9 hours ago
Heat gets to MPs' heads as they daydream about ousting Keir Starmer
IT feels increasingly like people are not as switched on in Westminster this weather as perhaps they should be.
It may be the heat. My office has the keen disadvantage of catching the sun just as it begins its westward descent towards the end of the day. It could not get hotter unless we had a sunroof installed to catch the midday rays.
Has it gone to everyone's heads? Commentators who usually complain about the snail pace of legislation have turned to bemoaning how two major pieces of social change enacted in Westminster this week – the decriminalisation of abortion and the passage of the assisted suicide bill – were rushed.
This is not a comment on the merits of either topic, merely a reaffirmation of the veracity of the truism: 'You can't please all the people all the time.'
Someone who is finding it difficult to please anyone any of the time is Keir Starmer.
His buddy Donald Trump (above) seemed to tire quickly of the Prime Minister's company at the G7 summit this week, leaving abruptly with ominous threats that he could bomb Iran at any moment.
Starmer is busy pleading for de-escalation, meanwhile arranging the evacuation of British citizens from Tel Aviv – giving the distinct impression the PM rates peace's chances none too highly.
READ MORE: Lisa Nandy 'either dishonest or ignorant' after benefits cuts claim
On the home front, he hardly fares better. Vicky Foxcroft whipped her last this week when she dramatically quit on Thursday night, saying she could not back benefits cuts.
Department for Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall (below) says that the cuts, expected to save £5 billion, would save the benefits system – worth a cool £326bn, all told – from collapse. Square those sums, if you can.
Labour MPs for the most part seem fairly sanguine with the prospect of their official forecast that 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, will be plunged into poverty by the changes.
Some have grown a spine, or were lucky enough to have been born with one, and have criticised the cuts. Over them hangs the threat of being 'blacklisted' for government jobs in the future. So much for the 'biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation'.
One MP, far from a fan of the Prime Minister, told me this week that they reckon Starmer's time will come – and soon.
There are murmurs – falling short of outright chatter – about who would replace Starmer when the men in red ties come for him.
But that's getting ahead of ourselves, if you care for my opinion. Does this limp crop of Labour MPs even have it in them to do the necessary scheming to plot an insurgency?
Say what you want about the Tories but at least they had a taste for cloaks and daggers. Starmer's lot seem more like they'd be pushing for parental guidance for reporting on tales of political skulduggery.
I think Starmer's high noon is still a long way off.
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