Words, not deeds
Keir Starmer's make-or-break speech to show he can turn things around does nothing of the sort
“Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers speech,” the headline said on Sky News. This is, sadly, about as good as his record of delivery gets. Speeches he can generally manage. Other things, it’s less clear. He is a man of words, not deeds.
This was, in the jargon of political scribbling, going to be a make-or-break speech that would reset the prime minister’s embattled leadership. There was a strong chance that it would be deeply personal. Maybe, if we were lucky, the gloves would come off.
Journalists — though not sketchwriters — had been summoned to a small windowless room somewhere in London, where Starmer’s remaining supporters had been prepped to clap and cheer as though there were a lot more of them than there are.