It’s back to school and back to Parliament this week as WTWN also returns after the summer break
Top: Ed Miliband MP
GB Energy is one of the most important ambitions of the Labour Government and it has the potential to end up as a key part of Labour’s legacy. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Ed Miliband has gone all guns blazing advocating for why GB Energy will be such a game-changer.
Equally unsurprisingly, Reform’s new contingent is sceptical about the UK’s transition to clean energy. This came to a boil in the chamber this week when Richard Tice questioned the cost of clean energy during a debate on the second reading of the GB Energy Bill.
Ed Miliband is not especially known for his oratory but as an experienced and passionate parliamentarian who is back as Secretary of State for Energy after a short break of 14 years, he was able to dismantle Tice’s argument in a response that demonstrated that there is still a place in the House of Commons for coherent debate and a well-structured argument that takes the merits of a policy position forward.
Middle: Rachel Reeves MP
The blame game is all the rage in Downing Street as the Chancellor hopes to blame the previous Tory governments for all the tough spending cuts coming down the road.
By setting the narrative that the country went to the dogs under the Tories, Labour not only hopes to blame the Tories for all the unpopular spending decisions they must make but also set the bar so low that any later uptick in improvements to the economy and public services seem like even greater achievements for Labour.
With the Tories navel-gazing over who gets to be leader of the opposition, Labour has a free shot at setting the political narrative. As part of this, Reeves said that the cut to winter fuel allowance for pensioners was a decision that had to be taken to balance the books. The saving itself is relatively small (around 1% of the total annual pensions bill) so why make granny the target?
This policy change could have easily been made at the Autumn budget, but Labour took a deliberate decision to have this fight a) early to roll the pitch for other tough decisions to come later and b) prominently to make a lot of political noise to reinforce its narrative of blaming the Tories.
Unfortunately, there is now growing opposition to the change and even worse it seems to be coming from all directions. Lib Dems, Tories, pensioner groups (unsurprisingly) and even many Labour backbenchers have made clear that they are opposed to the policy.
The government has agreed to a vote next week, but this is unlikely to solve its political problem. The Tories and Lib Dems will oppose the change which will give them some campaigning zeal as they frame themselves as standing up for pensioners. Labour MPs will be whipped to vote with the government. The outcome will be either more local pressure for them from constituency mail bags overflowing with angry letters, or it will mean rebellions and potential disciplinary consequences.
Labour will win next week’s vote comfortably due to its large majority. But large parliamentary contingents can be hard to manage. So, whilst Downing Street will be hoping to send a clear message to the country about how tough it is prepared to be on difficult economic decisions, the government also wants Labour MPs to know how tough it will be on party discipline and future advancement if they don’t back the government on this and future votes.
To win a fight, someone else must lose and it may be that Reeves and Starmer are storing up political problems for the future.
Bottom: Priti Patel MP
The first faller at the fence in the Tory leadership contest was Priti Patel, a result that surprised many in Westminster. The former Home Secretary failed to define herself properly in this contest and found herself crowded out by Robert Jenrick on the right, and then failed to take enough of the Tory mainstream establishment votes away from James Cleverly and Kemi Badenoch.
The result will inevitably leave Patel questioning her future. There is no guarantee of her getting appointed to the new shadow cabinet under the next leader as her disappointing showing leaves her with little political capital. And with select committee chair elections taking place next week she’s most likely missed the boat there as well.
For the other leadership contenders, it’s on to the next round on Tuesday with Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride battling it out to secure the coveted fourth spot and the chance to be the voice of the One Nation group at Tory Conference in Birmingham.