ONE of the biggest clichés in politics is an under-fire leader having a “make or break” moment.
Speeches. Budgets. Reshuffles. All are breathlessly hyped as either a potential springboard to propel a career — or a trapdoor through which it disappears.
The Prime Minister has mounting critics in both his party and country
Andy Burnham has been put firmly back in his box following a brazen outburst of leadership jockeying
The PM is no longer trying to out- Farage Farage, but instead paint him as such an unpalatable figure that centrist voters turn their backs
The chatter in the trains heading to the conference on Saturday was that this was one of those do-or-die occasions.
faces mounting criticism from both his party and the country.
, his MPs are restless and Cabinet ministers glum.
What better way to silence them all than with a show of strength in the North West? If only things were so easy.
Downing Street is, however, relatively chipper about how the jamboree played out.
For starters,
Butt of jokes
Far from rousing the flames of rebellion, his crude attacks on the PM blew up in his face as the Labour tribe rallied round their besieged leader.
Not since ago has a ego been so badly bruised on .
Next time you try to stab Caesar, Andy, make sure you’re not holding a plastic spoon.
Yet it was the spectre of another man who loomed large over this gathering in Liverpool, and that was of course
It was not by accident. Ministers at the podium fell over themselves to shoehorn the Honourable Member for Clacton into virtually every second sentence.
He was the butt of their jokes and the bogeyman of their stories.
The conference started with , and it
Farage yesterday claimed the Prime Minister is “obsessed” with him — and he is not wrong. He has been for some time.
At the start of the summer, Starmer summoned three of his closest aides to his Chequers country estate to start planning yesterday’s speech.
They were taken aback when the PM — out of character — arrived with “reams and reams” of notes he had scribbled on how to take the fight to .
“In a nutshell, it was that people are frustrated with migration but that Britain is not a racist country,” one source says.
The PM knows he is toast if he fails to stop Channel crossings and empty people from costly hotels
Jack
It is why Starmer’s speech was partly a reality check to his party that for too long they have “patronised” their working-class base over .
Those concerned about visas being dished out like hot cakes are not a bunch of bigots, and perhaps not every foreigner is all too keen on embracing our culture.
And the PM knows he is toast if he fails to stop Channel crossings and empty people from costly hotels.
New Home Secretary is expected to unveil some “bold” measures to stop the boats and kick the backsides of a stubborn civil service she believes are blockers.
But yesterday’s speech was more an exercise in framing the next election as a straight shoot-out between him and Farage.
He is no longer trying to out- Farage Farage, but instead paint him as such an unpalatable figure that centrist voters turn their backs.
A close ally of the PM tells me: “Our best hope of winning again is a one-on-one fight with Farage.
“There’s no point trying to ape his politics any more. It will be a fight for Middle Britain.”
A former human rights lawyer, Starmer was on home turf unleashing his inner wet, waxing lyrical about Britain being an open, tolerant nation.
His riff on Liberal Britain was lapped up by the Labour membership who gave it the biggest cheer of the conference.
Farage, he said, was the embodiment of such divisive politics and must be defeated.
The British public wants to see their leaders as animated as they are about boats, bills and Bobbies on the beat
Jack
Labour’s script for the next election was written in Liverpool yesterday: Do you really want that monstrous Nigel Farage to be Prime Minister? No, well then vote for us.
It is a gambit many ordinary, sensible voters might not take too kindly.
Immigration is the number one concern of voters at the moment, closely followed by the cost of living.
Do people really want to hear right now that “Britain isn’t broken” when they can see the mess around them every single day?
The British public wants to see their leaders as animated as they are about boats, bills and Bobbies on the beat.
If Starmer wanted to pick a fight with Farage, he’s got one.
But it will be action on these issues, not hurty words in a conference hall, which will really be make or break.
