Oh dear, this week’s annual Labour conference was meant to be the relaunch of Keir Starmer’s leadership. The fact he needs a relaunch in the first place so early in his role speaks volumes.

It has not worked and the voting public, much shrewder than many commentators give them credit for, have noticed. An opinion poll in yesterday’s (London) Evening Standard made bleak reading. Only 25% of respondents say Labour is ready to form a government and even fewer, at 20%, say the Party has a good team of leaders.

Starmer, one guesses, is a good man but not a political one. Botched shadow cabinet reshuffles, few defining policy initiatives and sub-standard, clumsy Blairite manoeuvres on his own party have all backfired.

Consequently, coverage of Labour’s activities in Brighton this week has not been kind to Starmer. Forced to dilute his amendments to leadership rules, he finally got through a requirement that you need 20% of Labour MPs to support a leadership bid, abolished the ability (incredible it existed in the first place!) to join the Labour Party on a one-off basis for a fee of £25 simply to vote in a leadership ballot and achieved tougher deselection thresholds for Labour MPs. All good stuff but executed without Blair’s finesse. It simply reminded voters this is a Party that talks to itself in a way the Tories would never do.

Then the awful Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner, calls the Tories ‘scum’ and the last Corbynite in the Shadow Cabinet, Andy McDonald, Shadow Employment Secretary, resigns mid-conference protesting at a lack of support for a £15 minimum wage which he possibly forgets would bankrupt many small businesses. It stole the thunder from an impressive speech by the Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Just hopeless.

And why does all this matter? Because the state of British politics has never been weaker. Allegations of corruption and gross incompetence swirl around Johnson and many of his team. The country is now finding out just how damaging Brexit is as labour restrictions cause supply shortages from fresh food to petrol. We are only just struggling out of an often poorly managed pandemic response and the government has yet to be held to account for its actions. Only a nimble, effective Opposition can provide the scrutiny required to improve political discourse and this week the Labour Party has been found wanting…, yet again.

A new party, as argued before, is badly needed. In the meantime, we are left with Keir Starmer having to give a conference ‘speech of his life’ tomorrow to rescue his leadership and Labour’s already weak election chances. It shouldn’t be like this.

The forces driving globalisation have not gone away. They are just in abeyance as populist politicians have used nationalism to seek election success, whipping up the frustrations of voters who felt partly disenfranchised by the impact of cross-border decision-taking.

But the world is a small place, continuing to shrink, and there are two issues driving home the need for globalisation: climate change and the pandemic. Neither can be addressed solely by individual nations and the public increasingly recognises this.

As we approach COP26, even the most nationalist of governments and their supporters understand there is no way out but to cooperate in order to head off catastrophic temperature change. It is no good the UK setting CO2 reduction targets, for example, if China has approved the opening of 24 new coal fired stations in the first half of 2021 alone. Cross-border diplomacy to implement global restrictions on emissions is essential to bring to a halt, let alone reverse, heat damage to the planet.

And such cooperation applies equally to individual companies and investment managers who invest in them as they wrestle with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies. Under pressure to minimise and then eradicate their carbon footprint, it is far more than just a brand issue for executives. Businesses have to demonstrate responsible investment decision-taking and, to avoid accusations of greenwashing, show they are making a real difference. In particular, investors allocating capital must exert influence by pooling resources globally to force companies and even governments, via exposure to sovereign debt, to change their ways. (Incidentally, forming alliances needn’t undermine competition in the asset management sector. There is a myriad of ways to undertake proprietary research and construct portfolios to deliver a spread of investment returns despite evidently overlapping exposures).

Robert Armstrong in the Financial Times makes some good points in his recent article for the publication, stating his belief that financial markets do not have a meaningful part to play in solving ESG related problems until citizens and governments act first and decisively. But fundamentally, business is as much a part of society as the institutions that have a formal constitutional role in governing us. They should set an example in tandem with governments and citizens on climate change, let alone on diversity, and use global cooperation where relevant to make a difference. Government regulation alone is not enough, certainly from the perspective of creating a consensus on the need to act.

