(MENAFN- EIN Presswire) Rishi Sunak has said 2024 will be the year of the next general election, and while the date remains unknown , campaigning is ramping up. Both Sunak and Keir Starmer are promising to use victory as a reset moment, with Sunak pledging to ditch 30 years of“failed consensus” and Starmer promising to end“short-term sticking plaster” politics. Whenever the general election is held, the time has come to move beyond slogans.
If Sunak is serious about“long-term decisions for a brighter future”, then he should make some. The first test is small boats, with the risk that the PM has bet the house on a scheme that was always more of a political ploy than public policy, but now looks like it might even fail at that. The new year will begin with a parliamentary battle over the government's flagship Rwanda legislation – weeks of brinkmanship with backbench factions and stand-offs with the House of Lords could feel more like a nightmare return to the Brexit wars of 2018 than a glimpse of Sunak's vision for the country by 2028.
The next big test will be the budget: promising deep cuts to public services tomorrow to subsidise tax cuts today is neither a long-term decision and nor does it point to a bright future.
Stopping small boats will be the first test for the prime minister in 2024. The new year will begin with a parliamentary battle over the government's flagship Rwanda legislation.Keir Starmer might find it easier to convince the public he represents change, but he cannot avoid the difficult decisions looming. A Starmer government will need to decide whether it is cutting services or raising taxes; which of its missions gets more or less investment; and whose backyard will be covered with new homes. Starmer may find it convenient to steer clear of some of the knottiest problems in opposition, but there is no avoiding them if he finds himself in No.10. He still has time, perhaps as much as year, to do the difficult policy work. The manifesto is his chance to try to get a mandate for dealing with painful choices that lie ahead. It might be politically attractive to point to the problems with his opponents and leave the policy for another day. But if Starmer wins, then he might he has little choice but to reach for the same sticking plasters he promised to avoid.
As a general election approaches the focus on polling day will intensify, but both Sunak and Starmer, would be wise to give proper thought to what might follow – and how to address the long-term challenges facing this country.
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