Tom Baldwin
@TomBaldwin66
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Author of best-selling “Keir Starmer: The Biography", as well as “England: Seven Myths That Changed a Country and How to Set Them Straight."
London, England
Joined January 2012
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Pinned Tweet
They're all talking about this book.
@BethRigby
@ChrisMasonBBC
@reallorraine
@SophyRidgeSky
@GaryGibbonC4
@AndrewMarr9
@polcurrency
@maitlis
@EveningStandard
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.
@BBCNews
has just done a very good report on how Brazil’s populist right wing government has tragically mismanaged Covid. No mention, of course, of how UK’s own populist right wing government has tragically been responsible for a HIGHER death rate than, er, Brazil.
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I once revealed in
@thetimes
how John Humphrys made money from speeches slagging off the then Labour government. The Tories/Daily Mail squealed about his freedom so he kept his job interviewing politicians on
@BBCr4today
, unlike
@GaryLineker
who presents football on
@BBCMOTD
.
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.
@BBCNews
doing another package on shameful & shocking number of Covid deaths in US without mentioning how American death rate is lower than the shameful & shocking number of Covid deaths in UK.
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The Times claims "this was not a risky manifesto" from the Conservatives, forgetting to mention the £70bn cost of a Brexit policy that is the biggest act of economic self harm ever committed by a democracy.
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The obvious contempt Penny Mordaunt has to the rules of this debate, respecting others or having even a nodding acquaintance with the truth, is a fair summary of how her party has behaved for 14 years.
#bbcdebate
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We’ve heard a lot from
@CarolineFlintMP
recently but perhaps she’d like to tell us how her “legally binding guarantees” are working out.
Labour MPs have secured legally binding protection on workers’ rights, environmental standards & consumer protection & a parliamentary lock on deciding our future partnership. Plus improving unfair dismissal protections & tackling TUPE anomalies.
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1) Both Johnson & Corbyn spin today is to “blame Remain” - saying Labour lost because legions of its working class voters decided they wanted a hard Tory Brexit. Trouble is, this is not really true. And it is dangerous.
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This story deserves more attention than the passing mention it is getting in the BBC paper review.
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My piece for The Observer today on being the only journalist in the room with Keir Starmer and his family on Thursday night, when their lives were changed forever.
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“Boris Johnson doesn’t need to lie in front of bulldozers because he has lied in front of a bus.”
@rorybremner
backing
#PeoplesVoteScot
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The media, having gorged itself on a five part drama series of political zombie mayhem, now complains it’s bored.
.
@AmyLewisITV
: 'Could you become PM off the back of the dullest campaign ever?'
@Keir_Starmer
: 'We've had 14 years of chaos, of division, of failure and if the Conservatives are elected in for another five years, that's not going to change - they're not going to change'
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The DJ
@FatboySlim
who used to do music lessons with
@Keir_Starmer
seems to be backing his old schoolmate this Thursday.
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.
@thehuwedwards
has always struck me as a very good journalist. Now that police have said they believe no crime has been committed, the question should be asked whether the journalism about him over recent days is up to his standards.
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The first words on
@BBCNews
tonight were: “Levelling with the British people” - telling viewers that Rishi Sunak is to be trusted as he prepares Budget. That’s a value judgment, not an impartial one.
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Fascinating three-way fight in Clacton a/c to
@BestForBritain
. Wonder how local Greens and Lib Dems will feel if they finally give far-right Farage his long craved foothold in Parliament?
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I interviewed Michel Barnier about the Brexit negotiations for my book on Keir Starmer. It would be fair to say the new French PM is an admirer of the (slightly less) new British PM.
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Big new
#PeoplesVote
poll shows risk for
@UKLabour
of ignoring its supporters on this key issue.
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Journalists who seem incredulous over Keir Starmer’s insistence that he wouldn’t use private health care for a family member should note his parents had NHS care until the end of their lives and, more recently, his brother has twice had crucial surgery from NHS. Read the book!
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Jeremy Hunt just conceded if there is a new vote, we would stay in. Forcing this on us is not the “will of the people” - it’s the opposite.
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Crucial interventions on
#marrshow
from Tom Watson and John Major: two unifying figures saying any Brexit deal should be put to the people.
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New poll says Labour 'could win 4m more votes if Corbyn was clearer on Brexit'
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It’s almost funny when Brexiters insist Scotland would be mad to sever links to England, its biggest trading partner
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Important endorsement from
@TheEconomist
which is backing
#PeoplesVote
to solve the Brexit crisis. via
@TheEconomist
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2) Labour defectors were much more worried about Jeremy Corbyn than about Brexit policy, according to this from
@DeltapollUk
published today.
