Latest news with #Starmerite
The Herald Scotland
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
'The most beautiful rock star in history'
Of course it was all a bit gushy, but Harry deserves the kudos. My favourite contribution came, almost inevitably, from Courtney Love, who suggested, tongue in cheek, that Harry was a 'huge influence on all of us natural blondes out here.' She also called Harry 'the most beautiful rock star in history,' before having second thoughts. 'Actually, Debbie, you've got to share it with Kurt,' she said, a nod to Nirvana's late frontman and her own husband. 'Kurt and Debbie. Can you really honestly think of anybody in rock and roll history …?' Love began. And then found out she could. 'Stevie!' (I'm presuming Stevie Nicks, not Little Stevie, though it could be Stevie Wonder, I suppose.) 'OK,' she concluded, 'Stevie, Debbie, Kurt.' It's a decent shout, you have to say. But back to the politics. After the horror show that was the last Tory government (a malign bunch of utter incompetents, and that's me being kind) I'm pulling for Sir Keir, but, let's face it, he's not making it easy. To be fair he didn't have his troubles to seek. The economy is a mess, the world's at war. There are easier paper rounds. And he has been under the cosh from the get-go. The left pilloried him for not being Corbyn. The right - and most of the media are in this camp - didn't like him because, well, he wasn't Tory. And because he wasn't their favourite current thing in politics; what we might call the 'charismatic a***ehole' as in Farage and Trump. Read More: But even so, he's hardly knocking it out of the park, is he? As Starmer's Stormy Year (Radio 4, Monday) reminded us, the last year has been one of U-turns, rebellions (currently ongoing), alienating your core voters, and shockingly poor public messaging. The programme saw the BBC's chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman talk to some in the Starmer government, union leaders, civil servants and Moneybox's Martin Lewis to compile a report card on the Prime Minister's first year in office. 'Must do better,' was the main takeaway. In the plus column were the Prime Minister's authoritative handling of the Southport riots just weeks after coming into power, as well as his deft handling of President Trump and his support for Ukraine. As for negatives, well, where do you start? The winter fuel debacle, the sacking of Sue Gray, the ongoing arguments over benefit cuts … The list goes on. As the Unite union's Sharon Graham pointed out, people voting for a Labour government were looking for change not managerialism. That change has been slow in coming. Or maybe it's just not getting reported. There was a progressive story to tell here: higher taxes to fund public services, workers' rights, renters' reform, clean energy investment. 'This is Starmerite social democracy,' Zeffman suggested. Read More: But it wasn't something he seemed that keen to explore himself. Instead, the programme cut to Rain Newton-Smith, the director of the CBI, to have a pop at it. Ah well. Still, this was a solid recounting of the first year of this Labour government; inevitably a bit Westminster bubbly and as much about personality as policy. But I can think of a few bigger BBC names who would have made a worse job of it. So far Starmer's report card is a bit C+. Maybe B minus on a good day. Not great, but then again not Truss levels of awfulness. That said, any government of whatever salt has to be a bit more ambitious than just being better than Liz Truss. Liz Truss Over on Radio 3 Erik Satie was composer of the week. On Sunday Feature, music journalist Jude Rogers explored Satie's influence on 1970s and 1980s pop - from Kate Bush to Ultravox and Gary Numan - and his pioneering role in ambient music, via his furniture music. Satie's work is familiar to all of us - even if you didn't realise it - through their use in cinema and advertising. His almost evanescent music is now everywhere. This was a lovely documentary full of gorgeous minimalist music from Satie and others. It felt like sinking into a warm bath of sound. Kate Bush But there was a bit of gravitas in there too. At one point Numan summed up the challenge that faced all creative people: 'The problem is you create something that becomes popular and then the world expects you to just stop then and just carry on regurgitating that. 'If you think about it, that's the very opposite of what creative people want to do. They want to create another thing and they hope it's as good or as successful as that one. But in a way it doesn't really matter as you are moving forward. You are forever trying to move forward.' A lesson for Sir Keir perhaps? Listen Out For: This Natural Life, Radio 4, Thursday, July 10, 3pm Martha Kearney returns with a new series of This Natural Life. She starts off by dropping in on the singer Charlotte Church who now runs a healing retreat in a valley in Powys.
The Herald Scotland
01-07-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
What does Keir Starmer's report card say a year in?
