Keir Starmer

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Person.png Sir Keir Rodney Starmer   Powerbase Twitter WebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(lawyer, politician)
Sir Kid Starver.jpeg
BornKeir Rodney Starmer
1962-09-02
London, England
NationalityUK
Alma materUniversity of Leeds, St Edmund Hall (Oxford)
Children2
SpouseVictoria Alexander
Member ofLabour Friends of Israel, Trilateral Commission
InterestsLabour Friends of Israel
PartyLabour
Sir Spooky Starmer has questions to answer about TLC

Employment.png Leader of the Labour Party

In office
4 April 2020 - Present
Preceded byJeremy Corbyn

Employment.png UK/Leader of the Opposition Wikipedia-icon.png

In office
4 April 2020 - Present
Preceded byJeremy Corbyn

Employment.png Director of Public Prosecutions Wikipedia-icon.png

In office
1 November 2008 - 1 November 2013
Preceded byKen Macdonald
Succeeded byAlison Saunders

Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a UK politician and former Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of the Crown Prosecution Service, where he was central in making sure the case against Julian Assange continued.

Keir Starmer has been a Labour Party Member of Parliament since the 2015 General Election, and on 6 October 2016 he was appointed Shadow Brexit Secretary by Jeremy Corbyn[1]. Starmer soon became part of the effort to oust Corbyn as Labour leader.

On 4 April 2020, following the 2020 Labour Party leadership contest,[2] Sir Keir Starmer was elected Leader of the Labour Party to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.[3] On 17 April 2020, it was revealed that Starmer had received a £50,000 donation from pro-Israel lobbyist Trevor Chinn – information which was not disclosed until after polls had closed in the leadership election.[4]

On 5 June 2020, Matt Kennard posed five questions for Sir Spooky Starmer to answer:

The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper, his former role in the Julian Assange case and his membership in the intelligence-linked Trilateral Commission.[5]

Following Labour's crushing defeat in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election, Max Blumenthal tweeted on 7 May 2021:

Keir Starmer did not become leader to help Labour win, but to restore establishment control over the party and vanquish the heretics that dared defy its agenda. For the forces he truly represents, the project has been a smashing success.[6]

In November 2021, he told the BBC that he hadn't spoken to Corbyn in over a year.[7] He said Tony Blair's knighthood was well deserved.[8] In July 2023, he was nicknamed "Sir Kid Starver" over Labour plans to keep the Tories' two-child benefit cap.[9]

Background

Keir Starmer was born in 1962 in Southwark, London. His father, Rod Starmer, was a toolmaker, and his mother, Josephine Starmer (née Baker), was a nurse. Starmer’s parents were both staunch Labour supporters, and they named Keir – their second son – after the first leader of the Labour Party, Keir Hardie.

In contrast to his three siblings who all went the the local Comprehensive school, Starmer passed his 11-plus exam and gained entry into Reigate Grammar school. Starmer then studied law at Leeds University, where he graduated with a first-class Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1985, before winning a place at Oxford where he graduated with a Bachelor of Civic Law (BCL) in 1986.

Career

A year after graduating from St Edmund Hall (Oxford), Starmer became a Barrister at the Middle Temple. He was then appointed as a member of the Queen’s Counsel (QC) in 2002, and moved to Doughty Street Chambers the following year.

Starmer’s legal work primarily consisted of human rights issues, with one of his most notable successes being the so-called “McLibel” case where he assisted two environmental activists, Helen Steel and David Morris, in a highly contentious case brought against them by the US fast-food giants, McDonald’s.

McDonald’s had accused Steel and Morris of libel after they produced and publicised a factsheet which contained numerous claims that were highly critical of the company’s ethics and practices. Both were refused legal aid in order to defend themselves, but received substantial pro-bono assistance from a number of lawyers, including Starmer.

During the trial, McDonald’s initially argued that all the claims in Steel and Morris’s pamplet were false, but, after almost ten years of legal wranglings, a number of the claims in the document were eventually proved to be true – including the claims that McDonalds did “exploit children“, that they were “culpably responsible” for unnecessary cruelty to animals, and that the company were “antipathetic” to the unionisation of workers and helped to “depress wages in the catering trade“.

