Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (lawyer, politician) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Keir Rodney Starmer 1962-09-02 London, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | UK | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Leeds, St Edmund Hall (Oxford) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Victoria Alexander | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of | Labour Friends of Israel, Trilateral Commission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Interests | Labour Friends of Israel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Party | Labour | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A suspected deep state operative, who as Director of Public Prosecutions failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile but pressed on with charges against Julian Assange.
|
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a UK politician and former Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, where he was central in making sure the case against Julian Assange continued.
Keir Starmer has been a Labour Party Member of Parliament since the 2015 General Election, and on 6 October 2016 he was appointed Shadow Brexit Secretary by Jeremy Corbyn[1] whom he later helped to oust, taking over as Labour leader.
On 5 June 2020, Matt Kennard posed five questions for him to answer:
The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper, his former role in the Julian Assange case and his membership in the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission.[2]
Contents
Plus ça change
At his Holborn and St Pancras constituency in the UK/General election/2024, Keir Starmer is faced with challenges from eleven candidates, including Andrew Feinstein who is standing as an Independent. Here is the full list of candidates:
- Official Monster Raving Loony Party: Nick the Incredible Flying Brick
- Liberal Democrats: Charlie Clinton[3]
- Independent: Andrew Feinstein[4]
- Independent: Wais Islam
- Independent: Senthil Kumar
- Independent: Bobby "Elmo" Smith
- Conservative: Mehreen Malik
- UKIP: John Poynton
- Socialist Equality Party: Tom Scripps
- Reform UK: Dave Roberts[5]
- Green Party: David Stansell[6]
- Labour: Keir Starmer[7]
On 7 June 2024, in a televised election debate on the BBC, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer mocked Keir Starmer, saying:
- “Angela Rayner is right. Keir Starmer has changed the Labour Party: he’s changed it into the Conservative Party.”[8]
Background
Keir Starmer was born in 1962 in Southwark, London. His father, Rodney Starmer, was a toolmaker, and his mother, Josephine Starmer (née Baker), was a nurse. His parents were both staunch Labour supporters, and they named Keir – their second son – after the first leader of the Labour Party, Keir Hardie. In contrast to his three siblings who all went the the local Comprehensive school, Starmer passed his 11-plus exam and gained entry into Reigate Grammar school. Starmer then studied law at Leeds University, where he graduated with a first-class Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1985, before winning a place at Oxford where he graduated with a Bachelor of Civic Law (BCL) in 1986.
Toolmaker father
In March 2018, Starmer told the BBC’s Nick Robinson that his father Rodney "was a toolmaker working in a factory and working every hour, basically." The following year, he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his father "worked in a factory" as a toolmaker. The inference that listeners might have drawn is that Rodney Starmer was employed by somebody else. For reasons best known to himself, Keir Starmer did not use any of these opportunities to explain that his father, in fact, ran his own business, the Oxted Tool Company, as a sole trader.
As a skilled manual worker who was self-employed and who owned a house (albeit with a mortgage), it is arguable that Rodney would be thought of by some social scientists as being a cut above other toolmakers who were employed.
Reflecting on his son’s knighthood in 2014, Rodney Starmer wrote in Oxted’s theatre newsletter that his son had spent six months before university working "in my factory operating a production machine."
Perhaps it would be most accurate to say that Starmer’s background was neither working class nor 'posh', as some commentators have attempted to prove, but was instead closer to what sociologists would once have called petit bourgeois. This French term is akin to lower-middle class.[9]
Line of gamekeepers
On 5 June 2024, Ricky Tomlinson posted on X:
Four days earlier, the Daily Mail headlined an article thus:
- "Revealed: Sir Keir's family castle! The Labour leader talked about rural poverty in his childhood. He didn't mention that his grandfather lived in Marden Castle - and his great-uncle was chairman of the Godstone Conservative Association"[11]
On 27 May 2024, The Telegraph reported that Keir Starmer comes from a line of gamekeepers, according to a 1977 pamphlet written by his grandfather Herbert for the Bourne Society:
- Herbert Starmer remembered his rural upbringing fondly – how their cottage would be used by the shoot to hide from the rain and his gamekeeper father left with a gun slung under his arm.
- Some of his earliest memories, he told a local history pamphlet, were catching rabbits and of the tame fox living in the family’s shed.
- The quintessential image of a rural life is a far cry from that of his grandson – the knighted human rights barrister who is vying to become the country’s next prime minister.
- In the interview, a copy of which has been obtained by The Telegraph, Herbert Starmer explains how his father (Gustavus), his seven uncles, and his grandfather were all gamekeepers.[12]
Career
A year after graduating from St Edmund Hall (Oxford), Starmer became a Barrister at the Middle Temple. He was then appointed as a member of the Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 2002, and moved to Doughty Street Chambers the following year.
