Posted by As someone who has kept an eye on party conferences for nearly half a century, I thought I’d seen it all. But never before have I seen one name so dominate a Labour conference. I’m frankly astonished that more than 11 Cabinet ministers have taken to the airwaves over the past 72 hours alone to condemn me and my party.
And there is only one reason for this. A party that won the general election with a loveless landslide just over a year ago now finds itself in very deep (and in many ways deserved) trouble.
This week has shown that the Government is incapable of beating us on our arguments. As a result, Keir Starmer has decided to descend into the gutter – and bring all his Cabinet with him.
Let me be clear: Reform want illegal migrants deported from our country. We want the benefits system to be for British citizens only. We want foreign criminals removed from our prisons.
Labour thinks these policies are racist and immoral – and, by implication, so are the millions of people who support them. The truth is that if you believe we should control our borders, you are – by the definition of the Prime Minister and his entire Cabinet – racist.
In all my years in politics, I have developed a thick skin. So I don’t normally worry about abuse being thrown at me. But to insult countless millions in this way is a very low blow.
I used to think the Prime Minister was a decent man: I’ve said so publicly in the past.
We might disagree on our worldview, but until this weekend I believed he was a reasonable human being. Now I’m shocked at his behaviour. I hope that when he wakes up this morning, he feels ashamed of what he has done to British politics over the past few days.
Who Watches the Watchers? 