In addition to his role in the McLibel case, Starmer undertook substantial legal work challenging the death penalty in the Caribbean and Africa, and he also worked as a human rights advisor to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland.

Following years of successful legal work in the field of human rights, and after being named QC of the Year in 2007, Starmer was named as the new Head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2008.[10][11]

Director of Public Prosecutions

During his role as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) (2008 to 2013), Keir Starmer oversaw the prosecution and conviction of a number of MPs and Lords who abused their taxpayer-funded parliamentary expenses, and the successful retrial of the killers of Stephen Lawrence.

All of Keir Starmer's predecessors as DPP received knighthoods for the role, and he was no different. He was awarded a knighthood in 2014 for "services to law and criminal justice" and is therefore entitled to be known as "Sir Keir Starmer".[12]

Jimmy Savile

Starmer failed to bring charges against Jimmy Savile for paedophilia. The decision was made despite the Crown Prosecution Service receiving substantial evidence of his crimes from witnesses and victims several years before Savile died in 2011.

Julian Assange

In December 2010, as Julian Assange prepared to appear at London's High Court to hear an appeal against a lower court's decision to release him on bail, Keir Starmer was asked to comment on reports in The Guardian newspaper that Sweden has "not got a view at all on bail". Starmer told BBC radio:

"The general position and the nature of the arrangement is absolutely clear. The Crown Prosecution Service acts here as agents of the government seeking extradition, in this case the Swedish government. These proceedings are brought as agents of the Swedish government."

A spokeswoman for the Swedish prosecutor's office, Karin Rosander, told AFP the decision to oppose bail was "a decision of the British prosecutor and that is what the British prosecutor's office has confirmed to me."[13]

According to Freedom of Information searches by the Italian journalist Stefania Maurizi, Sweden tried to drop the Assange case in 2011, but a CPS official in London told the Swedish prosecutor not to treat it as “just another extradition”.

In 2012, the Swedish prosecutor received an email from the CPS: “Don’t you dare get cold feet!!!” Other CPS emails were either deleted or redacted. Why? Keir Starmer needs to say why.[14]

John Worboys

Keir Starmer has also encountered criticism over the CPS’s decision to release the prolific serial rapist, John Worboys, from prison, as well as the decision not to pursue 75 further allegations made against him. However, in 2018, the CPS issued a statement claiming the Starmer had no role in either of the decisions regarding Worboys.[15]

Ian Tomlinson

Ian Tomlinson was brutally attacked by police officer Simon Harwood in 2009. Harwood hit Tomlinson, who was walking with his hands in his pockets in the other direction, across the back of the legs with a baton. Tomlinson was unable to break his fall, causing fatal internal bleeding to his liver shortly afterwards. Fifteen months later, Starmer announced that Harwood would not be prosecuted. The CPS proceeded a few months later when an inquest jury found that Tomlinson had been unlawfully killed.[16]

Spycops scandal

In 2011, DPP Keir Starmer was in court to witness the collapse of a trial of environmental activists after the involvement of undercover police officer Mark Kennedy was revealed. The case began the “Spycops scandal", which has since exposed the extensive, long-term infiltration of left-wing and environmentalist groups by police agents, who grossly abused the rights of campaigners and perverted the course of justice in countless court cases. The CPS is suspected of having been closely involved.

As DPP, Starmer refused to pursue the matter. Referring to an in-house CPS investigation, he accepted the manifestly untrue:

“If Sir Christopher Rose had found systemic problems, then I would quite accept perhaps a retrospective look at all the cases. But he didn’t, he found individual failings.”[17]

Protection of MI5 and MI6

Under his direction, the CPS refused to prosecute MI5 and MI6 personnel in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The agents were suspected of participating in CIA extraordinary rendition programmes and the torture of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan.