Starmer’s legal work primarily consisted of human rights issues, with one of his most notable successes being the so-called “McLibel” case where he assisted two environmental activists, Helen Steel and David Morris, in a highly contentious case brought against them by the US fast-food giants, McDonald’s.
McDonald’s had accused Steel and Morris of libel after they produced and publicised a factsheet which contained numerous claims that were highly critical of the company’s ethics and practices. Both were refused legal aid in order to defend themselves, but received substantial pro-bono assistance from a number of lawyers, including Starmer.
During the trial, McDonald’s initially argued that all the claims in Steel and Morris’s pamplet were false, but, after almost ten years of legal wranglings, a number of the claims in the document were eventually proved to be true – including the claims that McDonalds did “exploit children“, that they were “culpably responsible” for unnecessary cruelty to animals, and that the company were “antipathetic” to the unionisation of workers and helped to “depress wages in the catering trade“.
In addition to his role in the McLibel case, Starmer undertook substantial legal work challenging the death penalty in the Caribbean and Africa, and he also worked as a human rights advisor to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland.
Following years of successful legal work in the field of human rights, and after being named QC of the Year in 2007, Starmer was named as the new Head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2008.[13][14]
Director of Public Prosecutions
During his role as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) (2008 to 2013), Keir Starmer oversaw the prosecution and conviction of a number of MPs and Lords who abused their taxpayer-funded parliamentary expenses, and the successful retrial of the killers of Stephen Lawrence.
All of Keir Starmer's predecessors as DPP received knighthoods for the role, and he was no different. He was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for "services to law and criminal justice" and is therefore entitled to be known as "Sir Keir Starmer".[15]
Jimmy Savile
Starmer failed to bring charges against Jimmy Savile for paedophilia. The decision was made despite the Crown Prosecution Service receiving substantial evidence of his crimes from witnesses and victims several years before Savile died in 2011.[16]
Julian Assange
In December 2010, as Julian Assange prepared to appear at London's High Court to hear an appeal against a lower court's decision to release him on bail, Keir Starmer was asked to comment on reports in The Guardian newspaper that Sweden has "not got a view at all on bail". Starmer told BBC radio:
- "The general position and the nature of the arrangement is absolutely clear. The Crown Prosecution Service acts here as agents of the government seeking extradition, in this case the Swedish government. These proceedings are brought as agents of the Swedish government."
A spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecutor's office, Karin Rosander, told AFP the decision to oppose bail was "a decision of the British prosecutor and that is what the British prosecutor's office has confirmed to me."[17]
According to Freedom of Information searches by the Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi, Sweden tried to drop the Assange case in 2011, but a CPS official in London told the Swedish prosecutor not to treat it as “just another extradition”.
In 2012, the Swedish prosecutor received an email from the CPS: “Don’t you dare get cold feet!!!” Other CPS emails were either deleted or redacted. Why? Keir Starmer needs to say why.[18]
John Worboys
Keir Starmer has also encountered criticism over the CPS’s decision to release the prolific serial rapist, John Worboys, from prison, as well as the decision not to pursue 75 further allegations made against him. However, in 2018, the CPS issued a statement claiming the Starmer had no role in either of the decisions regarding Worboys.[19]
Ian Tomlinson
Ian Tomlinson was brutally attacked by police officer Simon Harwood in 2009. Harwood hit Tomlinson, who was walking with his hands in his pockets in the other direction, across the back of the legs with a baton. Tomlinson was unable to break his fall, causing fatal internal bleeding to his liver shortly afterwards. Fifteen months later, Starmer announced that Harwood would not be prosecuted. The CPS proceeded a few months later when an inquest jury found that Tomlinson had been unlawfully killed.[20]
Spycops scandal
In 2011, DPP Keir Starmer was in court to witness the collapse of a trial of environmental activists after the involvement of undercover police officer Mark Kennedy was revealed. The case began the “Spycops scandal", which has since exposed the extensive, long-term infiltration of left-wing and environmentalist groups by police agents, who grossly abused the rights of campaigners and perverted the course of justice in countless court cases. The CPS is suspected of having been closely involved.[By whom?]
As DPP, Starmer refused to pursue the matter. Referring to an in-house CPS investigation, he accepted the manifestly untrue:
- “If Sir Christopher Rose had found systemic problems, then I would quite accept perhaps a retrospective look at all the cases. But he didn’t, he found individual failings.”[21]
Protection of MI5 and MI6
Under his direction, the CPS refused to prosecute MI5 and MI6 personnel in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The agents were suspected of participating in CIA extraordinary rendition programmes and the torture of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan.
