Just when even Sir Keir Starmer must have been giving some thought to his political survival – everyone else is, after all – along comes Danny Kruger, one of the more “individual” members of parliament, to provide some respite from his troubles.
It is not just that Mr Kruger and his new party leader, Nigel Farage, will helpfully distract attention and grab the headlines for a while, but also that this latest defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK shows just how divided the right of British politics remains. Mr Kruger declares that his old party is “over, over as a national party”, which may be true, but not so true that it could not still prove an obstacle to Mr Farage when the general election does eventually come round.
