Labour has had the benefit of the doubt. But the serial chaos is starting to look like a death wish

Freud had a word for it. Thanatos. Up till now it’s been tempting to give Labour the benefit of the doubt.

- John Crace

That being in opposition for 14 years has made it ring-rusty. That it’s forgotten how this government thing works. Hadn’t quite realised it was supposed to be in charge.

But now it’s beginning to look like Labour has a death wish. Not that it doesn’t quite know how to run the country, more that it is hell bent on self-destruction. This isn’t a matter of incompetence: it’s a deliberate act of self-sabotage. Almost as if it doesn’t quite believe it deserves to be in office. The opposition benches are its safe space.

How else to explain the feeling of chaos that has underscored much of the last year and a half or so and drowned out the good things that have been achieved? First it was the freebies - from a party that had promised to be different from the Tories. Then there were the U-turns over cuts to benefits.

But this was all a warm-up for the main event. The budget megashambles. Months of leaks, briefings and press conferences, some of which only took place to reverse-ferret on what had been said in previous leaks, briefings and press conferences. A timeline on when the Office for Budget Responsibility delivered its report that is at best confused.