Labour’s big budget and Kemi Badenoch’s victory reset politics – Laura Kuenssberg

A senior business leader told me: “They’ve done part one well, in a more traditional Labor way, but to really take shape they need a really strong part two… creating the vision, energy and specific incentives and plans . for growth and wealth creation – that still requires work.”

On the other hand, Labor’s union supporters are happy with extra money for some public services and with changes to borrowing rules so that more money is available to spend on long-term projects.

But there are concerns, as one leader puts it, that the NI increase for employers will be “discussed in every negotiating room” as an excuse for cutting wages. And discontent on the left over the two-child cap and winter fuel allowance continues – with a judicial review of the decision on pensioner benefits on the horizon.

But forget the inevitable skirmishes and tensions. The Budget has filled in many of the blanks about this government and answered part of the common question: what does Keir Starmer really stand for?

And the answer could almost be a line from a Gordon Brown Budget of a bygone era – economic stability, more government spending, with schools and hospitals at the top of the list.

Starmer’s supporters say the discipline on day-to-day spending – even cuts to some departments – makes it different from Labor budgets of the past, and claim they have taken over the Conservatives’ mantle as the party you can trust with public money.

But undoubtedly the Budget highlights the priorities of classic Labor instincts, not the mushy middle.

A government source suggests none of this should really come as a surprise.

“Traditional centre-left arguments were all there at the election – ending non-doms, VAT on private schools – overall it passes the fairness test and that’s the most important thing.”

“Labor is in the veins,” says a minister. And in the next few weeks, Labor will publish what is described as a “government programme” that will make it even clearer.