I would be much more critical. Every Labour government faces a great deal of hostility. No comms strategy, waiting for a budget, gloomy predictions for the future? Then the only major policy that cuts through is a cut to what is presented as a vulnerable group? Keir Starmer is not a Blair. He is not charismatic and he cannot afford mistakes like this. They should have had double the comms that Blair did. Blair was charming. Keir is often deemed a robot. The media landscape is much tougher than in 1997.
These people are naive. It shows in the freebies and also the failure of a grand narrative. Boris Johnson, who I think is contemptible, absolutely knows the value of narrative. He writes it. Even if it is utter rubbish he shapes his own agenda all the time. The fact that no one thought this was important for Labour suggests a serious lack of political nous. Bad start.