Benefits campaign
In 2013, after Tory Chancellor George Osborne launched a gutter-press campaign against “benefits cheats,” Starmer issued guidelines for the CPS allowing those accused of improperly drawing social security to be charged under the Fraud Act. This allowed for sentences of up to 10 years. He also removed the financial threshold on sending cases to Crown Court, meaning even the most trivial “offences” could be punished with long-term jail time.[22]
Express trials
Following the London riots in 2012 and the rubber-stamp sentencing of over 1,000 young people, Starmer praised the efforts to rush defendants through the courts: “For me it was the speed that I think may have played some small part in bringing the situation back under control.” He visited Highbury Magistrates Court in North London in the early hours of the morning to boost the morale of the prosecutors and praise their efficiency.
"Chicken Coup"
During the infamous so-called “Chicken Coup”, less than a year after the Labour membership had handed Jeremy Corbyn a massive mandate to lead the party, numerous Labour Shadow Cabinet Ministers instigated co-ordinated resignations from the front bench in a deeply cynical attempt to remove him as leader.
In his resignation letter dated 27 June 2016, Keir Starmer – who was a Shadow Immigration Minister at the time – essentially claimed that because a lot of other Shadow Ministers had resigned, he decided to resign too. In the opening paragraph of Starmer’s letter, he claims that he initially “respected the mandate” that Labour members had given to Jeremy Corbyn to lead the party.
Starmer then uses two different excuses for his decision to disregard the democratic will of Labour members: claiming that the party needed a “louder voice” regarding Brexit, and that Mr Corbyn’s position was “untenable” because so many Shadow Ministers had resigned.
In the subsequent 2016 Labour leadership election, Starmer went on to support the astonishingly dour, former big pharma lobbyist, Owen Smith.
Upshot
During the 2016 "Chicken Coup", the right thing to do would have clearly been to trust the decision of Labour members, rather than an overwhelmingly right-wing and detached Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), and support the democratically elected leader of the party. Had the PLP been united, Labour may well have been in a position to gain the few thousands extra votes necessary to have formed a government in the UK/2017 General Election campaign.
Unfortunately, Starmer’s willingness to disregard clear democratic decisions in favour of what he thinks is right is not an isolated incident, with the Shadow Brexit Secretary becoming the architect of Labour’s decision to change their Brexit policy from respecting the result in 2017 to supporting a second referendum in 2019 – a policy regarded as the main reason that the party lost huge numbers of seats in their pro-Leave heartlands to the Tories in December’s General Election.
Whilst Labour may still have lost the election had they continued with their 2017 Brexit policy to respect the Brexit vote, they would unquestionably have been far closer to the Conservative Party in terms of votes – with the only genuine question being whether the Lib Dems would have been able to charge through the middle on their pro-Remain platform.
Moreover, at the UK/2019 General Election, the right thing to do – electorally speaking – would have been to continue to support the democratic decision of the British people regarding the Brexit vote. Labour’s decision to support a second referendum is clearly not the only reason for their loss, but it was certainly a huge factor in the sheer scale of it – and Starmer was crucial in pushing the party towards it.[23]
Labour leader
Israel support
After the October 7 attacks in 2023 which began a new Israel–Hamas war, Starmer expressed support for Israel, condemned Hamas terrorism, and said, "This action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians. And Israel must always have the right to defend her people."[24] He also said “Israel has the right” to withhold power and water from Palestinian civilians. "Obviously, everything should be done within international law."[25]
Former Israel spy on his social media team
Sir Keir hired a former Israel spy to work in his social media team. Assaf Kaplan was hired as a "social media listener", and worked for the infamous 8200 cyber unit of the Israeli intelligence services. Although Israeli citizens are subject to mandatory conscription into the Israeli army, the duration of national service is only two and a half years. Kaplan served in Israeli intelligence for nearly five years, twice the normal conscription period[26]
COVID-19
Starmer has been a weak leader in opposing government policies during COVID-19. The sole criticism of Boris Johnson throughout has been; not enough lockdowns, vaccines, mask mandates etc. In December 2021, Sir Keir insisted that, while he is not "comfortable" with the idea of vaccine passports, he believes they are necessary.[27]
On 21 July, he self-isolated for the fourth time.[28]
Preferring globalism over national politics
