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Let's just talk about what's gone on today, because this is a bit of a momentous day, really
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because Sir Keir Starmer has abandoned plans to cancel local elections in May
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Instead, the elections in 30 local authorities will go ahead. Now, that reverses a previous decision to delay them until 27, 2027
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Now, this isn't Labour's first U-turn, as we know. Let's remind ourselves of some of them
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Right, let's talk about digital ID cards. The plan was that we would have these ID cards that we'd all have to have
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But who wanted them? Nobody. They weren't in the manifesto. Business rates for pubs. Now, frankly, the fact that they had the rates relief because of Covid was essential
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They clearly didn't calculate what that would mean if they took them away
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Some pubs forced into closure because of them. Then we move on to inheritance tax on farmers. Another U-turn
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They promised to do the very opposite of what they did, and then they decided to impose it
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They had to U-turn because, frankly, it would mean that it would risk our food security
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Then it was a two-child benefit cap, which they said that they would maintain or they wouldn't do it
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And then they decided that they would, and then they went back and forth until eventually they U-turned
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They said they wouldn't raise income tax. That was in their manifesto. But unfortunately, they didn't actually raise them
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And what they did was they kept the thresholds exactly where they were, which is an income tax through stealth, which is totally out of order
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Then the most one of the most ridiculous ones, I think, workers rights on day one
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That was in their employment rights bill which is utter madness because you don know who you employed until at least day two day three day four In fact until about two years normally Waspie women Well before they were elected they went on and on
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We've got clips of many of them saying how they would give the Waspie women compensation
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And then guess what? The moment they did, they literally U-turned welfare and disability benefit cuts
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Well, you'd think with such a huge, huge majority in Parliament, they'd be able to get that through
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But, of course, no, they couldn't. So they had to U-turn on that too. One of the most ludicrous ones, which didn't make any sense at all, where they didn't want to have a national grooming gangs inquiry, despite it being blatantly obvious that there should be one
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And, of course, common sense had to win and they had to reverse. Then the winter fuel payment, something they never told us about in the manifesto, but was literally the first thing they did as soon as they came into office, which naturally pensioners were furious because the threshold started at £11,000, which is hardly anything
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They had to reverse that. Trans rights definitions as well. Again, they had to reverse that one, too, because that didn't work out well for them
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Then they broke a manifesto promise, in my view, because they said they would not raise national insurance
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But then they did. They divided it into employers and employees. And they said they didn't mean the one about the employers, employees even
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Then the measurement of national debt. Another big U-turn on the side of Labour
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And finally, they delayed elections across 30 local authorities, denying 4.5 million people a vote
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Turned out it was unlawful. So is this latest U-turn of local elections a win for democracy
