Last Wednesday, the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, said this of Rishi Sunak in prime minister’s questions: “He doesn’t get Britain”. The context of what Starmer was saying was clear. He was describing the prime minister as being out of touch with the general public. This is barely an insult. It is affirming that you are more aligned with the interests of British voters than the political party you are trying to replace in power. It would be strange if Starmer didn’t think Sunak was out of touch.
Nevertheless, a statement from Downing Street said that Sunak was as “British as Starmer”. But Starmer did not say Sunak is not truly British, and it is disingenuous to suggest he did. Yet the MP Nadhim Zahawi still felt emboldened to moan to the Daily Express: “I flinched when I heard the leader of His Majesty’s most loyal opposition trot out the sort of line that I’ve had to deal with all my life.” He is making Starmer, the man otherwise demonised as a north London, lefty lawyer, sound like Bernard Manning.
