Keir Starmer offers ‘change’, ‘change’ and even more ‘change’. But that’s not the same as governing | Simon Jenkins

Now there is little difference with the Tories in terms of ideology, Labour's promise is both an opportunity and a burden

We are told the focus groups are clear as a bell. No, Labour's Keir Starmer is not exhilarating. No, the economy is not screaming for new management. Yes, the world is a mess. But one message for sure was splashed across Starmer's lectern on Wednesday: give us change".

Rishi Sunak has not been a signally worse prime minister than his recent predecessors. Eighteen months ago he was handed a tougher job than that of possibly any postwar holder of his office. The closest parallel was Douglas-Home's year-long inheritance of the wreck of Macmillan's government in 1963. Sunak confronted a second-rate cabinet, a crippled economy and a destitute public sector. It would have taken a political titan to have succeeded. He has struggled at least to be responsible, sincere and well-meaning.