‘When they get in they will face a terrible reality’:

Labour’s manifesto launch was as risk-averse as its whole campaign, but what will happen under the impact of bankrupt councils, crumbling schools and an NHS in crisis?

There was no razzmattazz, no fanfare and no arty backdrop as Keir Starmer – way ahead in the polls with three weeks until election day – launched his party’s bombproof manifesto for government. The unflashy venue – the HQ of the Co-Operative Group in Manchester – was the same as when the Labour leader announced his five missions in February last year. The same posters announcing the same missions hung from the same walls. Surprise means risk and there was none of either.

One older Labour party member recalled the Sheffield rally of 1992 when Neil Kinnock’s pre-election over-confidence was thought by some to have contributed to eventual defeat. The vibe was the reverse. “We are certainly not repeating that. It still pains me,” he said.