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Very brave set of tweets tonight from Vote Leave staffer
@OliverNorgrove
. We all need to think about what Brexit was - and what it is now.
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Some newspaper will splash with “Things can only get wetter” but my money is not on the Daily Mail.
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Hi
@Nigel_Farage
. When you talk about the “will of the people,” where are yours? Here are just some of ours at
#peoplesevotemarch
today.
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Labour delivered the Good Friday Agreement. A shabby Tory deal with DUP should be known as the Bad May Day Agreement.
#GE2017
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Pragmatic leadership, often criticised in the press for being too cautious or uninspiring, has had a great run of results in the past week or so.
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Highbury Fields just now. I know the weather isn’t great but there was once a time when the proof point for Jeremy Corbyn’s popularity was that he got big crowds.
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Fantastic that Labour's Mayor of London
@SadiqKhan
now sees the People's Vote as the only way of stopping a bad deal or no deal Brexit - and that he supports giving us all the chance of staying in the EU.
The Govt is failing in its Brexit negotiations. We now face the real risk of a bad deal, or no deal. Both would cause huge damage to London & the UK.
With no general election & time running out, I’m backing a public vote with the option to stay in the EU.
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In fact, if
@Keir_Starmer
becomes the 58th PM of this country, he’ll be the FIRST to have completed an undergraduate degree at an English university that was not Oxford or Cambridge. Not sure whether that’s a “fancy that” or a moment in “breaking barriers to opportunity”.
1/3. Quiz question from the new book on England I’ve written with
@mds49
-it suggests our Establishment has a problem.
Out of 57 PMs in the history of this country, who was the only one to study for a degree from an English university, but went neither to Oxford nor Cambridge?
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Hmmm. He’s visited quite a lot of league grounds too including Accrington, Carlisle, Port Vale, Stevenage, Walsall & Wycombe. As an Arsenal fan, he’s gone to at least a dozen more. So I wouldn’t get carried away with the idea of some cynical non league strategy.
@bbclaurak
Why does Keir Starmer keep appearing at non-league football grounds?
Laura and Paddy discuss Labour’s tactics on the latest
#BBCNewscast
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Oh dear. I’m not sure that
@JohnnyMercerUK
has really thought this one through.
@JohnnyMercerUK
Why is it you expect to be able to not talk about your knowledge of operations in Afghanistan before a judge, but expect Fred to talk about his sensitive operations?
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On tonight’s showing I’m rather surprised Penny Mordaunt didn’t keep interrupting the King when he was doing the coronation oath.
#bbcdebate
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At least 5,000 march through Brighton with one simple demand: Trust the People to solve Brexit - not Boris Johnson.
#LabConf19
#PeoplesVote
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This confirmation from
@HackneyAbbott
that “Jeremy in his heart of hearts” backed Brexit puts Corbyn at odds with the overwhelming majority of Labour voters - and probably an even higher proportion of party members - in my constituency of Islington North.
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Highly sensitive liar
@Nigel_Farage
shows once more that while he can dish it out, he really can’t take it. Great piece by
@tom_watson
Tom Watson has broken his promises to the people.
The second referendum that he backs is a total insult to 5 million Brexit Labour voters.
I now intend to wholeheartedly target Labour lies and dishonesty in the weeks ahead.
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Victoria Starmer isn’t playing ball with the rightwing press. Good for her | Catherine Bennett
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Len McCluskey can deny it until he’s blue in the face but he’s got this badly wrong and is doing great harm to Jeremy Corbyn with his advice
Len McCluskey says that Labour "never" voted in favour of a second referendum, and he "rejects out of hand" the polling that shows Labour members overwhelmingly support one.
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6) if
@UKLabour
now turns its back on its internationalist values it will betray a whole generation of young progressive voters who the party to stand for an open and outward-looking future.
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5) But the “blame Remain” myth now being established is not only an excuse for Labour’s failings elsewhere, it is dangerous for the future of the party and our politics.
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Even if tonight changes anything (which is already in doubt) Brexit never was just about the backstop. This is a truly bad deal. Full stop.
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This is what happens if you get on a bus with
@campbellclaret
and a £100m government propaganda campaign.
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Correct. The word “Boris” appears NINE times in
@thesundaytimes
headlines today, “Johnson” just once. He’s not “Ant” or “Dec”. Or “Jesus”...
