Tough love but is Labour lost?

Nick Cohen talks to the distinguished author and Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee about Labour's tough love strategy - targeting the welfare state and benefits to fill the black hole left by the Tories and Brexit.

Polly agreed with Former shadow chancellor Ed Balls' recent observation on the government's plan to cut disability benefits, describing the strategy on his own podcast as "not a very Labour thing to do."

Polly - the proud owner of a portrait of the great economist John Maynard Keynes - says, "You know, you don't keep digging. You invest into a crisis and pay back when growth is restored. but she [Chancellor Rachel Reeves] seems to abandon that ..." Polly adds, "there's always this fear, and particularly for Labour, because Labour is less trusted by the markets and the business world; they're more inclined to suspect them of profligacy..."

Polly says that Labour could raise an immediate £40 billion by simply imposing a 1 per cent wealth tax on the people worth in excess of £10 million

Polly and Nick also discuss the impact of the proposed welfare cuts on Labour's electoral base, and how Sir Keir Starmer should navigate the UK's foreign policy, particularly its relationship with Europe and an increasingly erratic and disturbing United States.

Polly Toynbee @pollytoynbee is a Guardian columnist, formerly BBC social affairs editor. Her recent book An Uneasy inheritance, my family and other radicals was published in 2023 by W.F.Howes Ltd. She's also the co-author, along with David Walker, of The only way is up: The way forward for British politics, again published by W.F. Howes Ltd in 2024.

Nick Cohen's @NickCohen4 latest Substack column Writing from London on politics and culture from the UK and beyond.

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