In January 2023, Starmer admitted he prefers hobnobbing with the billionaires and their select invitees in the World Economic Forum in Davos to national politics in London. Asked to choose between Davos and Westminster, he said: "Davos... Because Westminster is too constrained. And, you know, it's closed and we're not having meaning....Once you get out of Westminster, whether it's Davos or anywhere else, you actually engage with people that you can see [yourself] working with in the future." On the seat of British democracy, Sir Keir added: "Westminster is just a tribal shouting place."[29]
By-election performance
On 4 April 2020, following the 2020 Labour Party leadership contest,[30] Sir Keir Starmer was elected Leader of the Labour Party to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.[31] On 17 April 2020, it was revealed that Starmer had received a £50,000 donation from pro-Israel lobbyist Trevor Chinn – information which was not disclosed until after polls had closed in the leadership election.[32]
Following Labour's crushing defeat in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, Max Blumenthal tweeted on 7 May 2021:
Keir Starmer did not become leader to help Labour win, but to restore establishment control over the party and vanquish the heretics that dared defy its agenda. For the forces he truly represents, the project has been a smashing success.[33]
In November 2021, he told the BBC that he hadn't spoken to Corbyn in over a year.[34] He said Tony Blair's knighthood was well deserved.[35] In July 2023, he was nicknamed "Sir Kid Starver" over Labour plans to keep the Tories' two-child benefit cap.[36]
Of eight by-elections held in England under Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, two were won by Boris Johnson's Tories, three won by the Lib Dems overturning huge Tory majorities and three unconvincing wins in traditional Labour seats with record low turnout figures/vote numbers:
- 2021 Hartlepool by-election: It’s shameful Labour losing this seat, there is no excuse, Sir Keir Starmer’s poor choice of candidate, Paul Williams, was a recipe for failure. The Labour Party parachuted in an ‘Arch-Remainer’ to stand in an overwhelmingly Labour leave voting seat and lost dramatically, who would have guessed? Well actually everyone.
- 2021 Chesham and Amersham by-election: Sarah Green, 39, the Liberal Democrats’ candidate, secured 21,517 votes, giving her an 8,028 majority over the second-placed Tories. Labour lost its deposit securing just 622 votes. This was the lowest Labour by-election percentage in history.
- 2021 Batley and Spen by-election: Labour candidate Kim Leadbeater, sister of murdered MP Jo Cox, was elected with 13,296 votes. Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson came second with 12,973 votes and former Labour and Respect MP George Galloway came third with 8,264 votes. The Labour majority was just 323 votes in this Red Wall seat, which has returned Labour MPs since 1997.
- 2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election: On a 33.5% turnout, the lowest ever in the constituency, the Conservative Party candidate Louie French was elected with 11,189 votes (51.5%) – a majority of 4,478 over Labour's Daniel Francis, who came second with 6,711 votes (30.9%).
- 2021 North Shropshire by-election: Won by Liberal Democrats Helen Morgan with 17,957 votes (47.2%), Conservative Party Neil Shastri-Hurst came second with 12,032 votes (31.6%) and Labour's Ben Wood came a distant third with 3,686 votes (9.7%).
- 2022 Birmingham Erdington by-election: The winner was Paulette Hamilton, standing for Labour, who got 55.5% of the votes on a turnout of 27% of the electorate, the lowest ever in the constituency.
- 2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election: The by-election was won by Richard Foord of the Liberal Democrats with 22,537 votes, a majority of 6,144 over the Tory Helen Hurford who received 16,393 votes. Labour's Liz Pole, with just 1,562 votes, lost her deposit.
- 2022 Wakefield by-election: Won by Simon Lightwood of the Labour Party with 13,166 votes, the fewest since the 1931 General Election when Labour received 11,774 votes.
- 2023 West Lancashire by-election: Won by Labour's Ashley Dalton
- 2023 Selby and Ainsty by-election: Won by Labour's Keir Mather
Appointments by Keir Starmer
Events Participated in
Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Munich Security Conference/2024 | 16 February 2024 | 18 February 2024 | Germany Munich Bavaria | Annual conference of mid-level functionaries from the military-industrial complex - politicians, propagandists and lobbyists - in their own bubble, far from the concerns of their subjects |
UK/Parliament/Voted YES to vaccine passports in 2021 | UK/House of Commons | These members of the UK Parliament voted YES to the introduction of a "vaccine" passport in 2021 | ||
WEF/Annual Meeting/2023 | 16 January 2023 | 20 January 2023 | World Economic Forum Switzerland | The theme of the meeting was "Cooperation in a Fragmented World" |
Related Documents
Title | Type | Publication date | Author(s) | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
Document:Andrew Feinstein confirms GE candidacy vs Starmer | Article | 21 May 2024 | Steven Walker | Constituency resident Andrew Feinstein, who served as an MP in Nelson Mandela's government, will stand in Holborn and St Pancras at the 2024 General Election |
