In Starmer’s Labour, it’s backbenchers that hold the power
Labour needs backbenchers who fight for growth, not just block spending cuts, writes Michael Martins in today’s Notebook
Labour needs backbenchers who fight for growth, not just block spending cuts
Keir Starmer’s retreats on winter fuel allowance and welfare reforms have made two things clear to MPs: organisation matters and rebellion, if well-timed and well-supported, can accelerate careers with few consequences. The European Research Group demonstrated this during the Brexit years, reshaping national policy and propelling several of its members into ministerial office and Number 10.
So why, if the civil service can renegotiate the UK’s trading terms with the world, build a furlough scheme in weeks and deliver one of the fastest vaccine rollouts during the pandemic, does it still struggle to make doing business in Britain easier?
The answer is not bureaucratic. It is political. Westminster rewards loyalty, but only to a point. Real reform is driven by pressure and boldness, not politeness. Governments, regardless of party, tend to respond to those who make noise.
That is why Labour’s new parliamentary caucuses, such as the Labour Growth Group and the Living Standards Coalition, matter. But it is also why it is concerning that tools central to economic dynamism, like lower taxes and better investment incentives, are largely missing from their manifestos. These groups focus more on how government should spend rather than on how to stimulate business-led growth.
If Labour MPs believe Starmer is serious about economic growth, they must become more attuned to what businesses actually value. That means championing economically vital reforms, even if they unsettle certain parts of the party.
The rewards for doing so are clear. Torsten Bell MP, one of the Labour Growth Group’s founders and lead signatory on its July 2024 letter urging planning reform, was appointed a junior Treasury minister just five months later. Within that time, planning reform became one of the few clear policy commitments from government.
Growth remains the only viable route to enhancing living standards without resorting to spiralling taxes or shrinking services. But if more Labour backbenchers don’t stand up and take these risks, the UK may end up with a government that talks growth while governing in fear of it.
What can’t AI do? Go to the pub
Overton has just welcomed two new interns, and an enjoyable part of my life right now is figuring out what they can do better than AI. The answer? Pubs. ChatGPT can draft outreach emails to MPs, but it can’t build relationships over a drink in Westminster. If anything, AI makes the human side of entry-level jobs more valuable. I was recently in Canada, needing to reach MPs, but with only four hours overlap between London and Toronto workdays. Guess who saved the day? The human intern who knew the human staffer.
The UK turned me into a passenger princess
I’ve avoided driving in the UK – not because of the left-hand traffic, but because getting a UK licence would mean surrendering my Canadian licence entirely. That would make returning home excessively cumbersome. It also discourages me from any UK car use, whether renting or buying. For a government looking to boost consumer spending and domestic tourism, this is low-hanging fruit. Modernising driving licence rules for the country’s 10m immigrants could unlock spending, support the second-hand market and even nudge more staycations across the UK.
We need civil servants who chase growth, not just tax rises
Like many, I’m unclear where my rising taxes actually go because public services seemingly deliver less with more. At a recent dinner party with friends from HM Treasury, I learned that their promotions still come from uncovering stealth tax rises, not designing pro-growth reforms. Sadly, a year into Starmer’s first term, the system still rewards short-term revenue over long-term prosperity. Until civil servants are incentivised to unlock growth with the same zeal they apply to extracting revenue, Britain’s economic potential will remain artificially capped. Has no one at HM Treasury heard of diminishing returns?
I finally get why entrepreneurs like space
I used to think entrepreneurs were obsessed with space out of self-preservation as people like Bezos and Musk attempt to escape Earth’s long-run ecological decline. Project Hail Mary changed my view.
Andy Weir’s protagonist wakes from a coma aboard a spaceship in an unknown solar system in a bid to save humanity from an interstellar plague. But the story is less about heroism and more about relentless problem-solving: setbacks, ingenuity, high stakes and isolation. It mirrors the entrepreneurial journey, where success is built on incremental gains, exceptionally long hours, tough judgement calls and navigating crises with limited or absent support.
Plagues aside, it was an uplifting read interspersed with digestible scientific facts and theories. I’d recommend reading it before the movie comes out next year.
Michael Martins is the founder of Overton Advisory and a former political and economic specialist at US Embassy London