Labour needs backbenchers who fight for growth, not just block spending cuts, writes Michael Martins in today’s Notebook

Labour needs backbenchers who fight for growth, not just block spending cuts

Keir Starmer’s retreats on winter fuel allowance and welfare reforms have made two things clear to MPs: organisation matters and rebellion, if well-timed and well-supported, can accelerate careers with few consequences. The European Research Group demonstrated this during the Brexit years, reshaping national policy and propelling several of its members into ministerial office and Number 10.

So why, if the civil service can renegotiate the UK’s trading terms with the world, build a furlough scheme in weeks and deliver one of the fastest vaccine rollouts during the pandemic, does it still struggle to make doing business in Britain easier?

The answer is not bureaucratic. It is political. Westminster rewards loyalty, but only to a point. Real reform is driven by pressure and boldness, not politeness. Governments, regardless of party, tend to respond to those who make noise.

That is why Labour’s new parliamentary caucuses, such as the Labour Growth Group and the........

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