The Labour left were the first to learn this hard lesson. Starmer pretended to be continuity Jeremy Corbyn when running for the Labour leadership. Then turned on the Corbynites the moment he won.
He spent the general election dodging questions over how Labour would hike taxes and cut state benefits, then shocked the country by scrapping the Winter Fuel Payment.
Starmer repeatedly slammed Tory sleaze while simultaneously grabbing more freebies than any MP in Parliament. Even chancellor Rachel Reeves and deputy leader Angela Rayner couldn’t keep up.
We can’t trust him.
So we need to view today’s keynote Labour conference speech with a critical eye. There’s a huge difference between what Starmer told party members in Liverpool and what he’ll do in practice.
His main message was that he’s the man to help the UK find the “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Which is ironic given that he’s spent the last 10 weeks making that tunnel seem even longer and darker than it did under the Tories.
Business and consumer confidence were creeping up under Sunak. Both have slumped on Starmer’s watch.
Labour’s decision to axe the Winter Fuel Payment will make life darker for millions of pensioners this year, who face a tough choice between eating, heating and keeping the lights on.
Starmer can’t blame that on the Tories. He has to own this one.
Today, he had the gall to claim he was forced to axe the £300 payment because he didn’t want to show global markets “that this country does not fund its policies properly”.
Trust me, international bond investors had never even heard of the Winter Fuel Payment, and don’t give a damn about it either way.
Starmer just made that up and expected us to swallow it.
He then outrageously claimed that “every pensioner will be better off with Labour”, thanks to next year’s triple lock state pension increase.
That’s nonsense, too.
Both of the main political parties pledged to retain the triple lock, not just Labour. And it’s not designed to make pensioners “better off” anyway. It’s there to help them keep up with everybody else.
It’s not a gift, an extra, a bonus or – dare I say it – a freebie.
And the truth is that state pensioners would have been better off under the Tories, thanks to former PM Rishi Sunak’s proposed triple-lock-plus plan.
So what else did Starmer say today?
Starmer said Labour would “return the UK to the service of working people”.
By which he means the unions, of course.
We’re all at their service, now, as union baron Mick Lynch made clear with his terrifying demand for unions to seize control of the entire UK economy.
Starmer is going to hand unions that power. Starting with the rail network, which he pledged to bring “back into public ownership”.
Unions will love it. Passengers who remember British Rail will hate it.
Starmer also promised a heap of new workers’ rights, which will thrill the unions who are already jostling for higher pay, fewer hours, extra holidays, a four-day week and a new right to strike.
The unions funded Starmer’s Labour to be tune of £29million. They’re expecting a good return on their money, and Starmer will give it to them, while sticking it to taxpayers.
Once again, Starmer refused to set out which taxes Labour will hike in its Halloween Budget on October 30.
That’s when taxpayers will finally discover what Starmer has in store for them. It’s not going to be pleasant.