Document:BBC Panorama Investigation Into Labour Antisemitism Omitted Key Evidence and Parts of Labour’s Response | Article | 22 July 2020 | Justin Schlosberg | The fact that the Labour Party is now settling libel cases brought by both John Ware and the Labour 'whistleblowers' is remarkable, not least because there is meant to be an ongoing internal inquiry into the leaked internal report, whose findings have now effectively been prejudged. But I’ve been told this will cost the party close to half a million in damages and costs. |
Document:Batley and Spen by-election: Palestine becomes potential dealbreaker | Article | 18 June 2021 | Alex MacDonald | According to Coral, Galloway is currently on 50/1 odds to win, compared to 2/1 for Leadbeater and 2/5 for Conservative candidate Ryan Stephenson. William Hill has the Conservatives on 1/3, Labour at 5/2 and the WPGB at 33/1. |
Document:Being anti-war does not make us apologists for 'the enemy' or anyone else | Article | 28 February 2022 | Lindsey German | I am proud to be an anti-war campaigner and I know there are many like me. I note that anti-war protesters in Russia are being lauded in the British media. I also support them and send them my full solidarity. The irony is that Putin will see them as the enemy within — just as our government (and loyal opposition) treats us. |
Document:Brexit is the villain in accidental death of the economy | Article | 6 August 2023 | William Keegan | The Brexit miscreants who conned the nation just carry on shamelessly, while their replacements, Rishi Sunak and co, take up the banner and Keir Starmer, once a noble remainer, offends his natural followers by ruling out rejoining the EU or even the single market. |
Document:Bristol West CLP condemns suspension of Corbyn | Article | 10 November 2020 | SKWAWKBOX | Labour’s hierarchy has banned CLPs from debating or voting on Corbyn’s suspension or the EHRC report and some Regional Directors have blocked attempts to do so. It seems Bristol West members hold their democracy and their former party leader in too high a regard to toe the line. |
Document:Dear Mr Starmer, we fact-checked your 7 Oct statement. You’re welcome | blog post | 7 October 2024 | Editor | "Appalling mix of regurgitated and already-discredited lies with grotesque one-sidedness" |
Document:Existence vs Expansion | blog post | 21 July 2024 | Craig Murray | The International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion is extremely lucid and decisive. The ball is now back in the court of the UN General Assembly, which requested the Opinion. The General Assembly now should move to suspend Israel’s membership of the United Nations. That is the next project on which I shall be working. |
Document:Faiza Shaheen dropped by Labour for liking pro-BDS, Corbyn and Green Party posts | Article | 30 May 2024 | Peter Oborne | Left-wing Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen is deselected for 15 social media posts between 2014 and 2024 on issues from Islamophobia to Israeli lobbying, MEE has been informed. |
Document:Five questions for new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about his UK and US national security establishment links | Article | 5 June 2020 | Matt Kennard | Keir Starmer did not become leader to help Labour win, but to restore establishment control over the party and vanquish the heretics that dared defy its agenda. For the forces he truly represents, the project has been a smashing success. |
Document:Former Labour leader honoured by Palestinian Forum | Article | 19 December 2021 | Steve Walker | Jeremy Corbyn receives award for ‘remarkable efforts’ to support Palestinians against oppression |
Document:Has Western Democracy Now Failed? | blog post | 19 July 2023 | Craig Murray | We live in a post-democratic society. That is difficult to accept, but it is true. |
Document:Here’s What Really Happened When Labour Suspended Corbyn | Article | 27 July 2021 | Oliver Eagleton | If Keir Starmer was always unlikely to stand by his ten pledges and retain the bulk of the 2017 manifesto, some hoped he would at least bring a slickness and efficiency to LOTO that was missing under Jeremy Corbyn. After the suspension debacle, this is a hope that few can cling to. |
Document:How Keir Starmer Sabotaged Rebecca Long-Bailey | Article | 26 June 2020 | Ronan Burtenshaw | Rebecca Long-Bailey’s approach to schools reopening had been entirely vindicated: she backed teachers and their unions as they changed the political terrain and forced the Tory government into a concession. This was politics in the best traditions of the labour movement but was anathema to Sir Keir Starmer. |
Document:How top Labour officials plotted to bring down Jeremy Corbyn | Article | 16 April 2020 | Jonathan Cook | The stench of cover-up is already in the air. Keir Starmer's Labour needs to come clean and admit that its most senior officials defrauded hundreds of thousands of party members, and millions more supporters, who voted for a fairer, kinder Britain. |
Document:I Stand in Blackburn | blog post | 16 April 2024 | Craig Murray | I am going to need help – leafleting, canvassing, manning offices and the many myriad tasks of an election campaign. I am buoyed by the solid start we have in support across all communities in Blackburn. We are going to give Starmer a roasting, we are going to take on the zionist monopoly of power, and it is going to be great fun! |
