Ex-Labour minister Barbara Follett has given her view on Keir Starmer's faltering leadership. Appearing on Alastair Stewart & Friends alongside her husband Ken, it was put to her that the Prime Minister was 'getting away with everything partly because Starmer isn't up to the job of challenging him'. That was the expressed view of journalist Trevor Kavanagh and Follett did not disagree, saying that Starmer was still on 'a learning curve'. Having described how Blair's Labour were ready for government in 1997, Follett appeared set to declare that the same couldn't be said for Starmer's Labour, but she was interrupted by the host.
Click below for the clip.
Barbara Follett was the MP for Stevenage between 1997 and 2010. She served in various ministerial roles in the Brown government before standing down prior to the 2010 general election after she was implicated in the expenses scandal. Follett had blown more than £25,000 on private security patrols outside her second home because she 'didn't feel safe' in London. She later agreed to pay back almost £33,000 of expenses, both for the security patrols and other dubious claims.
As for Follett's brief assessment of Starmer being 'on a learning curve', he has been Labour leader now for 17 months and a frontbencher for more than six years. Put into context, Blair was Labour leader for less than three years before he swept to power. Whatever Starmer needs to learn, if he is to achieve a similar feat he really ought to have started learning it by now!
