News

Is the Keir Starmer Cabinet a government of adults, or a collection of college activists who have never grown up?

Is the Keir Starmer Cabinet a government of adults, or a collection of college activists who have never grown up?

The new Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, accused the Prime Minister outright of being a student politician during their first Commons clash last week, and the jibe seemed to hit home.

It is not just that the Labour Government has been entangled in avoidable scandals because so many of its members were too immature – and so easily seduced by offers of luxury goods, free tickets and other shiny gifts.

It is that their view of the world still seems to be a sort of teenage spasm of wrath and self-righteousness, rather than mature statecraft.

Simple-minded anti-Americanism is a big part of adolescent Leftism, and the rise of Donald Trump has undoubtedly led to more of this. Yet this is hardly the way for serious political operators to behave.

What we (and the Americans) say in public is always going to be different from what we say in private. Mr Trump probably does not think all that highly of Sir Keir, but he was still ready to entertain him to dinner in his tower in New York.

Many Cabinet members must have realised years ago that they might one day occupy high office. They also must have known a White House return by Mr Trump was on the cards. Yet they went on record with rude personal attacks on him.

These have generally not been reasoned criticisms but name-calling and personal remarks, some even about the President-elect’s hair or his physical stature. The Foreign Secretary, supposedly our chief diplomat, is among the worst offenders. Yet he is not a novice.

He was appointed to the Privy Council (generally a sign of seniority and trust) in 2008 and held a number of offices under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. So why did he not know better than to publicly refer to Mr Trump as a ‘neo-Nazi’ (amongst other things) as recently as 2018?

Now The Mail on Sunday reveals that Sir Keir, in June 2020, wrote a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which he attacked the US authorities’ response to the Black Lives Matter protests which followed the police killing of George Floyd. He asked Mr Johnson to ensure that UK exports were not being used for the ‘suppression of democratic rights’.

It was perfectly possible to deplore the shocking death of George Floyd without embracing the hard-Left ideology of BLM. But Labour chose to do so.

This was a few days before Sir Keir and his deputy, Angela Rayner, ‘took the knee’, publishing a picture of themselves doing so and saying ‘We kneel with all those opposing anti-Black racism. #BlackLivesMatter.’

This sort of thing is all very well among students and activists. But in a party of government, it is quite different. Governments have to deal, often face to face, with foreign rulers with less than perfect records.

The Foreign Office repeatedly asked the late Queen, and now King Charles, to be polite to all kinds of despots, so horrible, repressive, bloodstained and dishonest that they make Mr Trump look like John F. Kennedy or Abraham Lincoln by comparison.

Noses are held, false smiles are exchanged, and necessary deals are done to maintain prosperity and security in a hard world, where we must survive on our wits and nobody owes us a living.

The presidents of student unions, or figures such as Jeremy Corbyn MP, are free to shout slogans, wave clenched fists and demand embargoes – because they do not matter. If Sir Keir and his Cabinet wish to matter, they are going to have to learn to button their lips instead of taking to their knees.

Related Posts

Alarming reason hurricanes are getting stronger and the states most at risk

An alarming new study obtained by the DailyMail.com outlines why deadly hurricanes in the US are set to become even stronger – with southern states including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida most at risk. Extreme weather conditions and stronger than usual storms have battered the South over the past six months, with Hurricanes Milton, Helene and Rafael causing devastating damage and leaving hundreds dead. Now, a new study published by Princeton University’s Climate Central has revealed that ‘bath’-temperature water in the Atlantic and Gulf is to blame for the so-called super hurricanes.

Top Democrat slams Pete Hegseth’s military record as Trump’s Defense Secretary nominee comes under fire

Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth slammed President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s military record as ‘pretty low rank’ as he faces scrutiny for controversial comments he made about women serving in combat. Duckworth, who is a combat veteran who lost both her legs and mobility in one arm serving in Iraq, appeared on CBS News’ Face the Nation where she was asked about the TV personality tapped to head the Pentagon. She said his comments about women in combat show he does not understand where the military is and called him unqualified for the role.

Bishop TD Jakes suffers medical emergency during church sermon as horrified congregation looks on

A celebrity bishop appeared to suffer a medical emergency mid-sermon at his megachurch in Dallas. Bishop TD Jakes, 67, was filmed involuntarily shaking during the ordeal, at The Potter’s House megachurch Sunday. The place of worship has a capacity of about 8,000, and the crowd was seen reacting to Jakes’ episode in real-time.

Aussie teen rages over Sydney property prices

A young Australian has slammed the country’s housing crisis as ‘genuinely ridiculous’ after receiving a flyer from a real estate agency that showcased ordinary properties that all sold for more than $1million. Matt, a 19-year-old from Sydney, expressed his frustration with the state of Australia’s property market after seeing the flyer, which highlighted 53 homes sold in October. The properties were located in suburbs about one hour west of Sydney’s CBD, including Quakers Hill, Box Hill, Blacktown, and Riverstone.

Inside Chelsea’s trendy King’s Road as thieves target shoppers at luxury boutiques to steal 30 phones a day – after Christine Lampard fell victim to muggers

Shoppers who have their mobile phones stolen on the fashionable King’s Road, like Christine Lampard, won’t get them back, say security guards who work in the upmarket boutiques targeted by street thieves. After the Loose Women presenter Christine revealed how a security guard shrugged and said, ‘there’s at least 30 a day stolen out here,’ after she had her phone snatched while shopping along the exclusive road in Chelsea, southwest London, others warned they are powerless to stop the thefts. Christine, 45 described being the victim of the mobile phone crime wave sweeping the capital while speaking with fellow Loose Women, Olivia Attwood, Judi Love, and Brenda Edwards, about policing and Keir Starmer’s right to prioritise ‘physical crime’ after journalists were arrested over social media posts.

PETER VAN ONSELEN: The rot at the core of Team Albo has been exposed by these shady last minute acts – including a startling admission about the misinformation bill

The poor priorities and inconsistencies of Anthony Albanese’s government are nearly summed up by the political manoeuvres taking place as we enter the final parliamentary sitting period before the summer break. They are tangible evidence for why Labor is floundering in the polls in just its first term in power. On the one hand, Labor spent months telling us its misinformation bill was a vital reform aimed at stamping out… you guessed it, misinformation in public discourse.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *