Thursday morning and finally – finally – an interesting speech from the leader of the Opposition. But who scheduled it?
Putting him on a few minutes before the start of the crucial third Test meant I only saw the first bit of it but, from reading up on it later, there were some good parts.
Cricket is the only game in town at the moment. There are bits and pieces knocking around – five upcoming by-elections, Labour’s 25 point lead, Rwanda rulings – but it’s hard to look past the Ashes.
Even the PM weighed in, after Jonny Bairstow’s controversial dismissal at Lords.
If you didn’t see it you’re doing something majorly wrong. This is the Ashes. The whole nation should be watching. Or, you know, discreetly listening to it on the radio if you’re supposed to be working. It’s what summer is for.
Anyways, according to our PM Baristow’s dismissal was against the “spirit of cricket”.
His spokesman said: “The PM agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn’t want to win a game in the manner Australia did.”
Yeah, right. I don’t believe that for a second. The PM would want to win at any cost. That’s how come he’s PM. That’s how the Australians are up in the series.
Cricket is ruthless but nothing compared to politics – particularly if you’re 25 points down in the polls. Never mind the “spirit of the game”, find the political equivalent of sandpaper to tamper with the ball and get to work. There were reports earlier that Mr Sunak is finding being Prime Minister “difficult” and that he’s not getting the rewards he deserves for the job that he’s doing.
I spoke to a couple of Tory backbenchers about this and it turns out to be an extremely accurate reading of the PMs mood. It’s hard to have sympathy.
“You imagine being Prime Minister at a time like this. Load of by-elections, Boris still roaming around, the thing splintering all over the place. You turn on the TV and one of your blokes [Party deputy chairman and talk show host Lee Anderson] is on there going on about eating cat food?”
It must be tough. In fact, there is a conversation going on as to whether this farce will last the full term. The received wisdom is that a late 2024 election is on the cards. This can’t last. And wait until the mortgage stuff really kicks in.
A lot of people – even Tories – are starting to say sooner rather than later. Preferably not during the summer – at least give us that.
Meantime, back to Mr Starmer’s speech. Education, with a couple of practical measures to drive up standards thrown in. Among them, Mr Starmer wants to improve something called “oracy” – which means clearer speech. I had to go and look that up, which I guess, in a roundabout way, proves his point.
