It was clear from the start that this Labour government was incompetent, but now it has turned dangerous. With the stroke of a pen, mayoral elections were cancelled in four areas – all regions that were on course for a Reform victory. The announcement came shortly after a decision to scrap the 800 year old right to a jury trial in most cases. Just for good measure, the Home Office said it intends to expand the use of facial recognition technology. So in the space of a week, this government has ramped up mass surveillance while taking away people’s rights. They are the actions of a tin pot dictatorship. Imagine the shrieking from the Left if US President Donald Trump had so cavalierly dispensed with such inconveniences as democracy and justice.

Whether Keir Starmer is deliberately trying to put Britain on the path to becoming an authoritarian state or not is irrelevant, the outcome is the same and it is deeply sinister. Nigel Farage is, understandably, furious about the changes to elections, which for the second year running have denied him the chance to make major gains.

The Reform UK leader held an emergency press conference to denounce the government’s actions. He said: “It is, frankly, a very authoritarian government. It doesn’t really believe in liberty. It doesn’t really believe in individual freedom and it doesn’t believe in democracy either.”

Angela Rayner postponed some council elections due to be held in May while she was Communities Secretary to allow a major overhaul of local government to be carried out.

It caused a major upset at the time because Reform was expected to perform well.

Delaying the vote once while changes were being made could just about be understood, but to do it for a second year does not pass the sniff test at all. It stinks. And it is not just Reform that thinks that. Shadow communities secretary James Cleverly called it a “scandalous attempt to subvert democracy by a Labour government whose credibility and popularity are already in tatters”.

The Greens accused the government of “running scared of the voters” while the Liberal Democrats said “democracy delayed is democracy denied”. Even a Labour ex-local government minister, Jim McMahon, told the Commons that the Government had “a moral and a legal obligation” to run the elections. “I need to be blunt, as I usually am, we need to be better than this,” he added.

The suspicion is that Starmer is desperate to avoid a humiliating series of defeats in the May elections, with dismal results widely expected to spark a leadership challenge. After Reform’s press conference, Labour issued an email to supporters that almost seemed to confirm that. It was a direct attack on Farage, claiming he is planning to take the country down a “dark and divisive path”.

Sent out in Starmer’s name, it went on: “We have to stop him.” Instead of obsessing about Farage, the Prime Minister should be focused on running the country.

If he did that well, Reform would not be a threat to him. Instead he is panicking and riding roughshod over our rights in the hope of some quick wins.

But how can a former barrister, so outraged that the human rights of dangerous foreign criminals were being breached, such as rapist Fabian Henry, that he opposed their deportations, be so careless with British rights?

Agreeing to destroy a jury system that stops anyone suspected of a crime from falling foul of jaded, out of touch judges for hundreds of years so court backlogs can be cleared is a gross overreaction. At a time when the Prime Minister faces accusations of being “Two Tier Keir”, the right for suspects to be judged by their peers is needed more than ever.

But why should we be surprised? This is a man who promised integrity but was elected on a manifesto that has turned out to be worthless. Starmer is making significant changes that he has no mandate for while breaking the few pledges he did stand on.

Right-hand woman Rachel Reeves’ Budget was not only a piece of staggering economic incompetence and an insult to voters, it was also market manipulation.

Despite the government’s outrageous interference in the electoral system, Starmer and his sidekick could be gone in May if the local council results are as disastrous as expected.

Sadly, it is not soon enough to stop wanton destruction and the country will live with the repercussions for years to come.