U-turn after U-turn: who is the real Keir Starmer?

Jun 21, 2025

59:04

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Keir Starmer is not afraid of a U-turn. From abandoned policy pledges to reinstating the winter-fuel allowance, the list is growing. To add to this - this week, the PM has expressed his support for Israel’s military action against Iran, despite criticising Israel’s actions in Gaza. Then he caved in to calls for a full national inquiry into grooming gangs, despite earlier dismissing them as amplifying far-right demands.

Whether you think these are sensible or sly, these political backflips have certainly led to a lot of headscratching when it comes to one question: what does our Prime Minister actually stand for? Nish and Coco sit down with New Statesman Editor in Chief, Tom McTague, who has spent months with Starmer trying to find out what lies beneath the title.

The Government’s new Welfare Reform Bill is introduced in Parliament this week, which experts say will lead to nearly a quarter of a million more families being pushed into poverty. Nish heads down to Westminster to meet with hundreds of people who have gathered to call for an end to the rising tide of hunger and hardship in the UK. Nish speaks to Labour MP Brian Leishman, Liberal Democrat Wendy Chamberlain and Green Siân Berry about the calls for an essentials guarantee - while hearing from the lived experience of people working at food banks around the UK.

And as the Government's new data bill finally passes in the House of Lords, Nish and Coco voice their concerns about what it means for the creative industries.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this podcast included an incorrect statistic about the rate of foodbank usage within the UK - which is estimated by the DWP to be at around 3% of households. We regret the error.

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Guests:

Tom McTague

Siân Berry

Brian Leishman

Wendy Chamberlain

Helen Barnard

Emma Revie

Useful links:

Tom McTague’s profile of Keir Starmer

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2025/06/what-keir-starmer-cant-say