Why can’t politicians ever say sorry?
Everyone knows Labour made a huge mistake when they took Winter Fuel Allowance away from the vast majority of pensioners.
You know it, I know it, and Rachel Reeves knows it.
But the Chancellor instead insists she was right to take the “tough decision” to cut it last year, and simultaneously right to bring it back now.
It is apparently because of “changes we’ve made and the stability we’ve brought back to the economy,” though there are few economic figures that would suggest that’s true.
Why not say “you know what, we got this one wrong. We’re sorry, and we’re putting it right.”
Politicians — on all sides — are terrified of saying sorry. Give in once, they reason, and you’ll never stop being pestered to make more concessions.
It’s not entirely their fault. Journalists will bang on about “humiliating u-turns,” making it even less likely our leaders will act like normal people in the future.