Second, the pandemic. This is no one country’s problem and not in the gift of any one country to provide a solution. Mask wearing globally has spread faster than the brand of coca cola as mankind grapples with the devastating impact of Covid-19. The solution lies in globalisation; a globally based approach to vaccine creation and delivery, travel restrictions, regulation of laboratories playing with viruses and broader healthcare initiatives.

Which takes us neatly to the final point. How do we ensure the net benefits of globalisation are understood and accepted by voters, investors, and the media alike? It is by shrewd communications, explaining how each aspect of cooperation between nations, each global solution, impacts individuals for the better in their everyday lives; how each country cannot shield itself on its own from malign forces so easily able to spread from one border to the next. Globalisation should be presented as a force of liberation supported by practical examples, not a way to stifle accountability.

When the xenophobia of nationalist politicians no longer wins elections, globalisation will be back in vogue. A pandemic and climate change are providing a powerful helping hand.

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This most unTory of governments has done it again. In proposing a solution to financing social care reforms and cutting record post-Covid NHS waiting lists, tax rises of c£12 billion per annum over the next three years will increase the total tax take to 35.5% of GDP, almost the highest post-war level and certainly the highest since 1950. Fiscal conservatives must be proverbially turning in their graves.

What Johnson’s Conservative Party really stands for remains unanswered, and its populist stance is certainly confusing to traditional Tories; but this is a subject for another blog.

Labour flails as the Tories prove the power of incumbency…

What is clear about these social care reforms is that they confirm the power of incumbency. The Government can boast it is finally providing a comprehensive solution to an intractable problem, which has either been avoided by past administrations or attracted proposed solutions which have caused huge electoral unpopularity. This is a powerful message and who could oppose initiatives which now seemingly provide an in-depth answer to our deepest fears: health, and care in old age? Breaking manifesto pledges on tax is hardly going to resonate with the public. Nobody believes politicians’ promises anyway and it is a legitimate argument to say that exceptional Covid times require an exceptional response.

These reforms are unlikely to unravel, and a mooted Tory backbench revolt has not materialised. Indeed, it is fair to say there is something to recommend them. The tax increases, whilst regressive, are well spread. The inclusion of the value of housing will only kick in as part of the asset equation if you actually move into a care home. Combined with the capping of the majority of care costs at £86,000 will ensure many (Tory) voters living in modest homes for which they have saved most of their lives will not have to sacrifice the planned inheritance for their children. It was this that did for Theresa May’s proposed reforms. Of course, wealthy individuals sat on expensive properties are largely untouched and it is surprising more is not being made of this.

Which takes me to the Labour Party. Where is it? What are its plans? It has had two years to formulate a clear response on social care but the only thing one has heard so far is carping from the side-lines followed by initiatives, as yet undefined, to be presented before the General Election. It will be too late for Labour by then. The Tories will have implemented their reforms and, in doing so, will have been seen to have done something. That is enough.

There is a legitimate debate to be had about an alternative solution to revenue raising from wealth, inheritance and/or extra property taxes. In addressing asset inflation, it would be far more progressive and help narrow disparities of wealth, but one doubts Labour will ever be brave enough to moot these. For the Official Opposition, this is a lost opportunity. One of many which will consign it to electoral oblivion.

The Tories have taken the initiative by wearing Labour’s tax raising clothes. Labour in response is flat footed and ill-prepared. By the time the consequences of this largely incompetent government across a range of policies become clear, Johnson will have won yet another General Election and be on a lucrative public speaking tour, safe in the knowledge that his future social care costs will be picked up by the State.

There have been several requests from readers about how they can access this blog directly. Please go to http://www.insiderightpolitics.com and sign up. It only takes a few seconds to ensure content is delivered to you in an instant! You can also follow me on Twitter: @insiderightblog.