There’s a crucial difference between Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak

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The best that Sunak can do is to parody Starmer’s five points with a list of likely actions (Reuters)

Andrew Grice’s accurate analysis of the current state of the two main political parties highlights one essential difference: the party in opposition is working on a long-term strategic plan to address the nation’s ills, while the government continues to take short-term action that merely makes matters worse.

Starmer’s five-point mission statement has drawn criticism from those who say it is light on specific policies. Of course it is; why would an opposition party declare its exact policies so far ahead of an election and, in so doing, provide the government with ammunition to either purloin their ideas or contrive events that would blow them out of the water?

It is enough at this stage to state their vision and aspirations, and ensure that they chime with the electorate’s wishes. Prepared policies can be drawn out the bottom drawer in due course.