Document:Jeremy Corbyn says “I Condemn Violence Against All Civilians, Why Can’t Keir Starmer?” | Article | 12 October 2023 | Jeremy Corbyn | In an interview with LBC, Keir Starmer was asked whether “cutting off power and water” to 2 million people, half of whom are children, was appropriate. He agreed that Israel “has that right”. Where is the empathy for Palestinians who have lost their loved ones, their homes and their futures? What happened to the universal application of international law? |
Document:Jeremy Corbyn’s Opponents Burned the House Down to Stop Him - Now Keir Starmer Is King of the Ashes | Article | 25 July 2020 | Daniel Finn | By sacking Rebecca Long-Bailey on a trumped-up pretext, Sir Keir Rodney Starmer has set the seal on a drastic shift to the right for the Labour Party. That shift comes just as the key arguments by Jeremy Corbyn’s opponents to justify a break with his left leadership have been falling apart in the face of overwhelming evidence. |
Document:Julian Assange Must be Freed, Not Betrayed | Article | 18 February 2020 | John Pilger | Sarah Ferguson's interview made no mention of a leaked document, revealed by WikiLeaks, called 'Libya Tick Tock', prepared for Hillary Clinton, which described her as the central figure driving the destruction of the Libyan state in 2011. This resulted in 40,000 deaths, the arrival of ISIS in North Africa and the European refugee and migrant crisis. |
Document:Keir Starmer is a Long-Time Servant of the British Security State | Article | 2 March 2021 | Oliver Eagleton | Keir Starmer is sometimes praised for being an outsider in the world of politics (or mocked as too lawyerly and insufficiently political). But in reality, much of his work as Director of Public Prosecutions blurred the boundaries between prosecutor and politician – following the dictates of the Cameron coalition, negotiating with foreign officials on its behalf, and dropping or pursuing cases according to its interests. |
Document:Keir Starmer's ‘antisemitism’ sacking is a signal that Israel is safe in his hands | Article | 29 June 2020 | Jonathan Cook | Crackdown by UK Labour leader on left-wing rival will subdue critics of Israel in his party ahead of Israel's annexation move |
Document:Labour costs pass £500,000 in hearing over leaked antisemitism report | Article | 31 August 2023 | Aletha Adu | "Much of the Labour Party machinery from 2015-18 was openly opposed to Jeremy Corbyn, and worked to directly undermine the elected leadership of the party...from winning elections to building a functioning complaints and disciplinary process" – Summary of leaked internal report (page 29). |
Document:Labour drops plans to stand at next general election | Article | 9 February 2024 | The Daily Mash | The Daily Mash, a satirical website reported today: “People like me have been saying Labour needed to appeal to Tory supporters for years. Now they’ve done it I’m going to vote Reform because I am a typical f**kwit British voter,” said Charlotte Phelps of Reading. |
Document:Labour has ignored its voters – it is now paying the price | Article | 24 June 2021 | Paddy Hannam | George Galloway speaks to Spiked Online about the problems faced by the Labour Party, and his campaign in the 2021 Batley and Spen by-election |
Document:Labour's next leader has already betrayed the left | blog post | 21 February 2020 | Jonathan Cook | The next Leader of the Labour Party is already a prisoner to the "institutional antisemitism" narrative. That means their hands are chained not only to support for Israel, but to the reactionary politics in which Israel as a Jewish state makes sense – a worldview that embraces its style of ethnic, chauvinist, militaristic, segregationist politics. |
Document:Letter to Sir Keir from a newly resigned member of the Labour Party | Letter | 8 April 2020 | Bronagh Wilson | The Labour Party is now dead, it has ceased to be, it is bereft of life. You Sir Keir and your fellow travellers disgust me and it is time you PASOKed right off!. |
Document:Losing the Plot: reflections on the Gaza debate debacle | Article | 24 February 2024 | John S Warren | It wasn’t the Nasty Nats that lost the plot. It was the Labour Party, and the Speaker. I trust they have now lost Scotland. |
Document:Meeting the Gaze of the Ghost in the Rubble | Article | 28 February 2024 | George Gunn | Meanwhile the ghost still looks out from the rubble of Gaza. Her stare searches across the ocean of our conscience like the beam of a lighthouse. The ghost in the rubble asks of us all: why can we not stop this madness and feed the people? |
Document:Netanyahu Plays Chicken | blog post | 21 September 2024 | Craig Murray | Netanyahu’s strategy of assassinations and deadly stunts appears to be an attempt to goad Hezbollah out of their own territory into a suicidal advance into Israel. But Nasrullah is not falling for it. It is worth stressing that, contrary to the propaganda, in the last year Israel has hit Lebanon with five missiles for every one sent by Hezbollah. |
Document:No denial from Starmer that he has received ‘beergate’ fixed penalty | Article | 1 July 2022 | Editor | Labour leader fails to deny reports circulating in party that he has been fined by Durham Constabulary, while police force says only that it has not issued any ‘new statements’ on matter. |
