DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Is Sir Keir Starmer's speech selling us snake oil?
Sir Keir Starmer says that the Government's priority is boosting the economy to 'take the brakes off Britain'.
So it was deeply disappointing that measures unveiled in his maiden King's Speech risk keeping them firmly on.
The Prime Minister insists he understands that economic growth is the only reliable way to raise living standards and improve public services. He has declared that Labour is proudly pro-business. Yet his legislative agenda, outlined by King Charles yesterday, suggests the opposite.
Take the Employment Rights Bill, whose original architect is deputy leader Angela Rayner. To some, it may sound reasonable.
Better wages, stronger rights to flexible and home working, and access to sick pay and parental leave from day one.
Sir Keir Starmer has declared Labour pro-business, but his legislative agenda, as set out in the King's Speech yesterday, suggests the opposite
There was no mention of the elephant in the room, mass migration. Pictured: A group of migrants are brought into Dover on a Border Force vessel
Rail workers picket outside Euston station in London. The repeal of every anti-strike law brought in since 2010, leaving Labour's union paymasters cock-a-hoop, is hardly a recipe for growth (file photo)
But all the evidence suggests this increase in red tape will strangle the private sector.
It will push up costs for businesses, many of whom remain in a fragile state after the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. They may have to pay employees less and charge customers more to compensate.
There is also a danger it will stifle investment and deter firms from hiring new staff. This is hardly a recipe for growth.
Nor is the repeal of every anti-strike law brought in since 2010, which has left Labour's union paymasters cock-a-hoop.
We learned in the 1970s what happens when a socialist government hands more power to these hard-Left dinosaurs. Constant walkouts crashed productivity and crushed business viability.
Equally pernicious could be the draft Equality Bill. At first glance, this will give ethnic minority workers the right to equal pay (even though paying someone less because of their race is already illegal).
But it would saddle firms with reams of extra paperwork. Worse still, it could turbocharge a culture of lawsuits based on perceived racial grievances.
The reality is, if these measures stunt wealth creation, how will the Government pay for public services? The answer, as always with Labour, will be higher taxes.
Sir Keir also unveiled a major overhaul of the planning system. The aim is to override Nimby resistance to new homes, reservoirs, transport networks and energy infrastructure. This shows great ambition.
But plans to remove the right to object to construction, while weakening green belt protections, is opposite to the empowering of communities that he espouses.
There was, of course, no mention of the elephant in the room: mass immigration. The number of homes the party wants to build each year is dwarfed by annual net migration of more than 620,000.
A lifeboat in the Channel brings in people thought to be migrants (file photo)
King Charles reads the King's Speech from the Sovereign's Throne. With its blizzard of 40 bills, Labour has returned to its interventionist roots, big government and the nanny state
If Labour really wants to solve the housing crisis, shouldn't it reduce that colossal influx? But it has no serious plan to do so.
While vying for votes, Sir Keir promised the nation 'a politics that treads more lightly on all our lives'.
Yet with a blizzard of 40 Bills – from setting up a state-owned energy company to renationalising the railways – he's reneged on that. Labour has returned to its interventionist roots. The dead hand of big government and the nanny state are back.
In a swipe at the extraordinary success of Reform UK, the PM urged voters to reject the 'snake oil charm of populism'.
But huge numbers of people have lost all faith in Britain's governing class. They feel marginalised and want bold, radical action on the issues that really affect their lives.
The definition of a snake oil salesman is someone who promotes goods knowing they don't work. There may be more than a hint of that about Labour's King's Speech.
