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Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Starmer guilty of ‘rank double standards’, Raab lambasts

Sunday shows round-up: Starmer guilty of ‘rank double standards’, Raab lambasts
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Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab was tasked with the government’s media round this morning, and he used the opportunity to take aim at the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, accusing him of hypocrisy after Durham Police said they will re-investigate the so-called ‘Beergate’ affair. A leaked Labour party document appears to suggest that Starmer and his colleagues did not return to working after a scheduled dinner, which lasted for over an hour. Raab stopped short of calling for Starmer to resign, but piled on the pressure for him to account for exactly what happened on that night:

Local elections were ‘a mixed bag’

In other political news, the results from the local elections continue to be digested, with questions asked on what they mean for a future general election. What cannot be denied is that the Conservatives did see a noticeable net loss on Thursday, amounting to around 500 fewer councillors across Britain. Ridge asked Raab for his take on his party’s performance, confronting him with the benchmarks set in the Daily Mail’s pre-match analysis:

‘We need to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol’

This set of elections also mark the first time that Sinn Fein have topped the poll in Northern Ireland, with the unionist DUP losing three seats in the Assembly. The result means that Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill will be the candidate for First Minister. However, power sharing rules require the DUP to take part in the new executive, and they are not minded to do so without major changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Sophie Raworth asked Raab about what the government planned to do to smooth things over:

Lisa Nandy – Keir Starmer ‘does not break the rules’

Ridge spoke to the shadow ‘levelling up’ secretary Lisa Nandy. Beergate was an inevitable topic of discussion, and Ridge asked for the case in defence for Keir Starmer’s conduct. Nandy attacked the claims of wrongdoing as ‘desperate’, claiming that her leader was ‘Mr. Rules’:

Ed Davey – ‘We have to get this government out’

One person who had something to smile about on Friday morning was Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, who managed over 200 gains up and down Britain. Raworth challenged Davey over why he seemed so reluctant to commit to a coalition with the Labour party after his claims that the Conservatives had to be removed at the next election, though without much success:

Jukka Siukosaari – British support for Finland joining Nato ‘is very clear’

And finally, Finland’s Ambassador to the UK told Ridge that his country would announce their policy on joining Nato in a few short days. Siukosaari said that he was reassured that if they chose to say yes to the defensive alliance, the UK would welcome them with open arms:

Written byMatthew Taylor

Matthew Taylor reviews the Sunday politics shows for The Spectator

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