What can Starmer learn from Biden? Now is not the time for timidity | Nick Dearden

Labour's bowing to business contrasts with the boldness of the US president's green industrial policies. There is an opportunity to be grasped

The severe crises humanity faces will not be solved by the outdated rules of the global economy. Keir Starmer came close to recognising this in his new year's speech, when he spoke of his plans for mission-driven" government. The phrase - borrowed from Mariana Mazzucato - implies governments setting economic goals (say, 100% renewable energy) and single-mindedly driving that goal forward through investment and regulation.

In essence, this is an acceptance that government planning, state intervention and public ownership, so derided over 40 years of neoliberalism, are necessary tools of government today, and it's what makes Labour's industrial strategy central to any progressive offer to the country.

Nick Dearden is director of Global Justice Now (formerly World Development Movement)