Tuesday, September 30, 2025

The prime minister found his voice today with an unexpectedly rousing speech to an audience in Liverpool that was keen to be roused.

It included two strong messages that delegates to Labour conference did not particularly want to hear. One was a powerful defence of fiscal prudence as the condition of sustainable progress towards social justice. The other was a commitment to tough immigration controls as a requirement of an open, tolerant nation. 

What got the delegates going, though, was a condemnation of racism and a series of hard-hitting attacks on Nigel Farage. 

I thought the weakness of the speech was its assault on Farage for complaining about "broken Britain", which is something that Keir Starmer has been doing until today. 

As Simon Walters writes, the speech did what it had to do in raising Labour morale, but outside the hall it might be received more sceptically. 

Where in the UK is the postcode ZE? 

Answer at the bottom of today's email 

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QUOTATION OF THE DAY

This great party is proud of our flags. Yet if they're painted alongside graffiti telling a Chinese takeaway owner to go home, that's not pride. That's racism

Keir Starmer in his speech to Labour conference 

Quiz answer: Shetland, formerly Zetland

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