We’ve had endless examples of how he will say whatever suits him at the time, without giving a damn whether it’s true, or whether it will come back to bite him later. I remember him posing for pictures with the Waspi women while in opposition, claiming to support their campaign for fast and fair compensation. I warned at the time he didn’t mean it, and he duly dropped them like a stone after winning power.
He’s done it again and again. During the election, he repeatedly claimed he wouldn’t hike taxes, then with the help of Rachel Reeves, Labour went to town. In August last year, I drew up a list of his biggest whoppers. I quickly came up with 25. You can read them all here but a word of warning: they could make your blood boil.
In January, the Express counted 13 Starmer U-turns, and we’ve seen a constant stream since. Today, there’s another. And this one is classic Sir Keir. It also offers an ugly insight into how far Labour will go to grab votes and tilt the system in its favour.
In May 2024, in the run-up to the general election, Starmer said he wanted to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote. It was slammed as a blatant attempt at stacking the election in Labour's favour. Which it obviously was. Now it looks even more corrupt.
The move would have handed around 1.5 million youngsters the vote. And the motivation was clear. Younger people are more likely to back Labour, if they can be bothered getting down to the voting station on the day.
It was a shameless piece of political calculation. I think of my own teenage children. They’re bright and idealistic, but easily swayed and vulnerable to peer pressure.
At the time, the Express found eight reasons why votes at 16 might backfire. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called it vote rigging and warned it could blow up in Labour's faces. Now it turns out he was right. Keir Starmer has finally woken up to the danger – and, sure enough, he’s performed yet another U-turn.
Today, it's emerged that Labour has reportedly shelved plans to push through legislation giving votes to 16-year-olds. Why? Because they've suddenly realised the Green Party, not Labour, will be the main beneficiary.
Labour is terrified of the Greens, as left-wing voters abandon the party and flock to dodgy demagogue Zack Polanski. He's exactly the kind of politician who appeals to younger voters. His radical ideas sound great on social media, but would be a disaster in practice.
Open borders, legalising drugs, wealth taxes, ever more spending, all wrapped in virtue signalling and intolerance of dissent. Of course young people are drawn to that. It’s far more exciting than stodgy old Starmer.
Even our dozy PM has woken up to the risk. Labour hoped to harvest young people's votes. Instead, it will feed the Greens. So the policy has been ditched. Along with all the cynical, self-serving arguments Starmer used to justify the change. What a crooked way to run a party, and a country.
We’ve seen the same pattern with Labour before, as Starmer blocked an investigation into the grooming gangs scandal because he feared losing the Muslim vote. Decent? Starmer? He's as crooked as they come.
