𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Keir Starmer knows he’s in trouble and he doesn’t bother to hide it. This week he told his Cabinet at a Number 10 meeting: “Governments do not lose because polls go down. They lose when they lose belief or nerve. We will do neither.” It was an admission that opinion polls show support for Labour has collapsed.

But it was also a plea for Labour colleagues not to lose their nerve – and not to do anything dramatic, like replace him with a new leader. Sir Keir’s comments were remarkable. It’s still only 18 months since Labour won power in a general election landslide. Why would the Prime Minister fear his colleagues might “lose belief” at this early stage? The answer is that voters hate this government.

Latest polling from YouGov shows Labour in third place, with just 17% of voters saying they would back Sir Keir’s party if an election was held today.

Reform are in the lead, backed by 26%, followed by the Tories, on 19%. Snapping at Labour’s heels are the Lib Dems, on 16%, and Green Party, supported by 15% of voters.

Just 11% of voters say they approve of this Government’s record to date while 70% disapprove, YouGov found. What it adds to is this – Labour is on course to lose power and a large number of Labour MPs are on course to lose their seats, just as soon as the public has a chance to turf them out.

Growing numbers of Labour MPs talk openly about their hopes of installing a new leader, although in many cases they predict Sir Keir will simply quit rather than being forced out.

But the Prime Minister has a cunning plan.

He thinks he can save his skin by attacking Brexit. He’s started arguing that the UK’s economic problems are caused by the decision to leave the EU, in an attempt to shift the blame away from his government and on to Brexit-backing Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

It’s a bold move, because for a long time Sir Keir claimed that his policy was to “make Brexit work”. Having said that, at least he’s being honest. The truth is that he always opposed Brexit, and he’s stopped pretending otherwise.

The new approach has the added the bonus of appealing to many liberal-left voters – the same people currently threatening to abandon Labour and support the Greens or Lib Dems instead.

But there’s a catch. Because Sir Keir’s Brexit “reset” will mean you and I handing money over to Brussels.

It has emerged that Britain will have to pay the EU for better access to the single market under Sir Keir’s plans. Labour is pushing for closer ties with but Brussels sources have been making clear the government will have to “pay to play”.

Ultimately, that means taxpayers footing the bill while the outcome of the 2016 EU referendum is undone by stealth.