Starmer’s Rocky Start: Labour’s Poll Lead Shrinks to Just One Point

Crossing Delays: A £9 Billion Question of Progress or Precarity?

It’s official: the Lower Thames Crossing decision has been kicked even further down the road—again. Transport Secretary Louise Haigh announced that the decision on this £9bn megaproject, which promises to connect Gravesend in Kent and Tilbury in Essex via a 2.6-mile tunnel, is now delayed until May 2025. Yes, the same project that was supposed to help alleviate congestion at the Dartford Crossing and Blackwall Tunnel.

This is the third delay after deadlines in June and October were missed. The reason? More time is needed to align it with the spending review. Translation: the Treasury is checking its wallet.

On one side, business leaders are fuming, claiming the decision to hold off will cost the UK economy £200m a year in lost productivity (hello, Dartford delays). Other critics argue that this is yet another example of Britain failing to build crucial infrastructure in a timely fashion.

On the other side, environmentalists are practically popping champagne. They argue that the crossing won’t solve traffic woes and will wreck green belt land. Plus, with its eye-watering price tag (already more expensive per mile than HS2), opponents say this tunnel isn’t even close to being worth it.

So, is this delay a win for sustainability or a blow to productivity? With billions already sunk into the planning, the clock’s ticking to find out.

Starmer’s Rocky Start: Labour’s Poll Lead Shrinks to Just One Point

Less than 100 days into his Premiership, Keir Starmer might be feeling a little less celebratory. The latest poll from More in Common shows Labour clinging to a razor-thin one-point lead over the Tories—29% to 28%—a far cry from the 10-point advantage Starmer enjoyed just this July. And let’s not forget, that election gave him the landslide win he’d been dreaming of.

But, alas, how the tables turn. This recent survey, based on over 2,000 people polled last weekend, marks the lowest lead Labour has seen since More in Common started tracking voting intentions last year. Starmer’s post-election honeymoon? Over. It’s a stark shift from the commanding 20-point leads Labour was pulling just three months ago.

So, what went wrong? Well, Starmer’s government hasn’t had the smoothest of starts. Plans to strip millions of pensioners of their winter fuel payments caused a stir, as you’d imagine, and that’s hardly helped keep the public onside. Add to that the scandal of senior Labour figures accepting thousands in gifts from party donors—talk about bad optics.

It gets worse. Another poll by YouGov reveals that 59% of those surveyed now describe Starmer’s government as “sleazy”—and 35% even think Starmer’s sleazier than Rishi Sunak. That’s quite the label for a man who rode into No. 10 on a platform of trust and competence. No one imagined Starmer would be dodging sleaze accusations less than 100 days in, but here we are.

Starmer himself seems to be aware that things aren’t exactly going to plan. He recently accepted the resignation of his chief of staff, Sue Gray—perhaps in an effort to draw a line under some of the early chaos. But will it be enough? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, the smaller parties are quietly gaining ground. Reform UK is sitting pretty at 19%, and the Lib Dems are holding steady at 11%. The Green Party has picked up 7%, while the SNP, fresh off a bruising election, has dropped to just 2%. It’s clear that disillusionment with the two main parties is giving others room to grow.

But before we start writing Starmer’s political obituary, let’s remember: the Tories clung to power for 14 years, with five different Prime Ministers in that time (yes, we still remember David Cameron and his pig incident). So, while things look shaky for Starmer now, he’s not packing up his Downing Street desk just yet. After all, in politics, fortunes change quickly—a fact Liz Truss could probably tell him all about.

What do you think of Starmer’s start as Prime Minister? Let us know below ⬇️