Parliament is yet to return, but Sir Keir Starmer has used the last few days of August to frame the next few months of his premiership.
First, there was the bad news – his warning from the Downing Street garden that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better, with “painful” decisions in the shape of tax rises and spending cuts on the way this autumn.
Second, was his attempt to inject some hope into his project and make good on that election message of change – with a visit to Berlin to talk up a “once in a generational chance” to “turn the corner on Brexit”.
Politics live: New treaty ‘very scant on detail’
The vehicle for a speech of optimism in the gloom came in the shape of a bilateral treaty between the UK and Germany, who are negotiating to deepen security, defence and trade ties.
It would be the first of its kind between the UK and its biggest trading partner in Europe, and watching the rapport between Chancellor Schloz and the prime minister, it was clear that there was much goodwill and common ground between these two leaders.
As the German premier said at their joint press conference in Berlin: “I am happy about the announcement by Keir Starmer to seek a reset in the relations to the European Union. We want to take this hand which is reached out to us.”
Both sides want to wrap up the deal by the end of the year, with whispers Sir Keir will be back in the German capital sooner rather than later to sign off on the treaty.
It will be seen and sold as a political win and a reset in Anglo-German relations, undoubtedly strained by Brexit.
The two leaders spoke about a new framework they…
