Sir Keir Starmer sparks backlash on left and right after praising Margaret Thatcher
SIR Keir Starmer was attacked on both the left and right today for lavishing praise on Margaret Thatcher.
The Labour leader launched a brazen grab for Tory votes by hailing the Iron Lady’s record of “setting loose our entrepreneurialism”.
But Conservative ministers accused him of “saying anything to get elected” after campaigning to put Jeremy Corbyn in No10 just four years ago.
And Labour left-wingers went mad at him for applauding the work of Mrs Thatcher, who they still loathe.
The former Tory PM is one of the most divisive premiers in modern times after shrinking the size of the state and breaking the stranglehold of trade unions.
In a piece for the Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir said: “Every moment of meaningful change in modern British politics begins with the realisation that politics must act in service of the British people, rather than dictating to them.
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“Margaret Thatcher sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism.”
He also went on to single out Labour PMs Tony Blair and Clement Attlee, but it was his admiration of the Tory heroine which caused a stir.
Leftie campaign group Momentum raged: “Margaret Thatcher represented the opposite of everything the labour movement stands for. By praising her, Starmer brings shame on our party.”
SNP leader Humza Yousaf piled in: “What Thatcher did to mining and industrial communities was not ‘entrepreneurialism’, it was vandalism.
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“Starmer praising Thatcher is an insult to those communities in Scotland, and across the UK, who still bear the scars of her disastrous policies.”
Since serving under doomed Mr Corbyn, Sir Keir has been at pains to banish the left to the margins and has even prevented his predecessor from being a Labour MP.
Yet his latest attempt to appeal to Conservative voters riled Tory chairman Richard Holden who blasted: “Keir Starmer will say anything to get elected – this is yet another classic example of him saying what he thinks people want to hear, despite having a track record of doing exactly the opposite.
“Labour will never take the difficult decisions to deliver the long-term change this country needs – Keir Starmer has broken every single one of his leadership pledges, he will always choose the short-term position because he does not have the principles needed to lead Britain.”