Document:On Gaza, Sunak's Tories and Starmer's Labour have merged into a single pro-war party | Article | 22 January 2024 | Peter Oborne | If the ICJ rules in South Africa’s favour then Rishi Sunak, as well as US President Joe Biden, will be wide open to the charge that they are aiding and abetting genocide. And so will Labour’s Keir Starmer. |
Document:Pulling no punches at yesterday's rally for Palestine in Bath | Speech | 17 November 2024 | Jonathan Cook | "From their own mouths, Lammy and Starmer have told us who they are. They are genocide deniers. They are enablers of genocide. They are conspirators in genocide, just like those who preceded them in the British government." |
Document:Rachel Reeves needs to develop some decent ideas very quickly | blog post | 25 May 2023 | Richard Murphy | Rachel Reeves is a person out of time, out of ideas, and right now with no answer to any question that might reasonably be asked of her. It's very depressing. |
Document:Returning the Sausages | Article | 24 September 2024 | Mike Small | "Keir Starmer’s speech to conference was one of the most stage-managed and vapid addresses I’ve ever seen. It’s not enough to have hollowed out his party, the idea of being a protestor – or having values – or even using accurate language to describe the horrors going on in Gaza must be banned and mocked." |
Document:Starmer’s Mortal Wound On The Soul Of The Labour Party | blog post | 30 October 2020 | Rachael Swindon | Starmer clearly believes he has now firmly established his own political identity and laid the foundations for the transformation of Labour’s electoral prospects – in the mould of Kinnock and Blair. It may be that he has simply destroyed his reputation for moral and intellectual integrity – and inflicted a mortal wound on the soul of his party. |
Document:Starmer’s purges of Labour have mutated into the arrest of Palestine supporters | blog post | 30 August 2024 | Jonathan Cook | Britain’s authoritarian new prime minister is expanding the scope of already draconian laws to redefine his critics as ‘supporters’ of terrorism. Starmer wants to be judge, jury and executioner. We must not let him get away with it. |
Document:Sunak likes the single market. So why doesn't Labour? | Article | 5 March 2023 | William Keegan | "I had many criticisms of Thatcherism and its impact on unemployment and social harmony, but one thing Margaret Thatcher got right was the importance of the EU single market and attracting Japanese, German and other firms to the UK. All this is now up for grabs by Starmer and his team." |
Document:That Leaked Labour Party Report | blog post | 20 April 2020 | Craig Murray | That Leaked Labour Party Report proves conclusively that Sam Matthews’ allegations of unwarranted interference from Corbyn’s office to block anti-semitism action are malicious lies. |
Document:The EHRC’s report into Labour antisemitism is the real ‘political interference’ | blog post | 7 November 2020 | Jonathan Cook | It is instructive to compare the certainty with which the EHRC treats Councillor Pam Bromley’s ambiguous remarks as irrefutable proof of antisemitism in Labour with its complete disregard for unmistakably antisemitic comments from Boris Johnson, the man actually running the country. That lack of concern is shared, of course, by the establishment media and Jewish leadership organisations. |
Document:The Forde Report and the Labour Right | blog post | 24 July 2022 | Craig Murray | About a third of the mass membership that Corbyn brought into the Labour Party has now left. Starmer, having lied his way through his leadership election, has now positioned the party very squarely back as Blairite and Tory Lite. There is therefore a very real argument that the Forde Report simply does not matter. |
Document:The Notional Health Service | Wikispooks Page | 17 October 2024 | Craig Murray | "Today is my 66th birthday, so I am hoping that you will forgive an article that is at core the anecdotal ramblings of an old man. Sixty years ago or so, when my siblings or I were sick enough to be in bed, my mother would phone the surgery and the GP would come to our home to see us. This was perfectly normal. It is probably difficult for Generation Z to believe this really used to happen." |
Document:The Rejection of Starmerism | blog post | 5 July 2024 | Craig Murray | "I don’t think any Prime Minister has ever come to power with less popular enthusiasm than Keir Starmer." |
Document:The Zombie Apocalypse | Article | 4 December 2021 | Gordon Liddle | And then to look at the election of Sir Rodney Woodentop and one has to ask oneself:
|
Document:The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights | Article | 27 August 2024 | Robert Stevens | Now, in a move that would have been agreed to by PM Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Labour has pioneered the use of an amendment to the Terrorism Act passed by the Tories to once again attempt to silence and criminalise a journalist and political activist. The same course is being pursued by governments throughout the world. |
