It's really not all that much to ask from a government with a 170-majority and 3+ years on the clock.

www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

Otoh the rest of it is refreshingly candid

Another Brexit benefit

No-one wants this and you don't have to do it.

www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Real shift has come on electricity market

No one’s talking about Switzerland. But the fact is the position on participation in internal market has shifted

It is technically complicated, but that is endorsement of the principle of differentiated participation in the SM in black ink, and it's a long way from the story of 2016

"The European Commission and the United Kingdom should explore in detail the necessary parameters for the United Kingdom’s possible participation in the European Union’s internal electricity market, including participation in the European Union’s trading platforms in all timeframes."

Indeed! The reason that local govt are not out “mid terms” is that the mid terms dictate a president’s ability to pass an agenda. Local govt elx dictate nothing except vibes

It probably matters a lot to the Labour Party whether they have 4000 councillors or 4 come May but it’s not obvious as to why it should be a deal-closer for the rest of the world

The rate at which gap is narrowing is pretty striking

You are over complicating what is a simpler point though: which is that it’s not about manifesto promise but the Starmer project of defining himself against the party’s instincts. Whether that collapse is inevitable, circumstantial or discretionary is second order Q

The trouble comes when you are trending to European taxes and American provision

But they are in their comfort zone! The whole project of defining Starmer against the instincts of the party is over. See: conference

It was totally viable against a backdrop they didn’t get and spending choices they weren’t prepared to make

And now it’s dead