Benefits campaign

In 2013, after Tory Chancellor George Osborne launched a gutter-press campaign against “benefits cheats,” Starmer issued guidelines for the CPS allowing those accused of improperly drawing social security to be charged under the Fraud Act. This allowed for sentences of up to 10 years. He also removed the financial threshold on sending cases to Crown Court, meaning even the most trivial “offences” could be punished with long-term jail time.[18]

Express trials

Following the London riots in 2012 and the rubber-stamp sentencing of over 1,000 young people, Starmer praised the efforts to rush defendants through the courts: “For me it was the speed that I think may have played some small part in bringing the situation back under control.” He visited Highbury Magistrates Court in North London in the early hours of the morning to boost the morale of the prosecutors and praise their efficiency.

"Chicken Coup"

Starmer's "Chicken Coup" resignation letter

During the infamous so-called “Chicken Coup”, less than a year after the Labour membership had handed Jeremy Corbyn a massive mandate to lead the party, numerous Labour Shadow Cabinet Ministers instigated co-ordinated resignations from the front bench in a deeply cynical attempt to remove him as leader.

In his resignation letter dated 27 June 2016, Keir Starmer – who was a Shadow Immigration Minister at the time – essentially claimed that because a lot of other Shadow Ministers had resigned, he decided to resign too. In the opening paragraph of Starmer’s letter, he claims that he initially “respected the mandate” that Labour members had given to Jeremy Corbyn to lead the party.

Starmer then uses two different excuses for his decision to disregard the democratic will of Labour members: claiming that the party needed a “louder voice” regarding Brexit, and that Mr Corbyn’s position was “untenable” because so many Shadow Ministers had resigned.

In the subsequent 2016 Labour leadership election, Starmer went on to support the astonishingly dour, former big pharma lobbyist, Owen Smith.

Upshot

During the 2016 "Chicken Coup", the right thing to do would have clearly been to trust the decision of Labour members, rather than an overwhelmingly right-wing and detached Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), and support the democratically elected leader of the party. Had the PLP been united, Labour may well have been in a position to gain the few thousands extra votes necessary to have formed a government in the UK/2017 General Election campaign.

Unfortunately, Starmer’s willingness to disregard clear democratic decisions in favour of what he thinks is right is not an isolated incident, with the Shadow Brexit Secretary becoming the architect of Labour’s decision to change their Brexit policy from respecting the result in 2017 to supporting a second referendum in 2019 – a policy regarded as the main reason that the party lost huge numbers of seats in their pro-Leave heartlands to the Tories in December’s General Election.

Whilst Labour may still have lost the election had they continued with their 2017 Brexit policy to respect the Brexit vote, they would unquestionably have been far closer to the Conservative Party in terms of votes – with the only genuine question being whether the Lib Dems would have been able to charge through the middle on their pro-Remain platform.

Moreover, at the UK/2019 General Election, the right thing to do – electorally speaking – would have been to continue to support the democratic decision of the British people regarding the Brexit vote. Labour’s decision to support a second referendum is clearly not the only reason for their loss, but it was certainly a huge factor in the sheer scale of it – and Starmer was crucial in pushing the party towards it.[19]

Labour leader

The BBC reports what Keir Starmer and the Labour Party said on 19 July 2021, AKA "Freedom Day", the day that restrictions in England were supposedly ended. Instead the introduction of vaccine passports were announced. This is an example of the Official opposition narrative.

Former Israel spy on his social media team

Sir Keir hired a former Israel spy to work in his social media team. Assaf Kaplan was hired as a "social media listener", and worked for the infamous 8200 cyber unit of the Israeli intelligence services. Although Israeli citizens are subject to mandatory conscription into the Israeli army, the duration of national service is only two and a half years. Kaplan served in Israeli intelligence for nearly five years, twice the normal conscription period[20]

COVID-19

Starmer has been a weak leader in opposing government policies during COVID-19. The sole criticism of Boris Johnson throughout has been; not enough lockdowns, vaccines, mask mandates etc. In December 2021, Sir Keir insisted that, while he is not "comfortable" with the idea of vaccine passports, he believes they are necessary.[21]

