The problem with Labour’s manifesto isn’t the ideas, it’s the credibility | Martin Kettle

While this is a more nuanced prospectus than the right claims, it is too starry-eyed about the state’s role – and has some glaring fudges

How seriously should one take the Labour manifesto? In a serious election it ought to matter a lot. Yet everything about Labour at the moment – the manifesto included – reflects the sleepless battle for control of the party, rather than any serious engagement with non-Labour Britain. Oddly, though, this means there is some unity about the manifesto. The Corbynites want to run on a leftwing manifesto for reasons of ideology, but Jeremy Corbyn’s opponents want that too, so that Corbyn can own the defeat they expect on 8 June.

The much larger questions, especially to the three-quarters of British voters who are not Labour supporters, are whether this is a plausible manifesto, and whether there is a large and sustained appetite for a government dedicated to rolling back the Thatcherite counter-revolution. Don’t rule that out. But a manifesto is also only as plausible as the leader who presents it. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I think most voters have made up their minds on that.

Too often Labour offers an attitude and a piety rather than an analysis: scrap this, ban that, reverse the other

Related: Labour's draft manifesto: key policies analysed

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