The reactions are coming in – Emily Maitlis and fellow News Agents presenter Jon Sopel have been discussing Starmer’s migration speech. They’re coming to terms with it in their own way…
Maitlis was aghast at Starmer’s use of Brexity language and said she would be “terrified” by the changes:
“I think you can go in and talk about control and contribution i.e ‘we need to have these controls and we need to recognise the contribution’ – He has opted certainly in this speech just to talk about control and the language of taking back control… If I had elderly parents that were going into a care home right now I’d be absolutely terrified, I would be absolutely terrified because what you’re doing is you’re turning off the tap of people who are qualified.”
Sopel weighed in with his own contribution: “The question of the lab and the experiment as if as if – it sounds like Frankenstein’s monster doesn’t it?” Cheers for that….
Maitlis finally found her line: “Maybe you have to ask yourself if you had to have a hardline immigration system from any party would it be the party that traditionally veers towards compassion but is hardening up or the party like Reform that traditionally veers towards a lack of compassion and probably incompetence when they actually get into power?” At least it’s Labour, thank God…
This month Maitlis declared Runcorn a victory for Labour. The zingers keep coming…
Here come the takes on Runcorn. Maitlis has gone for it:
“I wonder if losing Runcorn might end up being the best thing that could happen to Labour right now. The clamouring for a wake up call is coming from many different directions. If this liberates the government to be bolder and faster and less scared of its own shadow that’s no bad thing.”
A classic of the genre…
A fresh report just dropped from the pointy-headed bods over at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism about the demography and political beliefs of hacks in Britain. Want to guess?
The survey of 1,130 UK journalists shows that scribblers have become – staggeringly – even more left wing over the past decade: in 2015, 54% self-identified with the political left and this has now risen to 77%. Shocker…
The study goes on: “The survey data show that the median UK journalist in 2023 was white, university educated, over 40, not affiliated to any religion, from a privileged socio-economic background, and left-leaning.” Sounds about right. It continues:
“Looking at education, the 2023 survey found that 91% of journalists who responded had a university degree, up from 86% in 2015. The percentage of those with higher degrees such as a Masters also rose from 32% to 41%. A higher percentage of UK journalists were privately educated (13% at primary, 22% at secondary schools) than is the case for the general population (6%). Comparative data from 2015 for this is not available.”
No wonder the authors of the first draft of history failed to spot Brexit, Trump and so many other upsets coming down the track. The Guido newsroom is a UK anomaly, young and based…
After recent events some Lobby journalists’ X feeds are curiously empty in the period during and immediately after Starmer’s brief moment in the sun with Trump on 27 February. Bit of housekeeping may be underway…
Hacks at the time could not contain themselves – you could not move on social media for “his triumphant DC summit“s or “his Washington triumph“s. Hacks once again based their analysis on short-term rhetoric and shallow optics. A symptom of Lobby-itis…
Here are some highlights:
- Beth Rigby: “The most extraordinary visit to the White House and the unlikely Trump/Starmer bromance / No 10 will think this US trip could not have gone better“
- Lewis Goodall: “All in all, Starmer’s first Trump White House visit looks like it couldn’t have gone much better. No 10 will be delighted and relieved, his enemies bitterly disappointed.“
Two Labour figures from different wings of the party tell me: Keir Starmer’s response to @realDonaldTrump on Ukraine is shaping up to be PM’s “Falklands moment” – when an unpopular Margaret Thatcher turned round her fortunes by a resolute response to an international crisis…..
— Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) February 26, 2025
- Politico: Starmer has “a bundle of wins under his arm after his extraordinary day with Donald Trump.“
- Mirror: “How Keir Starmer won over Donald Trump with months-long ‘Starm offensive’“
- George Eaton: “The Tories and Reform have had their script for Starmer-Trump relations entirely shredded.” / “Hard to see how this US trip could have gone better for Starmer.“
- Dan Hodges: “This is obviously turning into a triumph for Starmer. But it’s also a huge win for David Lammy and the Foreign Office. Serious preparation, The Sherpas have been doing some proper Sherparing.“
- Jon Sopel: “Who’d have thought @POTUS would give @Keir_Starmer far and away his best day since becoming PM?”
All that ‘sherparing’ doesn’t look to have done much good as the entire situation collapses and Starmer and Macron scramble a “Coalition of the Willing” with scant details as to how it would work or what it entails. A classic case of counting chickens that will leave hacks wishing they hadn’t gushed with so much verve on Thursday…
The Democrats may have been taking too much stock during the election from terminally-online British pundits who all called the election for Harris. None more fervently than Rory Stewart…
Kamala Harris will win comfortably, because:
• Biden’s admin has been solid
• Trump’s lost ground since 2016
• The young Black male votes which Trump needs didn’t turn out in 16, 18, 20, or 22
• Young women like Kamala + vote
✴️Ignore polls—they’re herding, after past misses— Rory Stewart (@RoryStewartUK) November 4, 2024
Podcaster Rory then said “if I’ve totally miscalled this it’s would be a massive lesson in humility. And would suggest my whole framework is cracked. Let’s see.” All part of his new series on “how to be more ignorant” no doubt…
Ian Dunt was still holding onto his confidence in Harris down to the wire, at the same time as Marina Purkiss reassured her followers: “Sparsely populated Republican precincts are quicker to count than more densely populated Democrat ones.” These are the real experts…
Look, just for the record, vibes and data are all swished up together in these moments. We have been here before. This time in 2020, it was all over and Trump had won it.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) November 6, 2024
Just as all US pollsters were in the process of being proved disastrously wrong Lewis Goodall took a break from presenting on Sky News to tweet: “Feels to me the polls were spot on.” Not to mention fellow News Agents host Jon Sopel profoundly observing the “momentum shift” to Kamala in the last two days. You can hear Nigel laughing from Mar-a-Lago…
UPDATE: Carol Vorderman had a go too…
As Starmer walked into No 10 back in July you could hear the collective chest-puffing of left-wing pundits everywhere. Years, if not decades, of stable, adult government awaited them…
93 days later and Downing Street seem to have conducted a speed run of scandal. Ending with the undignified departure of Sue Gray…
Those pundits must be feeling hot under the collar today. Here are their highlights:
It turns out Krishnan doesn’t have to worry about that after all. Soubry struck the same note…
Andrew Marr said: “For the first time in many of our lives, actually Britain looks like a little haven of peace and stability”. The Guardian’s John Crace said: “The grownups are back in Westminster. The Tory psychodramas inside No 10 have been replaced by a serious Labour government focused on delivery. It’s going to take time for all of us to make the adjustment.” Meanwhile unpaid Starmer propagandist Ian Dunt isn’t taking the news so well…
Beth Rigby might have to start reporting on something other than Starmer’s views on football and Angela Rayner’s clothing accessories:
James O’Brien naturally went on about how the “grown ups are back in charge.” It’s a sad day for Labour superfan Marina Purkiss too. No doubt Starmer’s sacking of Gray will soon be hailed as a masterstroke worthy of such a serious and adult politician…
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood introduced her speech on migration reforms at the IPPR:
“There’s no denying we meet at a difficult time for my party.”
