors by campaigning on a hard anti-immigration agenda.


On Monday, Farage also pledged that Reform would, given that he won the keys to 10 Downing Street in 2029, would end the often criticised two-child benefit cap. Instead of potentially challenging Reform on their nonsensical economic policy and potential economic problems in scrapping the two-child benefit cap, Labour minister Bridget Phillipson announced that the government would look into scrapping it.  This is the largest, most laughable U-turn by Labour, as before they completely ruled out the removal of the cap, now this sensible-centrist Labour government seemingly is planning to do whatever Reform says they’ll do!




There is an argument to be made both ways over the two-child benefit cap and whether it should be looked at from the macroeconomic side of government funding, and keep it or instead scrap it so the government can fully support larger families who have more funding. However, this is not the argument. Why are Labour ministers and the Prime Minister himself u-turning so quickly and supporting all of Reform’s ideas?


It seems Labour are still treading down a slippery slope where following Reform’s ideas can be material used by Farage to spit at Starmer over the next few years. The impact of this can be varied; it could work in Labour’s favour, potentially winning support back in their “Red Wall” constituencies. On the other hand, Labour’s U-turn strategy could backfire with the electorate already seeing them as weak, incapable and out of ideas.


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