It is easy, in this insulated Gothic village of power, to treat politics as a sport. But the delay in this bill has real consequences. The bill contains emergency funding for the insolvent steelworks in Port Talbot. It holds the renewal of the student loan interest cap. Every hour of infighting adds another question mark to the pay packets of 1.2 million public sector workers awaiting a settlement.
Meanwhile, across the despatch box, the Opposition is playing a waiting game so disciplined it is almost unnerving. Sir Keir Starmer’s team has issued precisely three sentences to the press in the last 24 hours, none of which contain the word “no-confidence.” jessie ames bbc
That is the core of it. The intellectual battle has been lost. The only remaining question is whether the political one will be fought or forfeited. It is easy, in this insulated Gothic village