In the latest bout of Labour’s two faced lockdown manoeuvring, Nick Ferrari caught Sir Keir out for saying one thing and then not backing it with votes in the commons. The Labour leader appears to be facing two ways on a host of interventions, from criticising the hospitality curfew but not opposing it to doing the opposite with the rule of six. As he told LBC this morning…

KS “Yes I am in favour [of the rule of six]. There is an argument as to whether it should be five or seven and exactly how you make up the number, whether children should be included. I do accept a clear rule and something everybody knows and is straightforward is better at a time like this.”

NF “But you instructed your MPs to abstain in that key vote…”

KS “Well that vote only took place because the Prime Minister’s own MPs wanted to vote against it.”

Not the strongest line…

As Dan Hannan pointed out over the weekend, Sir Keir’s inconsistency is in fairness where a decent chunk of the public is. Labour, like the public, overwhelmingly back restrictions in principle only to complain about their consequences in detail. Not a bad electoral strategy for an opposition…