This is worth reading. A quality piece. But why is PM Johnson called Boris throughout? Other senior politicians are all addressed by surnames. Leaves impression of a certain clubbiness afforded to him and perhaps not others
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For all the talk about Labour members, it's worth remembering the next PM is about to be chosen by 150k of the oddest people in Britain
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8) But I loathe seeing
@UKLabour
taking excuses from the Tory playbook even before they start a “period of reflection”
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This could not be more urgent. Theresa May talks about “the people”. If she’s in No 10 on Saturday and opens her curtains, she’ll see some.
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For everyone (including me) feeling a little queasy about Labour’s selection process today, this is a reminder of what happens when problems are missed rather than spotted early.
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As one “senior party strategist” put it: “We won by scoring more goals than our opponents. No point in saying the other team had 15 corners or a higher-than-expected percentage of possession. You don’t get goals for that.”
Starmer won, using the available electoral system, by making himself the acceptable PM candidate for a vast anti-Tory coalition. It doesn't vibe like a presidential mandate but nor is it simply expressed by the 34% Lab share.
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Here’s
@Keir_Starmer
talking about some of the difficult, even raw, issues about relations with his dad raised in The Biography of him I’ve just written. Great interview by
@SophyRidgeSky
I was very moved by this. Keir Starmer talking about his relationship with his father and how it impacted him
“I probably should addressed that before he passed. I wish I had. But I didn’t.”
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.
@JPonpolitics
: “How important is it the PM is wholly truthful with the British people?
@steveBarclay
: “You rarely ask easy questions, John”
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3) And many of the 3 in 4 of Labour’s 2017 voters who want to stay in the EU will have thought the party’s support for a final say referendum on Brexit did not go far enough.
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The message is crystal clear: if
@jeremycorbyn
wants to stop the Faragist far right, Labour MUST back
#PeoplesVote
.
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4) As
@peterkellner1
has pointed out, only 1/8 of those who voted Leave in 2016 were working class Labour anyway and that proportion has probably declined when it became clear they were going to be hit first & worst.
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A great pre-review for my biography of Keir Starmer from
@campbellclaret
in characteristic form.
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Starmer is making a more interesting point than you think: he doesn’t like being defined by other people. His previous answers about not having “political heroes” have baffled “political journalists” but not ordinary voters - who have neither Attlee nor Thatcher on their walls.
Instead of saying he doesn't like paintings of people staring down at him (which may be true but is a bit odd) not sure why Starmer can't just say do you think Boris Johnson would have wanted a picture of Attlee in his study?
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My piece for The Observer today on
@AngelaRayner
- her fridge, her lettuce - and an unexpected offer for
@michaelgove
.
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The collective IQ of the next parliament is about to increase.
Llongyfarchiadau to Torsten Bell who has been selected as Welsh Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Swansea West.
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Anyone in Labour who still thinks the party can hedge its bets on Brexit needs to read this. Right now.
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This is an extract from my book, Keir Starmer: The Biography. It not only reveals how he almost quit in May 2021 but also how he fights back in the face of adversity.
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7) Sadly, I don’t think there is much chance of a
#PeoplesVote
now - even though you can argue a majority voted for parties backing it yesterday.
@RolandRudd
really did for the campaign a few weeks back.
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A rough summary of this so far: Starmer facing tough questions and trying to limit expectations about what Labour can do; Sunak apologising for just about everything he has done.
#SkyDebate
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I think that was a clear win for Corbyn. But then again, I thought Ed Miliband won the Sky/C4 event 2 years ago. And that worked out well.
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When a poll shows Labour members support
#PeoplesVote
by 9 to 1 - yes, NINE TO ONE - surely the party will listen?
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I’ve written a new biography of Keir Starmer that includes interviews with him, family member, close friends and advisers. But please don’t call it “authorised”…Preorder here:
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“Why would anyone trust
@Jacob_Rees_Mogg
with a withdrawal act -he’s got six kids”. Top line by Vanessa of
@euromovescot
.
#PeoplesVoteScot
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The response to my story on citizen’s assemblies has got far too shouty. My book published next week makes clear Starmer does not regard them as a “panacea” but will look at where they may help. Sue Gray is also all about nuance, pragmatics and what works. too. Twitter isn’t…
Labour NEC member, secretary of Labour First and one of the architects of Keir Starmer’s party reforms dismisses Sue Gray’s proposal (in
@TomBaldwin66
book) as “stupid”.
Citizens assemblies now providing a policy focus to existing personal and political tensions surrounding
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I’ve signed a stack of books at
@Foyles
on Charing Cross Road. Staff say that copies of “Keir Starmer: The Biography” are selling fast. Reprints on the way.
