This Government is starting to look shambolic

Less than two months after Sir Keir Starmer secured one of the largest majorities in history, his project is seemingly already unravelling. Once in power, Labour has presented a spectacle of arrogance, incompetence and hypocrisy. The British public is watching with a mixture of incredulity and outright disapproval.

Sir Keir’s unpopularity in recent polls reflects the unprecedented fall from grace of a Prime Minister whose “holier than thou” rhetoric in opposition has come back to haunt him in office. All political honeymoons sooner or later come to an end, but in this case many voters are already contemplating divorce.

The catalogue of blunders that ministers have contrived to commit in short order has dismayed even such lifelong loyalists as Harriet Harman, who said his approach to the recent row over clothes donations was “making things worse”. This week’s Labour Party conference ought to have been a moment to savour the triumph of July 4th. Instead, we have a Prime Minister forced to insist that he is still in control, a Foreign Secretary who is turning against Britain’s allies, and a Chief of Staff who is not only paid more but seems unafraid to show just how much power she truly wields.

Sue Gray was once jokingly described by Sir Oliver Letwin as the person who “runs Britain”. Now, as she tightens her grip on the Downing Street machine, it is no longer a joke. We are told she is “going nowhere”. Nor is this Government until the Prime Minister gets a grip.

Then there is Lord Alli, who seems to have been granted influence out of all proportion. He and other donors have bought new clothes not only for the Prime Minister and his wife but have also helped the front bench. We are only now learning the truth about the propensity of Labour ministers not only to accept favours and hospitality, but to keep this hidden from the public.

Even worse for the country has been the ministerial habit, led by the Chancellor herself, of talking down the economy. Having robbed pensioners to indulge strikers, this Government has killed consumer confidence by threatening punitive tax rises. If Britain sinks into recession, there will be nowhere for Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir to hide.

The mess that Labour has made of their inheritance in record time offers the Conservatives an opportunity. They need to get on with the task of electing a leader who can wreak havoc with this amateur shambles of a Government.