Why Starmer’s latest U-turn over local elections could be a gift for Reform

Keir Starmer was challenged on Monday morning over the list of U-turns he has made since entering government less than two years ago, including on cuts to winter fuel payments, cuts to disability benefits and hikes in inheritance tax for farmers.“I am a pragmatist. I am a common-sense merchant,” he told the BBC presenter Jeremy Vine in his defence.Just two hours later, his government was announcing yet another reversal as it abandoned plans to delay local elections for 30 councils in England. And, for all the prime minister’s insistence that his willingness to change course is a sign of his pragmatic streak, the announcement delighted his opponents and infuriated his own colleagues

UK politics: Government abandons plans to delay 30 local council elections in May – as it happened

Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has just posted on social media the letter sent out by the government confirming it has dropped its plans to delay elections in 30 council areas.Farage says:We took this Labour government to court and won.In collusion with the Tories, Keir Starmer tried to stop 4.6 million people voting on May 7th.Only Reform UK fights for democracyMinisters have dropped plans to delay 30 local elections this May after receiving legal advice that doing so might be unlawful

Why has government reversed its decision to postpone 30 local polls across England?

The government has U-turned on its decision to postpone 30 local elections across England, which are due to take place in May. How did we get here, and why?In January the government confirmed local elections affecting about 4 million people across England would be postponed amid slow-moving efforts to reorganise the structure of local government.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) stressed it was a postponement and not a cancellation. Under plans to end the two-tier system of local government throughout much of England, district and county councils taking on different responsibilities in the same area would be replaced by single-tier “unitary” authorities.With the MHCLG saying elections for these new councils would be held in 2027, the argument was that it was an unnecessary expense to hold dozens of elections for a single year, and that the existing councillors could carry on

Starmer’s options in funding a further defence spending rise would be limited

Keir Starmer has few options if he wants to increase annual defence spending by up to £14bn before the end of this parliament.In last summer’s spending review, the government set out plans to increase defence spending from 2.3% of national income, or gross domestic product (GDP), in 2024-25 – about £66bn, to 2.6% in 2028-29.But now there are hints that the embattled prime minister wants to go much faster

Deeper and down with Keir Starmer | Brief letters

Rafael Behr says many voters see Keir Starmer as “the archetypal status quo politician” (Keir Starmer is the bandage that Labour can’t rip off for fear of opening old wounds, 11 February). They could be on to something, since the band of that name is renowned for its dull, predictable output, which has included Accident Prone and, more optimistically, Come On You Reds and The Party Ain’t Over Yet.Mike HineKingston upon Thames, London You published a number of letters critical of Keir Starmer, but let us be thankful that he has not inflicted as much damage as Margaret Thatcher or David Cameron.Richard BartholomewColchester I understand “spad” at Westminster means special adviser. I spent my career working for British Rail

Britain ‘needs to go faster’ on defence spending, Starmer says

Keir Starmer has said Britain “needs to go faster” on defence spending, though any increase to military budgets in this parliament would probably not be as high as the £15bn suggested in an overnight report.At a press conference in south-west London, the prime minister was asked to comment on a BBC report that No 10 wanted to increase the defence budget to 3% of GDP by 2029.In reply, Starmer said the threat from Russia was obvious and likely to endure even if the fighting in Ukraine could be stopped. “We need to be alert to that, because that’s going to affect every single person in this room, every single person in this country, so we need to step up.”He then emphasised “that means, on defence spending, we need to go faster,” which was initially interpreted as a clear indication he sympathised with the 3% spending proposal, though the figure did not appear to have been signed off by the Treasury