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The 25 key seats that could stop a Boris Johnson majority
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There must be an enormous democratic imperative for
@GamRegGB
to publish - at least interim - findings before July 4. Some of those under investigation are candidates. Others are part of the Rishi Sunak’s inner circle. Voters have a right to know.
The Gambling Commission is investigating “many” other individuals who bet on the July election, I understand, in a widening scandal that is undermining Rishi Sunak’s general election campaign.
After the Tory candidate and ex PPS to Sunak, Craig Williams, placed a £100 bet on a
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Brave & principled interview by
@HuwMerriman
on
@BBCr4today
ahead of his speech to
#PeoplesVote
. This is about democracy, not Leave/Remain.
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Why is Lord Houchen of High Leven routinely referred to by
@bbc
as “Ben Houchen” or just “Ben”? Presenters always calls the Labour leader “Sir Keir Starmer” even though he doesn’t use that title in Parliament. One rule for “Ben” & “Boris”, another rule for Labour?
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This isn’t a watchdog but a miniature poodle with its teeth removed. GB “News” politician-presenters spew out propaganda but
@ofcom
, after 29 focus groups, concludes “there is no clear consensus” for doing anything. Who decided to entrust broadcasting standards to focus groups?
🚨 Ahead of the next General Election, we're sending a clear warning to broadcasters to maintain the highest standard of impartiality.
We've also issued strengthened industry guidance on rules around politicians as presenters.
🔗 Read more:
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The first four Tory MPs at
#pmqs
raised constituency issues - development & phone masts, local colleges & hospitals - rather than the national campaign messages that Sunak would have wanted them to parrot. He’s looking a bit lonely.
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I’m not sure the Tory attempt to contrast the “youthful vigour” of Sunak with Keir Starmer (who can actually play football) has quite come off.
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Great piece by
@OwenSmith_MP
drawing on UCL research by
@chrischirp
&
@christabelCoops
showing why Labour must back
#PeoplesVote
.
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.
@ChrisMasonBBC
— it might be “dizzying” but it’s really not democracy. That would be a General Election. The 200,000 Tory members who will pick the next PM are deeply unrepresentative of this nation. Quite a lot of them are extremely odd or just extreme.
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Latest
@10DowningStreet
spin is that
#PeoplesVote
would be a “politicians vote”. Can you spot the politicians here (among all the people)?
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Important interview by
@Keir_Starmer
which recognises there’s no stable majority for ANY deal without a public vote.
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@kelvmackenzie
@jpfallon27
Wasn’t it your newspaper which showed a 15 year old girl in school uniform and counted down the days before readers could see her naked?
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The
#PeoplesVote
campaign does not belong to any one person or board of directors. The clue’s in the title: it belongs to the people.
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Question is why Labour’s base feels need to “protest” against the main opposition party. Clue: its voters overwhelmingly back
#PeoplesVote
Labour Remainers cite swing in northern leave seats to Lib Dems/Greens as evidence of support for remain. Maybe. Or is it just a protest by those who have nowhere else to go ???
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Whatever else you read or hear about us, this is the story of the
#PeoplesVote
campaign, of which I am massively proud to be part.
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All Britain is under Roman control except for one indomitable north London village where...
#reshuffle
Worth saying again: Corbyn, Abbott & Thornberry are all in neighbouring seats in N London: Islington North, Stoke Newington, Islington South
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This story in
@Independent
today is based on quotes from
@DominicGrieve1
in my Biography of
@Keir_Starmer
. It shows why this time it will be difficult for the Tories to make the mud they fling around really stick.
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.
@campbellclaret
devotes much of his column in
@TheNewEuropean
today to discussing my biography of Keir Starmer and why it sometimes takes a book to understand someone.
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Government’s plan is now to fight Euro election campaign but not allow people to vote. It’d be quite funny if it wasn’t so mad, bad & sad.
Jeremy Hunt "there is zero appetite for fighting European Parliament elections in the UK". But does not rule them out.
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My biography of
@Keir_Starmer
revealed how Labour’s defeat in the Hartlepool by-election 3 yrs ago left him thinking about resignation. This morning, his party has regained control of Hartlepool Council. Quite the turn around.
Read how he did it here:
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I’ve written this for The Observer about what
@Keir_Starmer
really thinks about the Diane Abbott row, his approach to Tuesday’s debate, and why he feels some sympathy for those prosecuting Donald Trump.
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My book, Keir Starmer: The Biography, is now available in bookshops and online. . I explain a bit more about it here.
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