KEIR Starmer has attempted to defuse a row over his comments regarding Margaret Thatcher at a Labour party event in Scotland.
The UK Labour leader wrote an opinion piece in the Sunday Telegraph last week that appeared to be a bid to woo Conservative voters, by heaping praise on the former Tory prime minister.
He said she brought “meaningful change” during her time in office and “sought to drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism”.
The comments prompted outrage in Scotland, with the party’s MSPs and MPs north of the border remaining silent on their boss’s apparent adoration of Thatcher in the immediate aftermath.
First Minister Humza Yousaf condemned the comments from Starmer as an “insult” to Scottish communities.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar eventually said that Thatcher had “decimated” Scotland as the row grew.
It comes as Starmer was met by protestors calling for a ceasefire in Gaza when he arrived in Glasgow on Thursday night.
The UK Labour leader was attending a Scottish Labour gala dinner in the city, where he backtracked on his comments regarding Thatcher once again.
Just hours after the publication of his opinion piece, Starmer tried to downplay his praise for the former Tory PM after sparking a widespread backlash.
According to the Daily Record, Starmer was asked if he was a fan of Thatcher.
He said: “No, absolutely not. She did terrible things, particularly here in Scotland which everybody in this room, myself included, profoundly disagrees with.
“The point I was trying to make in a piece that we penned last week is that there are some political leaders who have a mission, a plan, that they implement.
“And Attlee, of course, was one of them - the 'new Jerusalem'. Thatcher, whether you liked her or you didn’t like her, you couldn’t say she didn’t have a plan or a mission.”
We told how Sarwar, while condemning Thatcher, defended his boss over the row last week.
On Tuesday last week, the Scottish Labour leader was quick to attack Thatcher but then defended Starmer’s comments, urging the public to “actually read the article rather than the headline or opposition attacks”.
He then tried to turn the issue on the SNP and Alex Salmond.
The row also got a nod at PMQs in the Commons, with the Tories welcoming Starmer as a Thatcher "fanboy".
