Abolishing tuition fees always was the wrong policy. But Keir Starmer’s dizzying U-turns make Labour look lost

The Labour leader may be ending up with the right policies, but unless he can explain what he is doing and why he won’t change his mind back again later, doubts will remain, writes John Rentoul

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer (PA)

I thought Keir Starmer had already abandoned the promise of “free” tuition for students. I wrote welcoming the change as the right decision in January. But, as with last week’s confirmation that he is opposed to proportional representation, these things often fail to hit the headlines until they are officially and explicitly set out.

“We are likely to move on from that commitment,” Starmer said on the radio this morning, asked about the promise to abolish tuition fees that he made during the Labour leadership campaign three-and-a-half years ago. Previously, he had only refused to restate the promise, and said that all spending commitments were under review.

Now he explained that we “find ourselves in a different financial situation”. Which is true. The public finances are obviously in a weaker state than they were in 2020, before coronavirus.