The Rise and Fall of Captain Hindsight

For many of us growing up in the 1970’s the TV superhero Hong Kong Phooey was a regular fix on our televisions, despite only running for one series of 16 episodes. Mild mannered janitor, Penry Pooch by day, and superhero by night, ably ‘assisted’ by his sidekick Spot the Cat. 

Oddly this bumbling character seems an early metaphor for the Starmer government with it’s bumbling mild mannered Prime Minister and his trusty sidekick Morgan McSweeney, constantly making U-Turns and never really being seen for who he really is by the people around him.

A former, equally bumbling, Prime minister coined the phrase “Captain Hindsight” which does sum up Starmer's record with a massive seven U-turns before he even got to 10 Downing Street and a further 15 (and counting) since. Perhaps the opening titles to Hong Kong Phooey could be changed for the modern era to:

Captain Hindsight
Who is this super hero?
McSweeney? No.
Angela, the brash northern Deputy? No.
Keith, the mild-mannered PM? Could be!

As of February 2026, the Keir Starmer government has made 15 major U-turns costing the British Economy over £8 billion (est) since taking office in July 2024. These reversals, often following backbench rebellions or legal challenges, include significant shifts on taxation, welfare, and civil liberties.

The problem for Labour is not only the number of U-Turns, but the fact that 15 of them have been on major front line policies, from tax to social care, from workers rights to human rights, and the feeling that it creates in the country is that you really cannot rely on Labour to have your back. 

What’s more they have impacted on the economy, and at a time when Brexit is depressing our exports to our largest trading block, causing major financial distress for our exporters, and the Trump government is playing Hokey-Cokey with international tariffs, all this does nothing to bolster the investment markets and generate the much-needed growth.

Major Government U-Turns (2024–2026)

1. Local Election Delays (Feb 2026): Abandoned plans to postpone 30 local council elections scheduled for May 2026 after a legal challenge by Reform UK.
2. Digital ID Cards (Jan 2026): Watered down plans to make digital identity checks mandatory for workers, making them optional instead following civil liberties concerns.
3. Pub Business Rates (Jan 2026): Introduced a £300 million support package to freeze rates for two years after initially slashing pandemic-era relief in the 2024 Budget.
4. Farmers' Inheritance Tax (Dec 2025): Raised the tax relief threshold for farms from £1 million to £2.5 million following mass "tractor tax" protests.
5. Employment Rights (Nov 2025): Scaled back the "day-one" right to protection from unfair dismissal to a six-month qualifying period after business and House of Lords pushback.
6. Two-Child Benefit Cap (Nov 2025): Scrapped the cap entirely in the Autumn Budget to combat child poverty, despite previously suspending MPs who voted to lift it.
7. Income Tax Thresholds (Nov 2025): Extended the freeze on income tax thresholds until 2031 to raise roughly £8 billion, reversing a 2024 pledge to end the freeze by 2028.
8. Winter Fuel Payments (June 2025): Restored eligibility for all pensioners earning up to £35,000 after initially cutting the benefit for approximately 10 million people in 2024.
9. Welfare & Disability Benefits (June 2025): Scrapped plans for £5 billion in cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) following a rebellion by over 100 Labour MPs.
10. Grooming Gangs Inquiry (June 2025): Launched a national statutory inquiry after initially rejecting calls for one and commissioning a separate "audit" by Baroness Louise Casey.
11. Gender Definitions (April 2025): Starmer's spokesperson stated he no longer believes "trans women are women" in the context of the Equality Act, aligning with a Supreme Court ruling that "woman" refers to biological sex.
12. International Aid (Feb 2025): Slashed the development budget to its lowest-ever level to fund defence, despite a manifesto pledge to restore aid to 0.7% of GNI.
13. WASPI Women (Nov 2025): Announced it would "reconsider" a previous December 2024 decision to deny compensation to 1950s-born women affected by pension age changes.
14. National Insurance (Oct 2024): Increased employer National Insurance by 1.2 percentage points in the first Budget, which critics and the IFS labelled a breach of manifesto pledges.
15. Fiscal Rules (July 2024): Changed how the government measures debt and borrowing rules shortly after taking office to allow for additional spending.