To be fair he didn't have his troubles to seek. The economy is a mess, the world's at war. There are easier paper rounds. And he has been under the cosh from the get-go. The left pilloried him for not being Corbyn. The right - and most of the media are in this camp - didn't like him because, well, he wasn't Tory. And because he wasn't their favourite current thing in politics; what we might call the 'charismatic a***ehole' as in Farage and Trump. Read More: But even so, he's hardly knocking it out of the park, is he? As Starmer's Stormy Year (Radio 4, Monday) reminded us, the last year has been one of U-turns, rebellions (currently ongoing), alienating your core voters, and shockingly poor public messaging. The programme saw the BBC's chief political correspondent Henry Zeffman talk to some in the Starmer government, union leaders, civil servants and Moneybox's Martin Lewis to compile a report card on the Prime Minister's first year in office. 'Must do better,' was the main takeaway. In the plus column were the Prime Minister's authoritative handling of the Southport riots just weeks after coming into power, as well as his deft handling of President Trump and his support for Ukraine. As for negatives, well, where do you start? The winter fuel debacle, the sacking of Sue Gray, the ongoing arguments over benefit cuts … The list goes on. As the Unite union's Sharon Graham pointed out, people voting for a Labour government were looking for change not managerialism. That change has been slow in coming. Or maybe it's just not getting reported. There was a progressive story to tell here: higher taxes to fund public services, workers' rights, renters' reform, clean energy investment. 'This is Starmerite social democracy,' Zeffman suggested. But it wasn't something he seemed that keen to explore himself. Instead, the programme cut to Rain Newton-Smith, the director of the CBI, to have a pop at it. Ah well. Still, this was a solid recounting of the first year of this Labour government; inevitably a bit Westminster bubbly and as much about personality as policy. But I can think of a few bigger BBC names who would have made a worse job of it. Read More: So far Starmer's report card is a bit C+. Maybe B minus on a good day. Not great, but then again not Truss levels of awfulness. That said, any government of whatever salt has to be a bit more ambitious than just being better than Liz Truss. Liz Truss (Image: PA) We're now one year into Keir Starmer's government and 80 years into Debbie Harry's fabulousness. Radio 2 marked the Blondie singer's 80th birthday this week with Debbie Harry: The Fan's Story (Saturday, midnight), a gather-up of famous voices saying how much they loved her. Of course it was all a bit gushy, but Harry deserves the kudos. My favourite contribution came, almost inevitably, from Courtney Love, who suggested, tongue in cheek, that Harry was a 'huge influence on all of us natural blondes out here.' She also called Harry 'the most beautiful rock star in history,' before having second thoughts. 'Actually, Debbie, you've got to share it with Kurt,' she said, a nod to Nirvana's late frontman and her own husband. 'Kurt and Debbie. Can you really honestly think of anybody in rock and roll history …?' Love began. And then found out she could. 'Stevie!' (I'm presuming Stevie Nicks, not Little Stevie, though it could be Stevie Wonder, I suppose.) 'OK,' she concluded, 'Stevie, Debbie, Kurt.' It's a decent shout, you have to say. Over on Radio 3 Erik Satie was composer of the week. On Sunday Feature, music journalist Jude Rogers explored Satie's influence on 1970s and 1980s pop - from Kate Bush to Ultravox and Gary Numan - and his pioneering role in ambient music, via his furniture music. Kate Bush (Image: PA) Satie's work is familiar to all of us - even if you didn't realise it - through their use in cinema and advertising. His almost evanescent music is now everywhere. This was a lovely documentary full of gorgeous minimalist music from Satie and others. It felt like sinking into a warm bath of sound. But there was a bit of gravitas in there too. At one point Numan summed up the challenge that faced all creative people: 'The problem is you create something that becomes popular and then the world expects you to just stop then and just carry on regurgitating that. 'If you think about it, that's the very opposite of what creative people want to do. They want to create another thing and they hope it's as good or as successful as that one. But in a way it doesn't really matter as you are moving forward. You are forever trying to move forward.' A lesson for Sir Keir perhaps? Listen Out For: This Natural Life, Radio 4, Thursday, July 10, 3pm Martha Kearney returns with a new series of This Natural Life. She starts off by dropping in on the singer Charlotte Church who now runs a healing retreat in a valley in Powys.
