Where's the next u-turn?

+​Labour hopes that ridding itself of the £28 billion green investment pledge will take the sting out of Tory attack lines prior to the next general election. But this kind of begs the question: what Labour policies will the Tories attack next, potentially signalling yet another Starmer u-turn? I am surprised the Tories haven’t yet had a go at Labour’s ‘New Deal for Working People.’ They may not want to make too much of the promise to end zero hours contracts or ending ‘fire and rehire;’ perhaps they won’t even go for Labour’s pledge to give new employees from day one full employment rights. But lurking in the New Deal for Working People is strengthening trade union rights and repealing the Trade Union Act and other recent Tory attacks on workers’ rights. Strengthening collective bargaining rights must also send shivers down Tory spines. So I expect the ‘Labour in the pockets of trade union barons’ line to predictably re-emerge, especially given continuing high profile strikes in rail and the NHS. There is of course the added problem of Rachel Reeves’ fiscal rules blah-de-blah, which suggests generous pay deals will be off the table under a Labour government. Will Labour want to strengthen trade union power under a new regime of austerity lite?

+Labour’s candidate in the Rochdale by-election, Azhar Ali has made a grovelling apology for suggesting in social media after the Hamas attack on 7th October that the Israeli government knew in advance of Hamas’s plans. Labour top dog Pat McFadden has condemned his remarks. But it’s too late to kick Ali off the ballot for the election on February 29th. So if he’s elected, no doubt he’ll have the whip suspended immediately. Ali’s mistake was possibly reading the following report in the New York Times (30/11/23):
 
‘Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out. The approximately 40-page document, which the Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.

The translated document, which was reviewed by The New York Times, did not set a date for the attack, but described a methodical assault designed to overwhelm the fortifications around the Gaza Strip, take over Israeli cities and storm key military bases, including a division headquarters. Hamas followed the blueprint with shocking precision. The document called for a barrage of rockets at the outset of the attack,  drones to knock out the security cameras and automated machine guns along the border, and gunmen to pour into Israel en masse in paragliders, on motorcycles and on foot — all of which happened on Oct. 7.’
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On these things it seems we must remain silent. Media reports on Ali's apology fail to question whether what he said may have some truth to it.