Rai

My monologue from The Times at One with ANDREW NEIL @TimesRadio There’s rarely been a situation so bad that it can’t be made worse with a Keir Starmer speech. We’ll see if this morning’s make-or-break speech by the PM is the exception that proves the rule.  It certainly wasn’t the Gettysburg Address. But nobody expects that from Keir Starmer. In places it was a familiar walk down memory lane, with the PM bigging up, yet again, his alleged working class credentials. As if we care.  There was plenty of emoting with working people. Though much good it has done them so far.  There was a lot of talk of the need for radical change. But no concrete examples of what that would entail. The three policies he announced were simply a rehash of existing policies.  And there were a few outlandish claims, including the assertion that he’d stabilised the economy — and that our economic ‘fundamentals are sound.’  Yes he actually said that. Normally, when a sitting PM is thumped as badly by the voters as Starmer was on Thursday, they feel the need to say something to the nation.  But Starmer wasn’t speaking to us today. He was speaking to the Labour Party, especially its MPs who hold his fate in their hands.  Hence the Labour crowd-pleasing sections on renationalising British Steel — it’s already under state control —  taking Britain back to the ‘heart of Europe — whatever that means — and more apprenticeships for young folks — already party policy. So far Starmer’s efforts to save his own skin have been a textbook case of how NOT to save your own skin.   The most unpopular Labour PM in modern history (Starmer) calls in aid the second most unpopular Labour PM in modern history (Gordon Brown).  With most Labour MPs despising you and willing to grant you, at most, a civilised stepping down over some months, you say you’ll be in power for a decade. Labour MPs’ worst nightmare.  In the wake of your electoral thrashing, you commission a propaganda film of you, Brown, Rachel Reeves and Harriet Harman looking smug and self-satisfied in the Downing Street garden, complete with meaningful music. How divorced from public opinion can you be? You signal you’re fresh out of new blood (Brown? Harman?) and new ideas ( but getting close to the EU is the best you can come up with — hardly a game changer).  You think a ‘reset’ speech (again!) can turn things round? Are you truly delusional? What is working in Starmer’s favour is that all those who would succeed him have troubles of their own.  Wes Streeting doesn’t have the guts to wield the dagger himself. He wants someone else to take the lead — which suggests he’s not made of prime ministerial timber.  Angela Rayner, who staked out her left-wing stall at the weekend, still has tax problems hanging over her.  Andy Burnham remains somewhat seriously handicapped by not being in the Commons — with no easy route back.  And Ed Miliband sees himself as the kingmaker not the king. At least for now. But don’t rule out, in the absence of alternatives, he starts to see himself as the potential king.  Starmer is also helped by the fact his enemies are divided on the timetable for getting rid of him. The Streeting faction want a leadership contest now, even if they want some else to start it.  The left, which includes Rayner and Miliband, wants to delay any challenge until Burnham returns to the Commons.  As I speak we’re waiting to see if the dam bursts or Starmer clings on. What stalking horse Labour MP Catherine West does next is unclear. As things stand, Starmer lives to fight another day — for now.   .