Spectator
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Keir Starmer is seriously stupid
Sir Keir has returned from his worldwide statesmanship tour. Barely the edge of a photograph went ungurned in, not a bottom went unkissed, no platitude went ungarbled. Now – lucky us! – he was back in the House of Commons for a good long crow about his achievements. As always, there was an obsequious toad ready on the Labour backbenches The PM began with the usual Starmerite guff production. The man is a veritable Chinese Power Station of pompous pollution. This, however, was more smug than smog. It began with a round-up of how crucial he'd been in every negotiation and discussion. 'We're following in the footsteps of Attlee and Bevan,' crowed Starmer. Well, up to a point Comrade Copper. I mean, his cabinet hated each other too. Apparently, the G7 was going to 'follow Britain's lead' on controlling illegal migration. I genuinely think he didn't see the irony in this. What's next? The G7 to follow North Korea's lead on free speech? Nato to follow Spain's lead on afternoon productivity? Dick the Butcher, in Henry VI, Part 2, famously exclaims 'now let's kill all the lawyers'. It was this energy and spirit which Kemi Badenoch sought to channel as she stood to respond to the Prime Minister's 12-minute self-paean. 'What we need is a leader, instead we have three lawyers', she said, referencing the PM, Lord Hermer and the Sage of Tottenham, David Lammy. The PM's slavish following of legal advice was a major theme of her speech. A picture emerged of a man who, if some UN precedent could be found for it, would crawl up and down Pall Mall in a leather gimp-suit singing 'I'm a Little Teapot' and then claim it as a stunning victory for soft power. Dame Emily Thornberry also invoked the 'soft power' geopolitical sugar plum fairy. Perhaps to distract from her troublemaking over welfare cuts, she put on a sort of sickly-sweet Pollyanna-ish voice to ask her non-question. Normally her mode of delivery is like a buffalo that's just smoked 100 Superkings. More soft pitches were thrown in Sir Keir's direction by Sir Ed 'Babe Ruth' Davey, who, while ostensibly asking questions on behalf of the Lib Dems, had as his most used phrase today 'I agree with the Prime Minister'. As always, there was an obsequious toad ready on the Labour backbenches to perform the act of ego-stoking necessary to keep the leader's sense of self intact. Enter John Slinger, who decried petty party politics, then praised the Prime Minister for the unique 'human empathy' he had brought to international diplomacy. Slinger is apparently MP for Rugby. I had assumed he actually represented the underside of a rock somewhere in the deepest, darkest Amazon because that appears to be where he has been living for the past 12 months. There was even a gentle backscratcher of a question from Rishi Sunak about Iranian sanctions. Would anyone in the House follow Mrs Badenoch's lead and try to pop St Pancras's very own pig's bladder of pomposity? Step forward, Stephen Flynn. The SNP's Westminster leader resembles an apoplectic egg and is the only person in the chamber who appears to hate the PM more than Kemi Badenoch and Big Ange do. How could Sir Keir make his arguments about foreign policy on moral grounds when he was about to cut aid to the disabled, he asked? Cue more fleshy clucking from Starmer. At the end of his rant, Flynn was called what had become the word of the day in this nightmarish episode of Sesame Street: 'unserious'. For all his capacity to render himself ridiculous by his legalistic pomposity, there is always potential for the PM to add to it. He is particularly keen on affecting the air of a self-important substitute teacher when addressing the Leader of the Opposition; 'not angry, just disappointed'. Inevitably, the PM also accused Badenoch of being 'unserious'. Further irony there of course, because as every good comedian knows, nothing is more ridiculous than someone going about something innately stupid – self destructive even – with the utmost seriousness.
Daily Record
03-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Renfrew's Jamie McGuire becomes first Labour councillor to defect to Reform
Nigel Farage's team confirmed the news in a social media post yesterday afternoon as the party leader joined campaigners in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. Renfrew councillor Jamie McGuire has defected to Reform UK. Nigel Farage's team confirmed the news in a social media post yesterday afternoon as the party leader joined campaigners in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. The representative for Renfrew North and Braehead is the first Labour councillor to defect to Reform in Scotland. In a statement on social media, Reform UK said: 'We are delighted to welcome former Scottish Labour councillor Jamie McGuire.' McGuire makes the move just one week after Reform UK was accused of 'blatant racism' towards his former party leader Anas Sarwar. The party released an edited video of Sarwar marking the 75th anniversary of Pakistan's independence in which they said he would 'prioritise the Pakistani community on Scotland". That was untrue. McGuire was previously viewed as a rising star in the Labour party and worked in the constituency office of Paisley MP Alison Taylor. The 25-year-old was formerly the chair of the Glasgow University Labour Club – and even arranged for a visit from left-wing hero Jeremy Corbyn in 2021. McGuire said in 2021: 'I've been asked a lot recently if I'm a Corbynite or Starmerite, a Blairite or Brownite. My answer is none of the above. I'm a Labourite who will campaign for every Labour leader because I know the difference Labour can make in power locally and nationally.' McGuire is the third Renfrewshire councillor to defect to Reform. Alec Leishman and John Gray crossed the aisle from the Conservatives, stating Reform was the only party that could bring about real change. Leishman, who represents Erskine and Inchinnan, defected in February this year, with Gray, who also represents Renfrew North and Braehead, following suit in March. Both have since refused to stand down and spark a by-election.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Britain has just 24 hours to teach Starmer a lesson he won't forget
