Keir Starmer faces the awful truth: Labour’s policy cupboard is bare – Rishi Sunak’s stolen them all

What is the point of Labour now that the Tory party has returned from its ‘holiday from reality’, asks John Rentoul

If the economy starts to recover in 2024, Starmer may wish he had restocked that policy cupboard (PRU/AFP via Getty Images)

The Labour leader concealed his embarrassment well in Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday. His problem is that the natural law of two-party politics has reasserted itself, and he finds himself facing the opponent he most feared.

Rishi Sunak is a one-nation compassionate Conservative whose policies are more or less what Keir Starmer has been demanding. The prime minister hugged the 2019 Tory manifesto close, because it is his talisman of Tory unity, but it also has the advantage against Labour of being a remarkably Blairite document.

When Sunak spoke in Downing Street on Tuesday, he offered a 37-word summary of it: “A stronger NHS; better schools; safer streets; control of our borders; protecting our environment; supporting our armed forces; levelling up and building an economy that embraces the opportunities of Brexit, where businesses invest, innovate, and create jobs.”