Keir Starmer's leadership troubles are keeping investors on edge.

With his latest U-turn, Keir Starmer has taken a controversial policy which nonetheless had a substantial support base and made it deeply unpopular. It’s of a piece with his whole approach to government, says Eliot Wilson

Last week the government announced – or perhaps admitted? – that the digital ID unveiled last year will not be mandatory to prove the right to work in the UK, contrary to its original plans. Inevitably there were accusations that Labour had made a U-turn after encountering fierce public and political opposition to any scheme involving compulsory ID.

The Prime Minister did his best to brazen the situation out, insisting that there had been no fundamental change in policy and that this was merely a refinement of the detailed implementation in advance of a public consultation. Other forms of digital ID, like an ePassport or eVisa, will be accepted alongside the government’s new optional scheme, but Sir Keir Starmer was insistent that he was pursuing the same goal as before.

“You will be checked. Those checks will be digital. And they will be mandatory. What we’re now doing is consulting on exactly what that might look like.”

He might have been persuasive had he not burned through so much credibility with voters in the 18 months since the general election. Politico compiled a list of 11 policy U-turns in the face of opposition, and at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Kemi Badenoch was dismissive of Starmer’s version of........

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