Starmer's U-turns have become a joke. But it's not too late for him to make some hard decisions

It’s really easy to take potshots at the government. Let’s give it a go. 

Mandatory digital ID – digital no IDea more like! 

Winter fuel payments – winter fools more like! 

Farmer inheritance tax – the plans make as much sense as a ploughed field! Apologies – I recognise these gags are becoming as strained as the government’s relationship with its own backbenchers… boom boom!

The reality remains, though. Keir Starmer keeps making big pledges, then reversing. Politics is the art of compromise; he’s really taking that literally. While it’s mildly diverting making cracks at politicians, it’s running out of steam. Because eventually we all want to see things improve. We want to see the cost of living no longer being a barrier to just being in the world.

We want to see coherent and joined-up steps taken to deal with the housing crisis, so that people can afford to rent, or even buy, and still have money for nice things in life, like food. It would be really good to get a sense of the big plans that will turbo-charge the country and carry us to the mythical, verdant green fields of economic growth. 

We’re now moving beyond the zone when blame for the state of things can be thrown at the last lot in power. While it’s no doubt true that there is a financial hole that they just wouldn’t deal with, at some point you need to front up and take care of business yourself.

Read more:

• In this moment of geopolitical sword-dancing, words matter more than ever
• From aubergines to data centres: Here’s what’s going to happen in 2026
• What Keir Starmer can learn from Ruben Amorim

A couple of months ago I asked Gordon Brown about power and how to use it. He remains a man of influence and a voice that is listened to on many matters, nationally and internationally, particularly around poverty and how to deal with it.

But even with all the influence he still carries he was clear that in a morning while in office he could have done more than in the months of campaigning and cajoling that he does now. It reinforced how much the government can achieve, and while Britain is still a big state nation with slow-moving apparatus, ultimately things can be changed with central political will.

Which makes it all the more curious that Starmer, with his whopping majority, doesn’t just get on with it. It’s still not too late to take hard decisions. Yet, instead there is a generalised sense of a nervous, tiptoeing leadership, changing at the whim of pressure groups, fearful of each election that is upcoming, even when that is not the general election.

This is all the more remarkable when you realise the government is making some bold steps that they, somehow, sneak out quietly when you’d think, you know, THAT’S the thing to shout about.

Amid the latest U-turn and the Grok business and the havering around Trump’s Greenland bombast, A VERY GOOD THING happened. But it feels like it’s lost to the wind. Which is ironic.

Last week, Labour revealed they’d awarded contracts to create eight new projects to build offshore wind farms capable of producing enough electricity to power 12 million homes. Plans are to have this up and running by the end of the decade.

Aside from the positive environmental impact, this also moves the UK away from reliance on overseas gas supplying electricity plants, a move that will build self-reliance and help – you’d hope – regulate consumer prices. It will also create and sustain some 7,000 jobs. While this isn’t yet at the level of skilled workers in oil and gas supply chain, it’s a very good start in the move to a just transition for many in that industry.

And yet, this news barely raised a whisper. Which is emblematic of the problem this government has. Perhaps the only way to get wider recognition is if Starmer threatened a U-turn on the plans.

Paul McNamee is editor of the Big Issue. Read more of his columns here. Follow him on X.

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