Sir Keir Starmer was hoping to break the curse of the cabinet away day as he summoned his ministers to Chequers for the launch of a summer “refresh” of his troubled government.
The aim: to plot a course for a recovery during Labour’s second year in power after a first 12 months blighted by economic woes, rows over freebies, humiliating U-turns and rebellions.
In the past, the away day rules from the No 10 high command have included no woolly jumpers and no sandwiches. This time, the rule to ministers was: “Don’t call it a reset.”
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The curse of this away day could turn out to be the threat of a looming ministerial reshuffle, which some MPs predict could come as early as next week. Could some of those present face the axe?
According to the official readout of Sir Keir’s away day, the prime minister chaired a session on how the government will use AI “to turbocharge its Plan for Change”. But that was just a small part of the discussions.
Top of the agenda for a “political cabinet”, without civil servants, were the storm clouds over the economy and the options for Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her make-or-break autumn budget.
And based on the experience of previous cabinet away days, from Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown to Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the omens were not good. Away days may seem like a good idea at the time, but most end badly.
The idea of Chequers away days has been to hold a brainstorming session in the privacy of the Buckinghamshire countryside without distractions or prying photographers, reporters or TV crews.
But over the years, like most family get-togethers, there have been personality clashes, squabbles about what to eat and what to wear, disputes about who takes centre stage, and even backstabbing and walkouts.
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The last Chequers cabinet away day, held by Mr Sunak in January 2023, took place with two senior figures facing official investigations.
Tory chair Nadhim Zahawi was engulfed in a tax scandal and deputy prime minister Dominic Raab was facing bullying allegations. Mr Zahawi was out within a week after this away day and Mr Rabb within three months.
Without doubt, the most disastrous cabinet awayday at Chequers was in July 2018, when Ms May thought she’d persuaded her cabinet to back her Brexit deal. Then, as now, the heat was sweltering.
But two days later, David Davis quit as Brexit secretary and Mr Johnson – who was said to have proposed a champagne toast to the prime minister at Chequers – resigned as foreign secretary the following day.
Ms May thought she had a deal that would keep the UK closely tied to the EU’s customs union and single market. But it was doomed even during that away day.
It was reported that ministers were warned that anyone who resigned would have to walk a mile down the drive and get a lift home with the local taxi firm, whose cards had been left in the foyer.
When he resigned, Mr Davis was said to have been livid about hostile briefing from senior figures in Downing Street about how the Brexiters would be treated at Chequers, including the taxi threat.
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And Mr Johnson not only launched a “Chuck Chequers” campaign opposing Ms May’s deal, but also a campaign to chuck her out of Downing Street and seize her job for himself.
As prime minister, he also held a cabinet awayday, not at Chequers, but at a pottery in the heart of the “red wall” in Stoke-on-Trent, in 2022. The venue might have been different, but that was cursed too.
Just weeks later Mr Johnson’s cabinet shattered like broken Wedgwood china following the resignations of Mr Sunak and Sajid Javid.
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The modern trend for cabinet away days was started by Sir Tony – who else? – in 1998. The rules for ministers were laid down by his chief of staff Jonathan Powell, now Sir Keir’s national security adviser.
In a memo to cabinet ministers attending, he wrote: “TV will film people arriving and going, so there can be no woolly jumpers.”
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Mr Powell was rebuffed by Sir Tony, however, when he suggested in a memo to the prime minister that Mr Brown should start the meeting with a discussion on the economy. “No,” Sir Tony replied bluntly in a handwritten note.
Peter Mandelson, now Britain’s ambassador in Washington, demanded “something nicer than sandwiches” for lunch and got his wish when a buffet was laid on.
Sir Keir’s Chequers away day also began with lunch, then the short formal cabinet meeting with the discussion about AI, then the political cabinet, which was the real reason for the away day.
No need for woolly jumpers in the 32C heat. Just don’t call it a “refresh”.
