Keir Starmer
My list of Britain’s national character flaws
Before we start, let’s firmly establish my long-standing affection for the United Kingdom. Why, some of my best friends are…
After Starmer: what’s next for Labour?
What’s next for Labour – and the Tories?
How hard is it to see an NHS dentist?
Biergate Sir Keir Starmer was facing the scandal of ‘beergate’. Biergate is a lane in the Lincolnshire village of Grainthorpe.…
From snowball fights to delivering birthday cards: Britain’s 136,000 lockdown penalty charges
The lockdown penalty charges keep coming
Starmer won't talk about sex and gender. That's a problem
Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t want to talk about penises. He’s going to have to do it anyway, and he’s not…
Starmer is playing into Iran's hands
Who was to blame for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being held captive in Iran? It shouldn’t take a professor of ethics to…
Keir Starmer’s gender identity muddle
If you needed any sign that the Labour party is still deeply confused about gender identity and sex, look no…
Why we shouldn't ban Russia Today
Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, has written to Ofcom urging it to keep the situation with Russia Today ‘very carefully…
No one has done more to save Boris than Keir Starmer
Boris Johnson has a lot of people to thank for his survival in 10 Downing Street, but Keir Starmer should…
Mob hound Starmer outside parliament
An uneventful Monday was enlivened this evening by some rather unappealing scenes outside parliament. Walking back from a Ministry of…
PMQs: Boris doubles down on Jimmy Savile claims
Today’s PMQs suggests that some of the immediate heat has gone the partygate crisis, if only temporarily. Sir Keir Starmer…
Johnson's defence deteriorates
That Boris Johnson regards the Gray update as an opportunity to come up for air was very clear from his…
A rather pointless PMQs lets Boris off the hook
Given the extraordinarily low expectations, Prime Minister’s Questions went reasonably well for Boris Johnson today. That is partly because it…
Banana republic Britain and the curse of reverse exceptionalism
A day did not go by on social media in 2021 without some high-profile performative outrage about Boris Johnson and…
Labour in limbo over Covid curbs
Wes Streeting has enjoyed something of a dream start since his promotion to shadow health secretary a month ago. Confident…
Boris throws his staff under the bus
What possible lines of defence could the Prime Minister come up with after the leaking of footage showing his Downing…
The sleaze row isn't finished yet
Number 10 will have been relieved that the weekend did not bring new stories about Conservative MPs raking in lots…
Rishi in, Keir out: 2020's most popular baby names
Once the popularity of politicians was judged by how many babies they were asked to kiss – now it’s by…
Will Starmer move against the Socialist Campaign Group?
The Conservative party conference begins tomorrow in Manchester. Coming at a time of fuel shortages, tax rises and post-Covid drift,…
Its own opposition: Labour’s conference was all about in-fighting
Labour’s conference was all about in-fighting
Labour’s Scottish problem isn’t going away
Certain questions are eternal and many of them are correspondingly dreary too. ‘How should Labour deal with the SNP?’ and…
The trouble with 'Angiemania'
The most annoying thing about Angela Rayner’s branding of the Tories as ‘scum’ was not that it offended some Tories,…
Starmer is missing a major trick
Labour’s party conference slogan is ‘stronger future together’. It’s sufficiently anodyne that despite it being emblazoned all over a massive…
No, Keir, trans women like me do not have cervixes
Andrew Marr’s question was simple and straightforward, ‘[Is] someone who thinks that only women have a cervix welcome in the…
Starmer secures a narrow victory against the left
Keir Starmer this evening managed to scrape through his reforms to how Labour elects its leader. The victory follows a…
