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Keir Starmer has been likened to a 'plastic bag in the wind' yesterday – as Downing Street hinted he was considering further U-turns.
Kemi Badenoch seized on the Prime Minister's dramatic change of heart over digital ID cards as evidence that the Government had lost all direction.
Sir Keir also faced growing criticism from Labour MPs over the latest reversal.
No 10 confirmed that the PM had dropped plans to make the controversial initiative mandatory – marking the 13th U-turn of his 18-month premiership.
During angry clashes at PMQs in the Commons, Mrs Badenoch welcomed the decision to drop compulsory digital ID cards, which she described as a 'rubbish policy'.
But the Tory leader questioned whether Sir Keir could be relied on to stick to any of his policies.
'The reason why he U-turns all the time is because he is clueless,' she said. 'He is blowing around like a plastic bag in the wind, with no sense of direction whatsoever.'
Labour insiders have suggested that Sir Keir is pursuing a policy of 'getting the barnacles off the boat' by ditching unpopular policies in order to focus on the cost of living.
No 10 confirmed that the PM had dropped plans to make digital ID cards mandatory – marking the 13th U-turn of his 18-month premiership
With pressure growing on him to change direction on plans to scrap jury trials and extend business rates relief for pubs to the wider hospitality sector, No 10 refused to rule out further U-turns.
Asked whether ID cards were the final 'barnacle' which needed to be removed, a spokesman said: 'The PM is focused on delivering on the cost of living. That is what the priority is for 2026.'
In the Commons, Sir Keir insisted that he was 'turning the country round'.
But the latest policy reversal dismayed some senior Labour figures.
Lord Blunkett, who is a longtime supporter of digital ID cards, said he was 'disappointed but not surprised' by the PM's failure to stick to the policy he had announced with great fanfare just three months earlier.
The former home secretary told the BBC that the Government had lacked 'any kind of strategic plan' to sell the policy to the voters, allowing critics to fill the vacuum.
Labour MP Karl Turner, who is campaigning for the Government to abandon plans to curb jury trials, said his colleagues were 'sick and fed up of defending stuff that was not in the manifesto [and] haven't been run by Parliamentary Labour Party or the Cabinet.' He added: 'We are getting cheesed off about being marched up hills on surprise policies that simply cannot work.'
The blizzard of Government U-turns has also triggered disquiet in the Cabinet.
Kemi Badenoch likened Keir Starmer to a 'plastic bag in the wind' yesterday
Earlier this week, Health Secretary Wes Streeting warned that Labour needed to start 'getting it right first time'.
And Business Secretary Peter Kyle said that the Government had to 'get better at explaining our policies'.
Previously, Sir Keir said mandatory ID cards were needed to crack down on illegal working, with ministers saying they could be required for children as young as 13 to take up a Saturday job.
Yesterday, No 10 said the Government would not allow 'other forms' of digital ID to prove eligibility to work in the UK.
Officials were unable to say why other forms of ID could not also continue to be used to access other government services.
But it insisted that digital ID could eventually 'transform' the way people gain access to public services.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir is reported to be drawing inspiration from Gordon Brown, despite his brief premiership from 2007 to 2010 ending in election defeat.
One senior Labour figure told The Spectator magazine: 'For much of the past 15 years, Gordon has been a nuisance caller to Labour leaders. Now they're taking his calls and doing what he wants.'
Another said [former Labour prime minister] Tony Blair has 'basically given up on Keir'.
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