A landslide victory in a centralised government gives Labour great political power, yet Keir Starmer seems reluctant to use it, writes John McTernan

“Who are you?” – what you might call the football question – is one of the most important for any politician to answer. If you know who you are then you know who you will fight for. Conflict is central to all great storytelling and in politics, fights define your purpose.

The problem for Keir Starmer’s Labour government up until now has been who they’ve chosen to pick on. First, it was pensioners who lost their winter fuel payments shortly after the General Election. Then this summer, a million people with disabilities faced cuts of £5,000 a year in a move cruelly dubbed “welfare reform”.

Belatedly, as so often with this Labour government, it has identified the right enemy – child poverty – and has lifted the two-child cap on benefits. It has also found the right dividing line with their Tory and Reform UK opponents – spending more on public services rather than cutting them.

This was the achievement of last week’s Budget – not........

© City A.M.