‘Will falling GDP and greenbelt rows leave Keir scrambling for his hairdryer?’

“Fixing the foundations, it’s like finding damp on a wall,” the Prime Minister said in his recent Plan for Change Speech.

“You can paint over it, get the hairdryer out, hope it goes away. Or you can strip it out, rip out the plaster, and deal with the problem once and for all.”

There’s often debate about Keir Starmer’s core beliefs. My sense is one of his deepest instincts is a visceral dislike for hairdryers, sticking plasters or any other metaphor for political short-termism per se – at least in relation to the policy areas he thinks most important at any one time. It helps explain why he and his team came up with Labour’s missions in the first place, despite scepticism in some Labour quarters.

Long-termism is central to the missions. One of the main first Labour documents explaining the missions is called: “A ‘MISSION-DRIVEN’ GOVERNMENT TO END ‘STICKING PLASTER’ POLITICS”.

How planning reform survived the cull of contentious policy

This instinct also explains why planning reform – a policy key for long-term growth and housebuilding, but guaranteed to spark huge local and national controversy for years to come in many marginal seats – stands out like a sore thumb for surviving the cull of more contentious policies Labour ditched in the lead-up to the election.

There’s not only the length political rows likely about reforms themselves and then many contentious applications, but it will also take years to bear fruit in boosting growth. Legislation, implementation, planning applications, construction and purchases will all take a long time. Governments have baulked at those challenges before.

READ MORE: Ed Miliband’s ‘New Era of Clean Electricity’ can win voters – as long as it cuts energy bills’

There’s some talk of getting grateful voters into many newbuilds just in time for the next election, but that’s a huge punt.

Some of the clean energy reforms in the spotlight today are also likely to take a lot of time to bear fruit economically, environmentally and electorally.

How many more bad headlines loom on growth or greenbelt rows?

Even if you think the drive for housebuilding, infrastructure and clean power is welcome, it’ll be a tough ride and a long time before they can shift the dial on bad headlines about planning and growth, especially with Labour having made the latter a (just about still) central mission.

“Economy shrinks in blow for Starmer,” a headline in The Telegraph ran this morning following new official GDP data, with many blaming uncertainty leading up to the Budget.

READ MORE: Starmer dismisses claims of watering down clean energy commitment

A Downing Street spokesman may have insisted this week budget ‘envelopes’ are set now for years to come, and won’t be topped up to fund things like higher public sector pay – that’ll have to come within existing budgets.

But with growth central to Labour’s agenda and raising funds for public services, making any sub-par monthly stats an easy target for media criticism, the key question is whether Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will have the resolve to resist ever-greater pressure to reach for the spending taps to boost short-term growth before longer-term reforms kick in. Otherwise known getting out the hairdryer.

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Read more about the Plan for Change:

• What is Keir Starmer’s Plan for Change – and Labour’s six policy milestones?
• ‘Why Keir Starmer should embrace populism ahead of the next election’
• Plan for Change: ‘Voters will reward Labour in 2029 if Starmer fixes public services’
• ‘Starmer’s ‘Plan for Change’ speech needs to deliver real solutions or face testing voters’ patience’
• Plan for Change: ‘If early years is key for the PM, we need a revamped Sure Start’
• Starmer poised to unveil ‘measurable milestones’ in Labour’s missions for government

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