On 21 July, he self-isolated for the fourth time.[22]

Preferring globalism over national politics

In January 2023, Starmer admitted he prefers hobnobbing with the billionaires and their select invitees in the World Economic Forum in Davos to national politics in London. Asked to choose between Davos and Westminster, he said: "Davos... Because Westminster is too constrained. And, you know, it's closed and we're not having meaning....Once you get out of Westminster, whether it's Davos or anywhere else, you actually engage with people that you can see [yourself] working with in the future." On the seat of British democracy, Sir Keir added: "Westminster is just a tribal shouting place."[23]

By-election performance

Keir Starmer's poor performance in eight by-elections

Of eight by-elections held in England under Keir Starmer's leadership of the Labour Party, two were won by Boris Johnson's Tories, three won by the Lib Dems overturning huge Tory majorities and three unconvincing wins in traditional Labour seats with record low turnout figures/vote numbers:


 

Appointments by Keir Starmer

AppointeeJobAppointedEnd
Jon AshworthShadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care7 October 201629 November 2021
Jon AshworthShadow Work and Pensions Secretary29 November 2021
Anneliese DoddsShadow Chancellor of the Exchequer5 April 20209 May 2021
Anneliese DoddsShadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities21 September 2021
Anneliese DoddsChair of the Labour Party9 May 2021
David LammyShadow Foreign Secretary29 November 2021
Lucy PowellShadow Secretary of State for Housing9 May 202129 November 2021
Lucy PowellShadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport29 November 2021
Ellie ReevesShadow Minister for Prisons and Probation4 December 2021
Ellie ReevesShadow Solicitor General9 April 20204 December 2021
Rachel ReevesShadow Chancellor of the Exchequer9 May 2021
Rachel ReevesShadow Minister for the Cabinet Office5 April 20209 May 2021
Jo StevensShadow Secretary of State for Wales29 November 2021
Jo StevensShadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport6 April 202029 November 2021

 

Event Participated in

EventStartEndLocation(s)Description
WEF/Annual Meeting/202316 January 202320 January 2023Switzerland
World Economic Forum
The theme of the meeting was "Cooperation in a Fragmented World"

 

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References

  1. "Appointed Shadow Brexit Secretary by Jeremy Corbyn"
  2. "Labour leadership: Phillips and Nandy secure nominations"
  3. "Congratulations to @Keir_Starmer, the new Leader of the Labour Party!"
  4. "Keir Starmer received £50,000 donation from pro-Israel lobbyist in leadership bid"
  5. "Five questions for new Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer about his UK and US national security establishment links"
  6. "Keir Starmer did not become leader to help Labour win, but to restore establishment control over the party"
  7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59422675
  8. https://labourlist.org/2022/01/he-deserves-the-honour-keir-starmer-welcomes-knighthood-for-tony-blair/
  9. "Keir Starmer nicknamed ‘Sir Kid Starver’ over Labour plans to keep two-child benefit cap"
  10. Nina Goswami: "Keir Starmer QC appointed DPP"
  11. Frances Gibb: "Human rights lawyer Keir Starmer named as new prosecution service chief"
  12. "Why Sir Keir Starmer was knighted: How the Labour leadership contender earned his title – and what he has said about it"
  13. "Sweden had 'no say' in Assange bail appeal"
  14. Document:Julian Assange Must be Freed, Not Betrayed
  15. "CPS statement on John Worboys"
  16. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/07/star-a07.html
  17. "Secret files reveal covert network run by nuclear police"
  18. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/07/star-a07.html
  19. "Labour Leadership Election 2020 Candidate Profile: Keir Starmer"
  20. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210119-uk-labour-leader-starmer-hired-former-israeli-spy-for-social-media-team/
  21. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-plan-b-covid-government-prime-minister-b1974483.html
  22. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-sir-keir-starmer-self-isolating-after-one-of-his-children-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-12360655
  23. https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1811195/keir-starmer-davos