Document:The attack on Jeremy Corbyn is baseless – there is nothing to support it in the EHRC report | Article | 29 October 2020 | Chris Nineham | Jeremy Corbyn has a record of opposing antisemitism and all forms of racism that are second to none. It was in fact precisely his campaigning and principled approach to politics that got him elected as leader of the party in the first place. |
Document:The conspiracy of lies about Corbyn that unites Sunak and Starmer | Article | 8 November 2022 | Peter Oborne | Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's abuse of his high office to smear Corbyn proves that he means to employ the same deceitful methods as his disgraced predecessor, Boris Johnson. |
Document:There is no future for Labour in bureaucratic centrism | Article | 11 November 2020 | Ian Lavery | Whilst many in the media and party establishments are keen to turn back the clock to the bureaucratic centrism, progressives energised on both sides of the Atlantic, whether by Corbyn or Sanders, will define our future politics. |
Document:UK Labour party teeters on brink of civil war over antisemitism | Article | 27 July 2020 | Jonathan Cook | Labour Party member Mark Howell is suing former General Secretary Iain McNicol for “breach of contract” and is demanding that those named in the leaked report be expelled from the party (see "Mark Howell for Justice": https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mark-howell-for-justice/). |
Document:What could go wrong for Keir Starmer? A lot actually, Laura Kuenssberg writes | Article | 11 May 2024 | Laura Kuenssberg | Following the May 2024 local elections Keir Starmer looks highly likely to be the next Prime Minister, but his future it is in doubt. |
Document:Whatever happened to ‘due process’? | Article | 21 November 2020 | Hilary Wise | Starmer’s reaction suggests he will continue to pursue a course which he somehow sees as politically expedient. History tells us it risks leading the party into the most dangerous kind of authoritarianism. |
... further results |
References
- ↑ "Appointed Shadow Brexit Secretary by Jeremy Corbyn"
- ↑ "Five questions for new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about his UK and US national security establishment links"
- ↑ https://twitter.com/charlieclinton/status/1725568629389869268
- ↑ "Jewish former S African MP Feinstein will stand against Starmer in Holborn St Pancras"
- ↑ https://www.reformparty.uk/holborn-and-st-pancras-constituency
- ↑ https://camden.greenparty.org.uk/2023/07/31/candidates-selected-for-general-election/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1493694255306584066
- ↑ “Angela Rayner is right. Keir Starmer has changed the Labour Party: he’s changed it into the Conservative Party”
- ↑ "Keir Starmer: ‘My Dad Was a Toolmaker’ and Other Little Grifts"
- ↑ Keir Starmer keeps on mentioning his dad was a toolmaker"
- ↑ "Revealed: Sir Keir's family castle! The Labour leader talked about rural poverty in his childhood. He didn't mention that his grandfather lived in Marden Castle - and his great-uncle was chairman of the Godstone Conservative Association"
- ↑ "Keir Starmer should protect the countryside – he comes from a line of gamekeepers"
- ↑ Nina Goswami: "Keir Starmer QC appointed DPP"
- ↑ Frances Gibb: "Human rights lawyer Keir Starmer named as new prosecution service chief"
- ↑ "Why Sir Keir Starmer was knighted: How the Labour leadership contender earned his title – and what he has said about it"
- ↑ https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/did-keir-starmer-fail-to-prosecute-jimmy-saville/
- ↑ "Sweden had 'no say' in Assange bail appeal"
- ↑ Document:Julian Assange Must be Freed, Not Betrayed
- ↑ "CPS statement on John Worboys"
- ↑ https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/07/star-a07.html
- ↑ "Secret files reveal covert network run by nuclear police"
- ↑ https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/07/star-a07.html
- ↑ "Labour Leadership Election 2020 Candidate Profile: Keir Starmer"
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20231013002814/https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-labour-leader-starmer-israel-must-always-have-right-defend-itself-2023-10-10/
- ↑ https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/sir-keir-starmer-hamas-terrorism-israel-defend-itself/
- ↑ https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210119-uk-labour-leader-starmer-hired-former-israeli-spy-for-social-media-team/
- ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-plan-b-covid-government-prime-minister-b1974483.html
- ↑ https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-sir-keir-starmer-self-isolating-after-one-of-his-children-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-12360655
- ↑ https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1811195/keir-starmer-davos
- ↑ "Labour leadership: Phillips and Nandy secure nominations"
- ↑ "Congratulations to @Keir_Starmer, the new Leader of the Labour Party!"
- ↑ "Keir Starmer received £50,000 donation from pro-Israel lobbyist in leadership bid"
- ↑ "Keir Starmer did not become leader to help Labour win, but to restore establishment control over the party"
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59422675
- ↑ https://labourlist.org/2022/01/he-deserves-the-honour-keir-starmer-welcomes-knighthood-for-tony-blair/
- ↑ "Keir Starmer nicknamed ‘Sir Kid Starver’ over Labour plans to keep two-child benefit cap"