Despite the doom-mongers, the outlook for the economy, the NHS and vital services is good. Coming months should bear that out

Look up, despite the bleak midwinter, the flu crisis and this dismal mood of political cynicism. Despite, too, the daily doom that pumps out of the most hostile media any new government ever faced, savaging whatever Labour does in extravagant language borrowed from Elon Musk. Good grief, the ever-rightward travelling Times just published a leader praising Musk’s wild attacks on Keir Starmer, subheaded “His fundamental critique is correct”. Monday’s tweet from Musk was “Prison for Starmer”.

Other blasts of bare-knuckle nonsense include the Mail on Sunday’s “bombshell” front-page news saying: “Keir Starmer will be out of No 10 within a year, poll predicts”. Read further to find that 30% of those polled plan to vote Labour in the next election, compared with 23% for the Tories and 22% for Reform. That’s not good, but it’s not yet a crisis, not least because Kemi Badenoch’s Tory unelectables are capsizing in the backwash of Faragism. Labour looks pretty solid in comparison: despite the unpopular winter fuel means-testing, it is closer to voters on key issues, as VAT on private schools is hugely popular, and twice as many think the budget’s tax rises were “necessary” as not.

Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist