""The country is at a crossroads," Sir Keir Starmer is expected to declare in a speech just ahead of the annual Labour conference, which kicks off this weekend. The prime minister will suggest there are two paths to choose: one is the way of "division and decline" with Reform UK, or Labour's route unity and progress. For some in Labour's ranks, the leadership's response, so far, to the rise of Reform has gone down like a lead balloon. Not nimble enough, not impassioned,"
"The response to Reform leader Nigel Farage's proposal this week to end existing migrants' Indefinite Leave to Remain suggested that Labour hadn't quite settled on the most effective line of attack. Chancellor Rachel Reeves questioned Reform's alleged cost-savings and denounced the policy as a gimmick; Labour Party chair Anna Turley highlighted unanswered questions but also raised the prospect of families being broken up; the MP Sarah Owen also mentioned family break-up but added that this was "morally abhorrent"."
"None of these responses were mutually exclusive but they differed in tone, and perhaps point to a tension between denouncing Reform as not serious - or as all too serious. Just a year ago, the Conservatives were Labour's principal opponents. The government now has to grapple with an insurgent party with no track record in office and which is eroding Labour's, not just the Conservatives', vote."
Sir Keir Starmer will frame a choice between Labour's unity and progress and Reform UK's route of division and decline. Labour's leadership has attracted internal criticism for a response described as not nimble enough or impassioned amid lagging poll numbers. Nigel Farage proposed ending migrants' Indefinite Leave to Remain, prompting varied Labour reactions that questioned savings, flagged unanswered issues, and warned of family break-up described by some as morally abhorrent. Reform's insurgency is eroding Labour's vote share and prompting concern among centre-left parties internationally about a rejuvenated right and populist appeal.
Read at www.bbc.com
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