Keir Starmer woken by toxic gas emergency on war ship
KEIR Starmer was woken by a toxic gas leak while aboard a war ship heading for the Indian Ocean.
The Prime Minister was fast asleep when disaster nearly struck on HMS Prince of Wales at 2.08am on Thursday morning when the boat had barely made it out to sea from Plymouth, The Telegraph reports.
They'd sent a journalist out with Starmer to soak up the scene as the UK Government attempted a major show of strength against the Chinese.
HMS Prince of Wales is on its way to the Indo-Pacific as part of the 'carrier strike group' to demonstrate Western strength against an emboldened China.
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Quite whether a toxic gas leak in the engine room in the dead of night was part of the plan remains unclear.
The Prime Minister reacted with his characteristic quick wit when asked about being woken by the alarm. He said: 'Like everybody else, I was woken up by the alarm.
(Image: Richard Pohle/The Times/PA Wire)
'I remembered the briefing from the night before, which was somebody will come and tell you if you need to move. But I was still concerned enough to get up... and have a look to see what was going on.'
Lines for the ages.
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Happily, the situation was soon resolved by crew members wearing gas masks who bravely stepped into the engine room to fix the problem, which we're not to know about in case the Chinese get any ideas.
Later, Starmer sat down for a beer with the crew – though unfortunately for them junior sailors are on a two-drink maximum; one usually needs at least double that to put up with listening to the PM speak.
Between our leaky nukes and nearly-exploding aircraft carriers, Xi Jinping must be quaking in his boots.
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