A sausage to fortune
Liverpool: The Beatles. Cilla Black. Les Dennis. Yet in my mind inextricably linked to certain Labour MPs being miserable. They were miserable during the Ed Miliband years, when he made a long and complicated speech about predators and producers. They were miserable when Team Corbyn were in charge, fighting over party rules, antisemitism and who had changed the autocue.
And weirdly they seemed pretty miserable in Liverpool again this week, their delight at being in government matched only by their horror at being in government. Truth is, the weather didn’t help. The sun shone on the Lib Dems in Brighton, who were giddy despite (or perhaps because of) not being in power. And it rained, nay deluged, in Liverpool on Labour, steam rising from the lobbyists’ blue suits in stuffy fringe meetings. Bound to dampen the mood.
Speaking to ministers, MPs and members, there is an interesting debate about whether the “realism” provided by Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves et al is the right strategy. Usually the government goes round saying everything is tickety-boo, while the opposition (in parliament, the press and elsewhere) provide the reality check. If you aren’t singing your own praises, nobody else is going to do it for you. There is also the warning from some economists that the doom and gloom, things will get worse before they get better messaging might actually be knocking consumer confidence. Such comments might come back to haunt them.
A number of cabinet ministers were reaching into the near-history books this week to contrast the “tough decisions we didn’t want to make” with what they cast as the ideological pursuit of austerity by David Cameron and George Osborne in 2010. In interviews I asked what the difference was between Tory ideological spending cuts and Labour reluctant spending cuts if you are on the receiving end of the cuts, but wasn’t much enlightened.
For me the more instructive history lesson from the Cameron/Osborne era was they way they used their party conferences to shape the political agenda. Almost every senior minister’s speech would have a big policy story briefed into the morning papers, and then another announcement on the day for the evening bulletins. Whatever the merits or controversies of the policies, or their eventual implementation, it created a sense of activity and helped to change the conversation.
Labour people who had been desperate to stop talking about winter fuel payment cuts were now desperate to stop talking about who paid for Starmer’s trousers/glasses/tickets, but there was a shortage of big ideas to knock it off the agenda. People I speak to in No10 and Whitehall more broadly admit they are still adjusting to the reality of being in government. “We used to to have to fight for attention in opposition,” said one Downing Street insider. “Now we could do with a bit less attention.”
Some in the party would rather they used the attention which being in government affords to set the agenda rather than just respond to it belatedly.
The big story which has actually changed the conversation this week is the situation in Lebanon, 3,000 miles from Liverpool. Starmer flew to the UN to make the case for a ceasefire, while also having dinner with Donald Trump.
It is an unfortunate irony that back home his policy-light conference speech might be best remembered for his call to “release the sausages”.
My book, Planes, Trains and Toilet Doors: 50 Places That Changed British Politics, is out in paperback on October 10, with a bonus chapter on the place that shaped Keir Starmer’s leadership. Pre-order now.
WILLIAM HAGUE: “This book is a rollicking ride through the turning points of the last two hundred years, including many we will never forget and others that some of us wish we could.”
ED BALLS: “Revealing, touching and very funny, Matt Chorley’s delightful romp through the rooms where it happened (and the restaurants, museums and beach huts too) is packed full of insight, detail and momentous political stories.”
Things I’ve enjoyed this week
Interviewing Arsenal and England legend Tony Adams, while sitting in front of (but sadly not at) John Lennon’s white Imagine piano.
Driving. I don’t do it often – commuting to London by train. But various rail issues have meant the car was the easiest way to get to the conferences. Nothing better than walking away from the conference centre, and just driving away. No risk of being stuck next to someone who wants to talk politics. And Warwick services are my new favourite pit-stop.
Finished watching Upright – Tim Minchin’s comedy drama, which starts with his character Lucky meeting Milly Alcock’s Meg while driving a piano across Australia, and morphs into a funny, silly, emotional, dramatic tale of friendship, family and fucking up. Laugh out loud funny, with an ability to deliver a real emotional punch.
One of the downsides of my new show on BBC Radio 5 Live starting at 2pm is it has really ruined lunch – probably my favourite meal of the day. Especially the sort of boozey lunch with friends which stretches into the afternoon. The upside, though, is the return of breakfast to my life (Jeremy Hunt once told me he’d lost weight by giving up breakfast. I tried it. Made no difference.) On Wednesday for my birthday my wife took me to a nice, if pricey, cafe for breakfast with the dog. (Shakshouka sploshed down my white t-shirt, obviously.) And today I am having breakfast with an old colleague. Just doing my bit to release the sausages indeed.