Leaders | Mark a cross

Incompetence or opacity: the choice facing British voters

The first week of the election campaign points to a failure of political competition

Illustration: The Economist/Getty Images
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There are still five weeks to go until polling day on July 4th. Nothing is certain until the ballots are counted. But the first week of the British general-election campaign has conformed almost exactly to type. That is bad news for the Conservatives, good news for Labour and worrying for Britain.

The Tories have so far campaigned as they have governed—badly. They have been typically fractious: Tory MPs have moaned about Rishi Sunak’s decision to call the election, disavowed campaign proposals and, in one case, suggested that voters plump for a different party altogether.

Mr Sunak is full of what he calls “bold ideas”. But audacity is not a virtue in itself: cheese-flavoured toothpaste is a bold idea. Mr Sunak’s most eye-catching proposal so far is to introduce a form of national service, in which British 18-year-olds would either spend time in the military or undertake “volunteer” work. There is a serious debate to be had over how best to buttress the armed forces but it is impossible to take this particular proposal seriously. Basic questions of enforcement have not been thought through. The idea had been ruled out by the government only days before; funding for a precursor scheme had been cut.

Such inconsistency is part of a long-standing pattern. After 14 years in power, there are few policies that the Tories have not tried and then backtracked on. They have espoused fiscal discipline and tried unfunded tax cuts. They have legislated for net zero and now rail against “eco-zealots”. They have cut corporation tax and then raised it. They have raised national insurance and then cut it.

The Tories are also turning further inward. Their main goal seems to be to fend off Reform UK, a party on their right flank, by shoring up support among pampered older voters. As well as taking aim at feckless teenagers with a bracing dose of national service, the Tories have proposed raising pensioners’ personal tax allowance so that the state pension can continue to rise without incurring income tax (reversing another earlier policy). It will be a mild surprise if Mr Sunak does not soon call for the reintroduction of Pathé News. None of this is the mark of a party grappling with serious issues. At the previous general election the crossover age where voters became more likely to vote Tory than Labour was 45. At the next one it will be 69.

All of this is plainly good news for the Labour Party. Fractiousness, inconsistency and insularity are not likely to propel the Tories to a historic electoral comeback. But a lopsided contest risks letting Labour off the hook. For it has plenty of questions of its own to answer.

The government’s current spending assumptions imply real cuts to departments that have already been cut to the bone. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor of the exchequer, promises no repeat of austerity but has also ruled out any big tax rises. Labour wants to slash waiting lists in the National Health Service but has said nothing of substance about social care, the bit of the system that leaves patients clogging up hospital beds. Labour needs economic growth but its planning proposals look thin and its labour-market reforms risk hurting one of Britain’s strengths.

Having it both ways is politically sensible. It may well be enough to deliver Labour a crushing victory. But none of this serves the country well. Election campaigns are meant to stress-test candidates and parties. On the evidence of the first week, that will not happen. The Tories appear incapable of providing proper competition. As a result, Labour can afford to remain worryingly opaque. ■

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Incompetence or opacity?”

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