Jobs, jobs, jobs

Labour has been calling for a ‘back to work’ Budget focused on “jobs, jobs, jobs”, and it has been reported that Rishi Sunak will indeed put jobs at the heart of his economic statement next week. Instead of tax cuts, the Chancellor has told Tory MPs that the government will aim to help those workers who have been furloughed since March. Sounds pretty good, right? But there is no sign of action on a just transition to a green economy, despite the UK not being set to meet its emission reduction targets, and no pledge yet to extend furlough scheme in worst-hit sectors. Sunak is moving from a “support phase” to a “stimulus phase”, which seems to vastly underestimate the level of continued support that will be needed.

This is the kind of criticism we can expect to hear from Anneliese Dodds this morning. In her first major speech, taking place as I write, the Shadow Chancellor will set out four tests for the coronavirus recovery (yes, Keir Starmer’s Labour does love its tests). The leadership has been criticised by activists for not talking about a Green New Deal and leaving only Ed Miliband to defend the ambitious 2030 target. Dodds addresses this concern with test three: every project announced should be carbon neutral or carbon reducing. And more broadly, she is urging the government to drop its “one-size-fits-all” approach to the job retention scheme.

Much depends on the public response to July 4th, of course. Polling indicates that the Boris Johson ‘bounce back’ promise will struggle in reality (who could have predicted such a thing?), with only 7% saying they will go to the pub and just 3% saying they will dine out this weekend. Lisa Nandy won’t be going to the pub either, she told me in our interview last night, though she put that down to childcare issues. The Shadow Foreign Secretary talked about working in Starmer’s shadow cabinet (“very professional”), toppling statues (she suggests erecting monuments to the work of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, Margaret Beckett and William Hague), Israel’s annexation plans, the UK’s relations with China and more. You can watch it back here.

In internal Labour news, the new Momentum leadership has decided that it will not be possible to hold a ballot of its members on candidates for Labour’s national executive committee (NEC). They are prioritising the chances of securing a united left slate over campaign promises: an entirely understandable move, though a snag that arguably could have easily been predicted before now. We also know that the Forde Inquiry into the leaked report will no longer report this month, as we were told it would, but aim to do so by September.

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