Another day, another Sir Keir Starmer U-turn.
ThePrime Minister’s latest walk-back pertains to his phrase about introducing tough curbs on immigration when he said: ‘’We risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.’’
In his latest whiplash-inducing about-turn, Starmer has told the Observer interview that he ‘’deeply regrets’’ the speech, ludicrously claiming he didn’t read the speech properly as he was distracted by issues in the Middle East, Nato and G7.
That is b*******s.
He knew perfectly well what he was saying, and anybody with half a brain would agree with him. He made the speech quite cynically to try and stop working-class whites, who his party had always relied on, from continuing their march to Reform.
So, what caused the Prime Minister to put on the reverse cycle clips? Not pondering the rights and wrongs about bombing the hell out of Iran, that’s for sure.
He was clearly bowing to pressure from Lefty activists who said his speech had mimicked Enoch Powell.
Back in 1968, Powell said that as a result of rapid Commonwealth immigration, many white Britons ‘’found themselves strangers in their own country’’. That speech cost Powell his job as Shadow Health Secretary.
Doubt if Powell would be dismissed today, not least because somebody quite remarkable from the other side of the political fence shares Enoch’s concerns. Guess who said this, 20 years ago? ‘’We are sleepwalking our way to segregation. We are becoming strangers to each other.’’
It’s Trevor Phillips, then Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and today a Times columnist with a Sunday show on Sky News. And in his Times piece today says he wouldn’t change a word of that speech. And nor should he.
Keir Starmer is either rudderless or cannot read properly. Both lead to the same conclusion - Kelvin MacKenzieGetty Images
Starmer should have stuck to his guns on this important topic. But he has no history of believing in anything for any length of time. He just blows in the wind.
Where does his change of heart on immigration leave him today?
With his inability to control the benefits bill or the NHS bill (doctors and nurses will be on strike in time for the conference season) or the number of migrants flooding the country, it’s only a matter of time before he’s pushed out by his own side.
My bet is that come next May, after the Welsh elections, where Labour, after 100 years of running the joint into the ground, will finish third, coupled with a similar dreadful result in Scotland, it will be time for a tap on the shoulder.
His takeaway from his time in office would be that he might have survived longer had he read, and better understood his speeches, not only on migration but also on winter fuel, on benefits and even on what makes a woman.
All he did was speak to them, but he did not believe them. A typical lawyer.
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