The battle lines for next year’s general election have been drawn

The Tories are struggling to land blows on the elusive Starmer, writes Andrew Grice

Starmer’s long-term goals are a good antidote to the ‘sticking plaster’ crisis management of the Tories (Reuters)

The battle lines for next year’s general election were drawn this week, as Rishi Sunak’s five pledges were followed by Keir Starmer’s five missions.

The Tories shouldn’t take any comfort from the apparent vagueness and blandness of Starmer’s offer, which was apples to Sunak’s pears. Starmer’s long-term goals are a good antidote to the “sticking plaster” crisis management of the Tories. This clever attack line will surely resonate with voters who have seen one “winter crisis” in the NHS being followed by the build-up to the next, and the chaos of the Johnson and Truss premierships.

Sunak’s designed-to-be-met short-term targets, such as “halving inflation” when all forecasts suggest that will happen, are necessarily short-term to show that the Tories can still provide stability and competence. Starmer’s goals will be followed by a more voter-friendly “retail offer” on bread-and-butter issues at a point closer to the election.