Is Britain now ungovernable just like in the Seventies?

Governing is hard, and sometimes it is harder than others.

- JOHN RENTOUL

This morning, Keir Starmer had to give a short speech welcoming the election of a deputy leader of his party seven weeks after he had sacked her from his government. This seemed to be a fitting end to a week in which all candidates to lead the grooming gangs inquiry withdrew; a migrant deported to France came back again on a small boat; Labour was humiliated in a by-election where it had always won in Wales; and a migrant sex offender was set free by mistake.

In fact, Lucy Powell won the deputy leadership by a narrower margin - 54 per cent to 46 - than expected, considering how unhappy Labour members are with the direction of the party. But her win will strengthen the argument of those who want the government to spend more and tax more, a month before a Budget in which Rachel Reeves is already in an impossible bind, trying to spend less and tax more without breaking manifesto promises.

In her victory speech, Powell also repeated the plausible but misleading slogan, “We won't win by trying to out-Reform Reform.” Her election reveals a party unwilling to face up to the harder truth, which is that Labour will lose if it fails to stop the boats, which is one of the causes of Nigel Farage’s lead in the opinion polls.