(A bold leap is what we need)

stephenkmacksd.com/

Feb 15, 2026

Headline: A bold leap is what we need. We’d take the pain for the promise of growth.

Sub-headline: Wes Streeting’s criticism still rings true — growth is the most fundamental task of this or any government.

https://www.thetimes.com/comment/columnists/article/labour-economy-bold-leap-growth-g6xcjg505

Editor: Colvile’ opening paragraphs can easily be called ‘chatter’!

Say what you will about Keir Starmer. No, there isn’t a “but” to follow. It’s just the order of the day in Westminster. With the prime minister’s authority in shreds, his colleagues are happily venting all of their frustrations with his performance and personality, often with only the thinnest veil of anonymity.

Editor: Are the following paragraph’s something like a replacement for actual political thought, or its burlesque?

But the most salient criticism is one that was never intended to become public. In his text message exchanges with Peter Mandelson, released last week, Wes Streeting laments: “There isn’t a clear answer to the question: why Labour?” Mandelson replies: “The government doesn’t have an economic philosophy which is then followed through in a programme of policies.” Seconds later Streeting concurs: “No growth strategy at all.”

Editor: Let me offer The Reader some telling quotations from the body of Colevile’s political interventions.

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The UK economy ended last year with growth of 0.1 per cent in the final quarter. On a per capita basis, we are already in recession.

Housing, which was meant to be one of the core priorities of the government, is moribund outside London, and collapsing within it. Energy prices are still hideously high. Unemployment is rising. If boosting growth is the core mission of this government, then it definitely gets a failing grade.

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Now, I’m going to do something hugely unfashionable, and point out that by no means all of this is Labour’s fault. Growth per head has been falling since the 1980s. Productivity has flatlined since the financial crisis, especially in the public sector. Nor is this a uniquely British problem: throughout Europe stagnant growth and surging populism are going hand in hand.

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On this front Labour’s original plan was, essentially, to not be the Tories. The theory was that businesses and investors would prize certainty and stability over a few measly tax rises. But it didn’t work out like that, to put it mildly. So what now?

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The problem is that politics is not about good intentions, but trade-offs and results. Everyone wants growth. But will Labour’s new masters on the soft left really prioritise business over the voracious spending demands of the NHS and welfare system?

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The first is to retreat to the soft left comfort zone of Rayner and Ed Miliband.

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Politicians tend to close their minds as long as they can … because they believe that decisive action must inevitably bring political calamity upon their governments.”

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“Political survival depends on making quality decisions; compromised policies lead to voter dissatisfaction; letting things drift is political suicide.”.

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There is a deep well of realism and common sense among the ordinary people of the community. They want politicians to have the guts and the vision to deliver sustainable gains in living standards.”

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They look for policies with instant appeal to create continuous public bliss”).

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Starmer’s Labour came to power by taking the opposite of Douglas’s advice. It told the public that spending would rise, growth would rise but taxes and borrowing would not.

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But I believe — I have to believe — that the public will still reward politicians who are honest about our country’s problems and visibly try their damnedest to fix them. Because if not, what hope have we got?

Editor: What eludes Colvile’s thought processes is that Starmer, the political creature of Tony Blair, who defamed Jeremy Corbyn, that lead inexorably to the current political collapse? Starmer is the natural successor of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak!

American Observer.