Keir Starmer

Boris Johnson has sidestepped calls from Labour to rule out tax rises for families and businesses in next week’s Budget. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted “now is not the time” for tax increases given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But instead, Johnson took aim at previous Labour Party policy and Labour-run councils. Speaking […]

Boris Johnson should “have a word” with Conservative MPs doubting the accuracy of data behind his road map out of lockdown, according to Sir Keir Starmer. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, the Labour leader said he backed the principles of the plan but warned Covid scepticism could risk it all. He explained: “One of the […]

Just over a third of the public in England think Matt Hancock should resign after a court ruled that he had “breached his legal obligation” by not publishing details of contracts surrounding personal protective equipment (PPE). New polling from Savanta ComRes – conducted on Monday – found the public were split on the issue with […]

Keir Starmer is to become the first Labour leader to address the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) since Gordon Brown in 2008. Starmer will tell farmers that Labour’s history owes as much to the countryside as it does to the city as he promises to bring the party closer to rural communities. The Labour leader will […]

Labour MPs have expressed a sense of bewilderment at orders from the party’s high command to remain silent on Brexit issues. MPs are being asked not to focus on problems caused by Brexit when asking questions in parliament, dealing with the media, or posting on social media, sources in the parliamentary party have said. Senior party figures were also […]

Sir Keir Starmer pledged to lead a “moral crusade” to address inequalities and injustices exposed by the coronavirus crisis, as he announced plans for recovery bonds to give savers a stake in Britain’s future. The Labour leader used a major speech to call for a “new chapter” in the country’s history after the pandemic laid bare […]

A new partnership between business and the state is needed as the country rebuilds from the coronavirus crisis, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will say. Next month’s Budget represents a “fork in the road” for British society, with a chance to reject the “insecure and unequal economy” of the past, he will say in a […]

The Labour Party is mulling over a decision to add electoral reform to its manifesto after party activists vote to end the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. More than one-quarter of Labour branches are urging Sir Keir Starmer to dump the party’s historical support for FPTP voting in favour of proportional representation. Calls for Labour to change its stance has grown over […]

Keir Starmer is facing mounting criticism from within his own party. JAMES BALL assesses how seriously he should take it. Keir Starmer is, we’re told, a politician in crisis. Despite the devastating effect of coronavirus on the UK and on the standing of the government, the Labour Party lags behind the Conservatives in the polls, his personal […]

A Welsh Labour MP has told Keir Starmer’s critics to “come into the real world” as she lashed out at her party’s “left-wing” antics. Carolyn Harris, the Labour leader’s parliamentary private secretary (PPS), dismissed criticisms of his leadership as “nonsense” and not being based in “the real world”. Harris was joined by Welsh Labour’s deputy leader […]

Downing Street is reportedly preparing for Boris Johnson to fight Andy Burnham at the next general election. Sir Keir’s leadership has been called into question over the past 10 days following a series of poor polling numbers – sparking speculation of a leadership challenge if the numbers do not improve. Now Downing Street believes that the most […]

Sir Keir Starmer said he would not take advice from a prime minister who “wrote two versions of every column as a journalist and who proposed Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize”. Sir Keir and Boris Johnson had been debating whether to extend the eviction ban set to expire on February 21 when a row […]

No analysis of the state of Britain today can be possible without an understanding of why Labour finds itself in its current position. Its failure to properly address prejudice in the party before the last election are at the heart of that. FRANCIS BECKETT has had access to insider accounts of the key meetings under […]

Just four per cent of the public think Labour has got worse under Sir Keir Starmer, fresh polling has shown. According to an Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the Evening Standard, 48% of participants think Labour has changed for the better under Sir Keir while 36% believed he “has what it takes” to become prime […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on what parties of the left and centre can learn from Portugal. As I near the end of my second lockdown German course I am getting closer to the fluency I had around forty years ago before I started losing it (German, that is.) Is it too much if I do my German […]

Reports suggesting there was an argument between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer after Prime Minister’s Questions have been denied. The two leaders had clashed in the Commons after the Prime Minister accused the Labour leader of repeatedly calling for the UK to stay in the European Medicines Agency after Brexit, suggesting such a move would […]

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of twisting the “truth” for the purpose of “gags” during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). The leader of the opposition said Johnson had a habit of hiding behind “pre-prepared gags” instead of answering tough questions. Probing the prime minister on the government’s border strategy, Sir Keir asked: “With new variants coming […]

Former minister Jeremy Hunt has warned that Keir Starmer is the biggest threat to the Tories since Tony Blair. Hunt claimed that the UK can have a “1948 moment” in rebuilding the country after the Covid-19 pandemic, providing an opportunity for the country to reform in a similar way to Clement Attlee’s Labour government after […]

The Labour Party has attacked Jeremy Corbyn for “wasting time and money” after he lost a court battle to release documents relating to his suspension from the parliamentary party. On Wednesday, a judge dismissed Corbyn’s case, saying he had “sufficient evidence” to fight a High Court battle over the suspension. In a direct attack at Corbyn’s […]

Boris Johnson has used Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to call for Sir Keir Starmer to apologise over his coronavirus stances. Sir Keir said he would be speaking to bereaved families on Wednesday and asked the prime minister what message he would like to send to them. Johnson responded: “The message I would give those families is […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he has been told to self-isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus. Sir Keir wrote on Twitter: “This morning I was notified that I must self isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. “I have no […]

GLEN O’HARA assesses the Labour leader’s performance since he took the reins, and his ultimate prospects. Sir Keir Starmer has spent nearly a year now presenting himself as a diligent, calm and intelligent leader – a kind of ‘Mister Competence’, in contradistinction not just to the prime minister, Boris Johnson, but also to his immediate predecessor, Jeremy […]

Labour’s Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson’s government of a “very foolish gamble” with hoping that Donald Trump would sign up to a post-Brexit “mini” trade deal before his exit. Tariffs of £5.6 billion were imposed by former president Trump’s administration in retaliation for state support given to Airbus, with products including Scotch whisky badly affected […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has suggested Priti Patel may have broken the ministerial code by advocating border closures against government policy. In comments first reported by political website Guido Fawkes, Patel is said to have told the Conservative Friends of India group: “On ‘should we have closed our borders earlier’, the answer is yes. I was […]

The SNP’s leader in the Commons has questioned Boris Johnson over his ability to be a “moral” leader following remarks by Theresa May. Blackford also asked Johnson if he would overturn cuts to Britain’s foreign aid budget during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).  “This morning the former prime minister accused the current prime minister of abandoning moral […]

Sir Keir Starmer has called Boris Johnson “pathetic” for ordering Conservative MPs to abstain from a vote on extending a £20 weekly rise in Universal Credit, and said that “in their heart of hearts” Tories would back Labour’s move. The prime minister was working to lessen the scale of a potential revolt from his within […]

The first stage of Jeremy Corbyn’s legal battle with Labour over his suspension from the parliamentary party will be heard by the High Court.  Lawyers for the former opposition leader are applying for the disclosure of documents ahead of a possible legal challenge over his suspension. At a remote hearing on Monday afternoon, Judge Lisa […]

Not all pro-Europeans think Keir Starmer got his position wrong on the Brexit deal. Desmond Fitzgerald (Letters, TNE #226), thinks that Starmer should be ashamed for whipping Labour MPs to vote for the Brexit deal, but I think Starmer was right: 1. The vote wasn’t Leave or Remain, it was between a bad deal (terms […]