Don’t despair. History shows Labour even cash-strapped governments can be radical | Andrew Rawnsley

Rather than promise the sunny uplands, he cautions that there is a “hard road ahead”, making a government led by him sound like an invitation to participate in a gruelling hill marathon.

Another no-cost progressive cause implemented during Labour’s last period in government was the introduction of civil partnerships, the stepping stone to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage that followed.

There’s a strong case that the ban has been the single biggest benefit to public health in my lifetime while saving the NHS the money that it would otherwise be spending on treating smoking-related diseases.

It would be a quick win for a Starmer government, and one rectifying a Tory failure, to implement a comprehensive ban on the sale of zombie knives, machetes and other vicious bladed weapons.

These include modernising the school curriculum, using planning reform and the levers of the state to encourage house building, overhauling the regulation of water and other utilities, banning no-fault evictions and enhancing consumer protection.

As a potential equivalent of the introduction of the minimum wage during the Blair years, Sir Keir’s circle points to Labour’s substantial package of measures to enhance the rights of workers and increase the responsibilities on employers to treat their staff properly.