This will be the first Labour backbench rebellion – and Starmer’s first U-turn

The policy is so toxic even Suella Braverman wants to get rid of it. It’s a matter of when, not if, it will be abolished, and Starmer’s best bet is to sort it out sooner rather than later, writes Andrew Grice

Starmer has said he understands the argument for abolishing the cap, but has not committed to getting rid of what some campaigners have described as a ‘cruel’ policy (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

One of the many puzzling things about the Conservatives’ election campaign is why they have not made stronger attacks on Keir Starmer as a man who will say one thing before an election and do another afterwards.

It has been media interviewers rather than the Tories who have caused Starmer most discomfort on the gap between his platform for the 2020 Labour leadership contest, dubbed “Corbynism without Corbyn”, and the Labour manifesto at this election. Some Starmer allies privately regard this is as his achilles heel.

Perhaps the Tories are addicted to replaying their greatest election hit on tax, even though it doesn’t seem to be shifting the opinion polls this time. Their attacks on Labour sometimes appear contradictory: one minute, Starmer has “no plan”, the next, he has a secret plan to raise lots of taxes.