We are only ten months into the Starmerite era, but this Government is already ready for the scrapheap. Rarely has a political project unravelled so rapidly, so comprehensively and with so little hope of redemption. Labour will stagger on, of course, for what feels like an eternity, inflicting yet more misery on our poor country, but the voters it has betrayed will never forgive it. Those who can must reward the Labour Party with the mother of all political shellackings at the English local elections on Thursday: this is the most over-rated Government of modern times, a noxious mix of incompetence, nastiness and untrustworthiness. Its second-rate apparatchiks are exacerbating every one of our pathologies, and vandalising the little that still works in Broken Britain: the Government's reverse Midas touch is something to behold. Sir Keir Starmer, it turns out, didn't have a plan. He is failing on almost every metric that matters, from the national debt to illegal immigration. He will dilute Brexit and ruin state education, two great legacies of the Tory years. He is wrong about almost everything, and right about close to nothing. His Government is soulless, obsessed with process, procedure and legalisms, congenitally unable to give the public the change it so craves. It lacks any kind of vision, other than reflexive cod-egalitarianism, progressivism and big statism, and is unable to comprehend the needs and desires of the aspirational working class and petite bourgeoisie. It is neither a Government of dreamers, nor of doers, and it cannot execute, lead or enthuse. It can break, but not build; it can redistribute, but not grow; it can regulate, but not liberate. It is cowardly, picking on defenceless private school children, while sucking up to its powerful union paymasters. Oozing negativity, it hides its fundamental vacuousness behind a veil of chippiness, class war and socialistic policies that are accelerating this country's ruination. Labour's social engineers don't understand that they exist to serve the people, and to help them improve their lives, not to endlessly constrain, challenge, impoverish, bully or brainwash them. The result is a toxic anti-consumerism, an inability to take immigration control seriously, an unserious approach to 'petty crime', an obsession with 'resetting' ties with the EU by selling out UK fisheries and regulatory independence, and a scandalous lack of interest in how only the free market can deliver rising living standards. The Government has already been knocked sideways by the vibe shift on trans issues and women's rights. Many of its MPs are furious, and cling to a doomed woke ideology. They may soon face further discombobulation over net zero, which is pushing the country towards blackouts and requires urgent moderation, and our membership of the European Convention of Human Rights, which prevents us from controlling our borders. Labour's electoral coalition is fraying, with its Left flank departing for the Greens or pro-Gaza Independents, its working class electorate to Reform and 'centrists' to the Lib Dems. Yet it is the fury of the apolitical wing of Middle England that should most terrify Starmer. Labour portrayed itself as reassuringly technocratic at the general election, but this was a false prospectus: it stands for the tax-consuming producer class, not for taxpayers and users of public services. It doesn't have the first idea how to deliver prosperity or growth, loathes and distrusts capitalism and is presiding over the greatest exodus of wealth creators since the brain drain of the 1970s. It will prove powerless to reform the public sector, to crack down on crime or to solve the housing crisis. Ministers' lack of managerial experience have ensured that the Blob has retained control. They are rightly scrapping NHS England, but the rest of that bureaucratic behemoth remains untouched. Throwing yet more non-existent billions at it won't fix waiting lists or endemic malpractice. The Home Office remains a disaster zone. Housebuilding and infrastructure may eventually tick up, but not by enough to compensate for extreme levels of immigration or to substantially rectify our deficit of roads, power plants, prisons or water reservoirs. Like socialists always do, this Labour government is running out of other people's money. Our public finances feel dangerously Latin American. The budget deficit rose to £151.9 billion in 2024-2025, the kind of shortfall that might be acceptable in wartime or in a pandemic but that is shockingly irresponsible today. Rachel Reeves has failed to tell the public the truth: we cannot afford such large annual increases in spending on benefits and the NHS when the economy is barely growing in per capita terms. What will happen if the world tips into a real recession, perhaps caused by Trumpian tariff idiocy, or if the UK suddenly needs to spend a lot more on the military? Would Labour need to call in the IMF, as in the 1970s? Taxes are already heading to a record high: what will Reeves target next? Will she freeze income tax thresholds again, dragging yet more people into higher tax bands? Will she eventually feel obliged to impose a catastrophic wealth tax, chasing away the last billionaires, entrepreneurs and former non-doms? Arthur Laffer, author of the eponymous curve, was right: above certain levels, higher tax can reduce receipts. It normally takes longer for Left-wing parties to rediscover this eternal truth, so perhaps we should be thankful that Reeves's gambit unravelled so quickly. She now appears to realise that energy costs inflated by net zero are accelerating the deindustrialisation of Britain, but remains in denial about her job-destroying National Insurance raid and addiction to cheap foreign labour. There is, of course, the odd policy that Labour has got right, including on Ukraine. To placate Donald Trump, Starmer is increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP, paying for it by cutting foreign aid back to 0.3 per cent of GDP, a modest step in the right direction. Yet his overall record is catastrophically poor: this is the worst Government since the 1970s. If there is any justice in this world, Labour will suffer its greatest ever defeat in this week's elections. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
