KEIR Starmer has faced criticism from within and outwith his party after taking the questionable decision to praise Margaret Thatcher in an article for the Sunday Telegraph.
The Labour leader, with an eye on Downing Street, said that Thatcher had effected “meaningful change” – which was described as an “insult” by First Minister Humza Yousaf.
John McTernan, who was Tony Blair’s director of political operations, has criticised Starmer’s article, saying it is aimed at a portion of Conservative voters who will never back Labour anyway.
But political commentator George Monbiot has argued that the Labour boss was “trying to appease the billionaire press” with his comments, rather than win voters over.
As the politics watchers lined up to give their two cents, The National hit the streets of Glasgow to find out how the public was viewing the comments.
While a couple of people were happy to see Starmer praise Thatcher – a politician they insisted was worthy of the admiration – the overwhelming majority were confused.
“How he thinks that’s going to do him any good by saying that, I really don’t know,” one person told this paper.
Another said it was “really disappointing” to hear the Labour leader praise Thatcher because the negative impacts of her policies were still “fresh” in post-industrial cities like Glasgow – where Labour are angling to win seats from the SNP at the next General Election.
One lady summed up nicely: “I just think it’s a worry for the country because we’ve got no real alternatives now. They’ve got to be more like the Tories to get elected.
“And anyway, I just want an independent Scotland.”
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
