Sir Keir’s selective responsibility

Sir Keir Starmer is riding highs in the polls, topping Boris Johnson as the preferred PM of the people. Sober, studied and serious: after the ups and downs of the past six years, he’s (apparently) looking like an increasingly attractive offering to a weary electorate. But Mr S is somewhat perturbed by the Labour leader’s selective memory when it comes to trading on his legal career. 

Starmer served as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between 2008 and 2013, having previously spent two decades training as a barrister. In his 2020 bid for the Labour leadership, he made much of his crusading credentials, releasing a video featuring cases he’d worked on for left-leaning causes like the Wapping print workers and poll tax protesters. 

And yesterday he again trumpeted his legal credentials in Boris Johnson’s statement on Partygate in the House of Commons. Responding to Tory MPs who claim that Johnson’s fine was akin to a speeding ticket, Starmer retorted: ‘The last Minister who got a speeding ticket, and then lied about it, ended up in prison.