There was another big announcement from Keir Starmer yesterday. The British prime minister’s first six months in office has been marked by a series of big announcements, none of which have reversed Britain’s economic decline, or tackled its many social problems.
Following his election in July, he pledged to “deliver change” and “rebuild” the country. He promised progress on immigration, the NHS, prisons, planning, devolved government and the EU.
Since then, small boat crossings from France have risen compared to the same period last year. The NHS is still in crisis and prisoners have been released to make room for other prisoners. His plans to build 2.5 million homes in the next four years have been dismissed as unrealistic, the EU shows little enthusiasm to speak to him and his interest in the devolved administrations has been slight.
Read more: Tom Kelly: Labour isn’t working. Sir Keir Starmer needs to step up to the plate
So, in response to those failings, he offered another major announcement in December, this time identifying “six milestones” in his plan for change. These included the NHS (again), increased house building (again), recruiting more police officers and “making sure” three quarters of five-year-olds are school-ready.
The more announcements he made, the more public confidence in him declined.
Despite that, he was at it again yesterday. This big announcement promised that artificial intelligence (AI) would boost Britain’s economy. Four recent British prime ministers have made a similar promise and all failed to deliver.
As an example, he said AI could be used to identify potholes in the road, as part of his plan to make public services “more human”. Ordinary human intelligence has been pretty good at spotting potholes up to now, so it is hard to see how his proposed new supercomputer will improve the situation.
More worryingly, he announced that a national data library would collect anonymised health data, while failing to confirm that private companies would not be able to buy that data.
The prime minister said AI could be used to identify potholes in the road. Ordinary human intelligence has been pretty good at spotting potholes up to now, so it is hard to see how his proposed new supercomputer will improve the situation
As Mr Starmer was speaking, the pound fell in value and the cost of government borrowing rose. Britain’s economic growth has stalled and the economy is facing recession.
His claim that it is all the fault of the previous Tory administration has been challenged, even by the Labour-supporting Guardian newspaper. It has pointed out, that voters expect a government to tackle problems, not lament them.
In June 2023, a year before he became prime minister, Mr Starmer warned the London Tech Week conference that AI could worsen inequality and leave some communities poorer.
Yesterday he said it would raise living standards.
Therein lies the reason for the growing lack of confidence in the prime minister. No-one is sure what he stands for – and he does not appear to be too sure either.
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