All of Starmer’s ‘betrayals’ and U-turns as Labour faces Waspi women backlash

The Independent looks at all the times Sir Keir Starmer has let voters down or outright U-turned on his promises on the journey from Labour leader to prime minister

Sir Keir Starmer is facing yet another backlash after U-turning on his support for women affected by changes to the state pension age.

As leader of the opposition, he promised to “do something about it”, saying he understood the plight of those who had planned for retirement only to have “the goalposts moved”.

But, in a familiar change of tune since becoming prime minister, Sir Keir on Monday sent his work and pensions secretary out to tell Women Against State Pension Inequality, Waspi women, they would not be getting any compensation.

Sir Keir Starmer has been repeatedly accused of u-turning on key issues (The Independent)

Below, The Independent looks at all the times Sir Keir has let voters down or outright U-turned on his promises on the journey from Labour leader to prime minister.

Waspi women

In a 2022 interview, Sir Keir said: “All your working life you’ve got in mind the date on which you can retire and get your pension, and just as you get towards it, the goalposts are moved and you don’t get it, and it’s a real injustice.

“We need to do something about it. That wasn’t the basis on which you paid in or the basis on which you were working.”

£28bn green investment pledge

Rachel Reeves unveiled the £28bn green investment pledge, which was ditched by the party (Getty Images)

As shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves announced the party’s plans for an extra £28bn a year in green investment at Labour’s conference in September 2021.

Before the election, Sir Keir ditched the £28bn a year target and said instead that he would spend a far smaller sum on Great British Energy, a national wealth fund for clean investment and pledges on energy efficiency.

Two-child benefit cap

Promising in 2020 to create a social security system fit for the 21st century, Sir Keir said: “We must scrap the inhuman Work Capability Assessments and private provision of disability assessments... scrap punitive sanctions, two-child limit and benefits cap.”

But before the election, Sir Keir said Labour was “not changing” the Tory policy if Labour wins power. He has stuck to his guns, even suspending seven Labour MPs for rebelling against his King’s Speech in a bid to have the policy scrapped.

Winter fuel payments

Sir Keir Starmer was in Jeremy Corbyn’s top team when Labour warned winter fuel cuts could kill pensioners (PA Archive)

Sir Keir was on Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench when the then Labour leader opposed Tory plans to means test the winter fuel payment.

Labour research published at the time even warned the change could kill as many as 4,000 pensioners. But, in one of Sir Keir’s first acts since coming to power, he made the decision to strip the payments, worth up to £300, from millions of elderly people ahead of the winter.

National insurance

Labour’s pre-election manifesto very clearly promised to not increase national insurance. It said: “Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.”

But, Sir Keir and chancellor Ms Reeves used the ambiguity around whether they meant employer or employee national insurance contributions to steamroll the pledge at Labour’s first Budget in power.

The pair argue that they only promised to keep employee contributions frozen, landing firms with a 2 per cent increase to employer national insurance contributions.

Tractor tax

Keir Starmer has faced fury from farmers over his so-called tractor tax (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

Farmers have also said they feel betrayed by the PM, after a 2023 National Farmers Union (NFU) speech in which he promised to have “a new relationship with the countryside and farmers”.

Sir Keir claimed to be concerned that “each day brings a new existential risk to British farming. He added: “Losing a farm is not like losing any other business, it can’t come back.”

Going even further, then shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said it was “desperate nonsense” to suggest he would scrap tax breaks for farmers, just weeks before the July 4 poll.

But, in another hugely unpopular Budget bombshell, Sir Keir slashed agricultural property relief, meaning previously exempt farms will be his with a 20 per cent levy on farming assets worth more than £1m.

Critics have said it will see family farmers forced to sell up, ripping the heart out of countryside communities.

Bankers’ bonuses

Strict regulations on bonuses, which limit annual payouts to twice a banker’s salary, were introduced by the EU in 2014 in a bid to avoid excessive risk-taking after the 2008 financial crisis.

Former prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng made the decision to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses in 2022, in a bid to encourage more investment in the UK.

Sir Keir had previously vowed to curb bankers’ bonuses by reinstating the cap, saying in 2022 that lifting the cap “shows the Tories are absolutely tone deaf to what so many people are going through”.

But in another major U-turn, Ms Reeves announced before the election that the party “does not have any intention of bringing that back”.

10 pledges

Sir Keir’s bid to become leader of the Labour Party was based on 10 pledges, now infamous for having almost all been summarily dumped since.

They included promises to increase income tax for top earners, abolish tuition fees, support public ownership of energy and water firms, give voting rights to EU nationals and defend freedom of movement.

He has said a tougher economic backdrop means the promises are now no longer deliverable. But many Labour members who backed Sir Keir’s leadership bid feel betrayed, arguing that he posed as a left-winger to win over Corbynistas before pivoting sharply to the right.