Keir Starmer has told The Observer he “deeply regrets” his “island of strangers” migration speech and insisted he didn’t even know it echoed the words of Enoch Powell. And neither, apparently, did his speechwriters…
Having forced his ministers to contort themselves into impossible positions trying to defend the speech in the first place, Starmer has now claimed it was a terrible idea and he was just a slave to his own teleprompter:
“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…
He delivered that speech just over six weeks ago. Not quite a world record for Starmer U-turns, but close…
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”