Twitter reacts to Labour’s draft policy offer. But bigger battles are yet to come

Labour has drafted its most comprehensive policy programme yet for what we could see from a Keir Starmer-led government. It should give anyone questioning whether Starmer has any policies pause for thought, and quite a long pause – we got hold of the 86-page draft yesterday, and put the hours in pulling together a full summary. The document is the latest stage in the party’s national policy forum process. The policies included will first be “debated, amended and agreed” by those involved in the NPF, with NPF members able to file amendments until June and a key meeting in July. Then party conference in October will vote on the resulting programme. And then ahead of an election, a “Clause V” meeting will decide which parts reach the manifesto. So it’s far from a done deal.

Labour Twitter was abuzz last night commenting on policies that had – and hadn’t – made the draft. There was lots of positive reaction, with Jim Robbins, incoming Labour leader of Swindon council, dubbing it a “real positive plan for the country”. The Young Labour Under-19s group welcomed the inclusion of votes at 16. But director of think tank British Future Sunder Katwala argued the inclusion of migration in the sections on the economy and Britain’s role in the world showed Labour failing again to bring a “citizenship and integration [or] community contact and welcoming lens to policy on immigration, integration and citizenship”. Guardian environment reporter Helena Horton said policy was lacking on nature recovery and food security, calling the environmental, food and rural affairs section “rather thin gruel”. Meanwhile the Priced Out campaign group gave Labour’s housing plans a mixed review, concluding: “Devil will be in the detail. Some good ideas but a lot of unnecessary blether.”

The devil will certainly be in the detail across the board, with so much of the manifesto-writing process left to run. Big questions still remain about how far the platform may be added to, cut down or amended by the leadership itself or party groups’ pressure, with activists preparing to fight for their priority issues. Proportional representation campaign group Labour for a New Democracy, for example, has already set out its plans to influence the process, organising mass member meetings.

In other news, Slough’s Labour group has appointed a new leader after its catastrophic local election results last week, which saw it lose 18 councillors and control of the beleaguered council. Pavitar Kaur Mann, said to be Slough’s first Sikh leader, has taken over from James Swindlehurst, who lost his seat. Talks are reportedly now beginning with other parties over who will govern Slough, which declared effective bankruptcy in 2021.