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Hello and welcome to Political Thinking. The last time I mused aloud about the state of

politics, I concluded by saying that the only thing that was predictable was that life was

now unpredictable. Back then though, I probably would have bet you quite a lot of money that

we would end up in lockdown and that would define the politics of the moment. But this week,

the Prime Minister confirmed there would be no new restrictions in England at least,

and he sought to turn what looked like in decision, what looked like an inability to persuade his

cabinet or his back benches of new restrictions into a positive virtue, the man who decided to

learn to live with the virus. Together with the plan B measures that we introduced before Christmas,

we have a chance to write out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again.

We can keep our schools and our businesses open and we can find a way to live with this virus.

Just as revealing as the language of Boris Johnson was the decision of Keir Starmer 2,

changed the subject. He no longer wants to be portrayed as the man leading the party calling

again and again for more limitations on our life. Instead, he wants to redefine himself,

redefine Labour, has not capped in hindsight, not ear, but the man who is a genuine patriot who

wants to improve the country. So I want to start the new year by making a pledge of straight

leadership. Today I want to introduce my contract with the British people.

This will be a solemn agreement about what this country needs and how a good government should

conduct itself. That insistence that Labour is the patriotic party is informed in part by the

people that Keir Starmer has now surrounded himself with, the people who he promoted in the shadow

cabinet in that recent reshuffle. Amongst the my guest on political thinking this week,

Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, a man who has been on quite a journey,

...