“How many more children are going to die on our streets, Prime Minister?” This comment, shouted at Keir Starmer on Tuesday as he lay flowers for the three murdered girls in Southport, summed up the mood of a nation: both the visceral horror of the attack itself, and the public fear and alarm at the lawlessness that seems in recent weeks to have gripped the whole country. As the cameras flashed and the heckling grew, the man who wants to end politics, to insulate himself and his Government in quangos, committees and fiscal rules, found himself in a traditional political encounter. Something has gone horribly wrong. People are furious. And Starmer is the leader of the country: what is he going to do about it?
Their cries, predictably, fell on deaf ears. Right from the off, Labour’s response to public anger over the Southport tragedy has been tone-deaf and contemptuous. Consider the optics of that flower-laying itself. Starmer ended up with his back to the assembled locals. At no point did he deign to address them – indeed, he did not so much as look at them. He was flanked throughout by several security guards and the flowers had scarcely hit the ground before he was whisked away to his car, prompting shouts of “You’ve got your photo, off you go” and “Go away!” The visit, from the man who claimed on taking office he would end the “era of politics as performance”, lasted barely two minutes. Reading the room has of course never been Starmer’s strong suit – think of his brittle, tetchy response to a studio audience laughing at his thousandth repeat of the “son of a tool-maker” line. But the contrast with earlier PMs is stark. Tony Blair, David Cameron, Boris Johnson – all would surely have understood instinctively what was required of them and given a sombre, unifying speech.
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