Onwards and sideways for the PM after the latest about-face

Not another one.

- Sketch John Crace

On Tuesday evening, the government announced it wasn't going to make digital ID cards mandatory after all. Just months after Keir Starmer had made digital ID cards the cornerstone of his plans to stop migrants working illegally.It's getting hard to keep up. At Christmas, we had the U-turn on inheritance tax on farms. In the new year, we had a U-turn on business rates for pubs. All U-turns that were undoubtedly for the better. All U-turns that came with their own numbing predictability. Almost as if the government hadn't thought things through. Surely not.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. Politicians and news organisations have been fighting a losing battle in their efforts to keep a running tally. Sky made it 13 U-turns since Labour took office in 2024. It can't be long before the government has to do a rethink on jury trials too.

So it was no surprise that Kemi Badenoch used her time at the dispatch box during prime minister's questions to have a go at the government's about-turns. Why complicate things? Every party leader deserves an easy day sometimes.