Keir Starmer scolded for 'losing control' after string of Labour U-turns: 'He is exhausted!'

Following a U-turn on welfare reform following party revolt, Starmer admitted he also "deeply regrets" his recent speech on immigration, where he claimed the nation risked becoming an "island of strangers".

He told The Observer: "I wouldn’t have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be interpreted as an echo of Powell.

"I had no idea and my speechwriters didn’t know either. But that particular phrase, no, it wasn’t right. I’ll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it."

Delivering her verdict on the Prime Minister's performance in recent weeks, Holdsworth said: "I think to me, he just seems overwhelmed. This is a time of crisis, and I think any leader would struggle.

"He's constantly firefighting, there's so much going on, and personally, he seems exhausted."

Reflecting on a recent poll, which revealed Starmer's steep decline in popularity, Holdsworth added: "His popularity has plummeted, that's a lot for a person to deal with.

"But to row back so quickly, this is something you expect someone to say 30 years on in their autobiography, and they're thinking about all the things they should have done.

"This is weeks later, so this is someone, I think, who just isn't in control anymore. He's really, really, really struggling."

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Weighing in on Starmer's U-turns, former Conservative MP Alexander Stafford said he "doesn't know where Starmer stands" on the key issue of immigration.

Stafford explained: "I think it goes back to what does he believe? That speech he did only six weeks ago, he seemed to have set out, actually, a concrete belief that something's going wrong in the country, mass immigration is dividing the country, and we need to bring people together.

"But now he seems to be saying, actually, it's not as bad as I made out. So what are we to believe? Is mass immigration bad, is it good, is it more nuanced?"

He added: "So I don't know actually where he stands on probably the most fundamental issue facing this country over the next decade."

Striking similarities in the language of "island of strangers" to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, commentator Eve McQuillan said the Labour Government "cannot out-Farage Nigel Farage".

Eve McQuillan concluded: "I think it tells you a lot when we see Labour politicians coming out with these lines, it doesn't seem very sincere.

"The public don't believe it and ultimately Labour cannot out-Farage, Farage and it shouldn't try.

"I think the Labour focus should be on improving people's living standards, and that will give them a second term. They cannot possibly beat Farage on this ground, so why would you try?"