Britain’s Labour govt shines with moral compass, restoring trust and stability in politics

At a moment when global politics feels unmoored — lurching from one form of extremism to another — Britain stands out for the rare sight of a Western government behaving with a degree of moral and political respectability. The Labour government has taken difficult positions on issues such as irregular migration, but it has restored something missing for years: basic seriousness in public life.

The contrast with the recent past is unavoidable. The Johnson and Truss years left deep marks on Britain’s reputation. During the 2022 mini-budget crisis, the pound, in the words of Reuters, “plunged to a record low against the dollar” after markets reacted with alarm to unfunded tax cuts. That plunge triggered a broader sell-off in British assets and forced emergency intervention by the Bank of England.

In a major speech in 2022, former prime minister Sir John Major warned that “democracy is fragile” and urged the country to be wary of “populism and the easy promises it makes that cannot be delivered”. His remarks were widely seen as a caution against the political mood that had shaped the preceding years.

Against that backdrop, Sir Keir Starmer’s calm, almost austere manner has felt like a national correction. During the 2024 general election campaign, he spoke repeatedly about restoring trust, stability and responsibility in public life. His approach stood in sharp contrast to the turbulence of the years that preceded him.

Labour’s latest Budget follows that same steady approach. The decision to shift taxation towards wealth, property and non-domiciled income was always likely to provoke resistance. Business groups expressed concern about the impact on investment, while Conservative-leaning commentators dismissed the measures as punitive.

Yet the underlying pressures are undeniable. The National Health Service (NHS) faces chronic strain, and professional bodies have long warned that without sustained investment, the health system’s performance will continue to deteriorate. Labour’s Budget is therefore less an ideological project than a response to structural decline.

Seen against global turbulence, the contrast is even sharper. Analysts such as historian Timothy Garton Ash have argued that the war in Ukraine has revived forms of great-power behaviour many assumed had vanished, including a renewed emphasis on spheres of influence and hard geopolitical competition.

Meanwhile, Britain’s populist right continues its noisy theatrics. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which this week purchased a two-page advertisement in The Times, is again promising mass expulsions of irregular migrants and sweeping tax cuts. Farage has repeatedly accused the government of losing control of Britain’s borders and has characterised current immigration policy as excessively lenient. The slogans are familiar; what is missing is any credible plan for implementation.

Labour, by contrast, seems almost old-fashioned in its sense of duty. One of its quiet achievements has been to assemble a Cabinet that broadly reflects the country it governs. Shabana Mahmood — the daughter of Pakistani immigrants and now Britain’s first Muslim Home Secretary — said on taking office: “It is the honour of my life to serve as Home Secretary. The first responsibility of government is the safety of its citizens.”

David Lammy, born into a Guyanese family and now serving as both Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister after the September 2025 reshuffle, struck a similar note of public service when he took office, emphasising the responsibility of restoring trust in the justice system and the seriousness of the role he now occupies.

None of this is tokenism. These are senior ministers with substantial portfolios, and their presence signals a multicultural confidence that matches modern Britain.

Many will recall that the previous Conservative government also featured prominent ministers of South Asian origin, including Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman. But while the Conservatives projected diversity at the top, the party became mired in chaos, scandal and revolving-door leadership. Labour’s diversity is accompanied by a sober, policy-focused style of governance that has stabilised institutions shaken by years of turbulence.

This restoration of seriousness is not only about personalities. It reflects a broader effort to redirect British politics away from performative outrage and constitutional brinkmanship. The wounds of Brexit, the culture wars and the ever-changing premierships all left Britain looking unsettled and exhausted. Across India and the wider Commonwealth, observers who once admired Britain for its institutional stability watched, baffled, as those institutions strained under repeated political shocks.

Today’s Labour government is not perfect; no administration is. But it has restored integrity to public office, seriousness to policymaking and dignity to democratic life. Britain remains a global reference point for governance, legal process and democratic tradition. When it descends into spectacle, others notice. When it recovers its equilibrium, that too is observed.

Economist Raghuram Rajan has long stressed the importance of strong, independent institutions and the need for them to resist short-term political pressures. After years of turbulence, Britain finally appears to have a government that understands this principle and seeks to govern accordingly.