Starmer's Brexit slip-up could cost him the election

Amid all the euphoria about Boris Johnson sealing a final Brexit deal and the breaking-off of politics for pared down Christmas celebrations, perhaps you didn’t notice Keir Starmer losing the next election.

Well, I did. And while I cannot be quite certain that Sir Keir has blown it absolutely for 2024 – events dear boy, events and all that – the evidence that he has done so would definitely pass a “balance of probabilities” test.

Starmer’s momentum horribilis came during his Christmas Eve press conference responding to the news of Johnson’s deal.

Asked what a future Labour administration would do about a deal that he clearly considered sadly lacking in many respects, the Labour leader’s true disposition just slipped out. He replied: “Of course we would want to improve on it, but we would have to operate to this deal. It is very important that we are in a position to say we go into that election building on this deal.”