As Labour marks one year in power, the promises of transformation lie in ruins—Windrush victims remain uncompensated, welfare reforms are gutted, and MPs are walking away. Is this the leadership Britain voted for?
When Sir Keir Starmer swept into Downing Street one year ago, he promised a new era of “integrity, transparency, and accountability.” Twelve months on, that promise lies in tatters. From the festering Windrush compensation scandal to a string of policy reversals, internal rebellions, and a growing disconnect from the public, Labour’s first year in power has been marked less by transformation than by triangulation.
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The Year of the U-turn
Starmer’s government has executed more policy reversals than any incoming administration in recent memory. Among the most glaring:
Green Prosperity Plan: Once the flagship of Labour’s economic vision, the £28 billion green investment pledge was quietly gutted within months of taking office.
Tuition Fees: A long-standing promise to abolish them was abandoned, replaced with vague commitments to “review funding models.”
Former Labour MP for Lewisham North (Vicky Foxcroft) resigned in protest over Starmer's proposed cuts to disability benefits.
Two-Child Benefit Cap: Despite widespread condemnation from anti-poverty groups, Labour has refused to scrap the Tory-era policy, deepening child poverty across the UK.
PIP Reform: After promising a compassionate overhaul of the Personal Independence Payment system, Labour has now backtracked, leaving many disabled people trapped in a punitive and dehumanising process.
Benefits Reform Bill: Once touted as a bold step toward dignity in welfare, the bill has been watered down beyond recognition, offering little more than cosmetic change.
Each reversal has been justified in the name of “fiscal responsibility” or “pragmatism.” But for many, it signals something more corrosive: a party adrift from its principles, led by a man more concerned with optics than outcomes.
The Windrush Betrayal
Nowhere is this more evident than in the ongoing Windrush scandal. Despite Labour’s pledge to “swiftly resolve” the crisis, the compensation scheme remains a bureaucratic quagmire. As of this week:
- Fewer than one-third of eligible claimants have received full compensation.
- The refusal rate for claims remains staggeringly high.
- Victims continue to die uncompensated, their lives wrecked by a hostile environment that Labour once vowed to dismantle.
Professor Augustine John’s recent open letter accuses Starmer of “racial cynicism,” lambasting his use of dog-whistle rhetoric (“island of strangers”) while hosting Windrush Day receptions at No.10. The letter warns of a growing “Windrush industry” that commodifies Black British history for political gain while erasing its radical roots.
“Rather than your hubristic endorsement... let us see evidence of you and Labour taking a lead in putting an end to this Other Windrush Scandal,” John writes.
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Rebellion from Within
Starmer’s iron grip on the party is beginning to crack. Labour rebels—many from the party’s left and Global Majority MPs—have grown increasingly vocal. This week, MP Zarah Sultana formally resigned from the Labour Party, citing its abandonment of core values and its failure to deliver justice on issues ranging from Gaza to welfare reform.
Former Labout MP for Coventry South (Zarah Sultana) speaks at a rally against the Israeli Genocide in Gaza
The long-buried Forde Report, which details racism, bullying, and factionalism within Labour, remains unpublished in full. Starmer’s treatment of Diane Abbott—Britain’s first Black female MP—has drawn ire, with critics accusing the leadership of weaponising disciplinary processes to silence dissent.
Out of Touch with a Nation in Crisis
Perhaps most damning is the growing perception that Starmer is fundamentally out of touch with the realities of life in Britain today. As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, food bank usage hits record highs, and mental health services buckle under pressure, Labour’s response has been tepid at best.
- Energy bills remain unaffordable for millions.
- Rent and mortgage arrears are rising.
- Disabled people and carers continue to face hostile assessments and inadequate support.
Starmer’s technocratic style—governance by spreadsheet and soundbite—has left many wondering whether he truly grasps the scale of suffering across the country.
Will Starmer Ask For Directions?
One year in, Labour may not yet be in full crisis mode—but it is in danger. The danger lies not in electoral collapse, but in moral drift, purpose, and form. In the pursuit of power, Starmer has shed policies, allies, and principles. What remains is a party that governs, but does not inspire; that manages, but does not transform.
A hollow shell of a Labour party that once championed for the rights of the unheard, now a mirror reflection of the government they replaced. One year after taking helm and promising to turn the ship around, Keir Starmer stays the course effectively chartered by the Tories over the past decade and a half.
As the Windrush generation waits for justice, as disabled people fight for dignity and survival, as the cost of living crisis rages on and as Labour MPs walk away from a party they no longer recognise, the question becomes unavoidable:
What does Labour actually stand for in 2025 and beyond—if not for them?