A WEEK is a long time in politics, but for Keir Starmer the past seven days must have felt like a lifetime.
And with what lies ahead, the coming months will seem an eternity for the lame duck Prime Minister.
No10 is currently like a ‘scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors break into a kitchen’
The coming months will seem an eternity for Prime Minister Sir Keir StarmerCrown Copyright
With Labour MPs now baying for his blood, he can’t afford to put a foot wrong.
Even his loyal supporters now accept it’s over and doubt he will survive until May’s local elections.
Like the flatlining economy, his leadership is on life support.
In his heart, even Sir Keir must realise he cannot lead his party into the next general election. It’s only a matter of when he goes.
But new challenges are coming thick and fast and one slip could hasten his downfall.
President Trump arrives in Britain tomorrow for his three-day state visit, which could be a defining or disastrous moment for the PM.
Bunker mentality
Then it’s straight into the Labour conference, where he must make the speech of his life to survive a deputy leadership race which risks becoming a proxy fight between Sir Keir and Andy Burnham.
Within weeks, his Chancellor will be forced to impose pre-Christmas tax rises to fill the £40billion black hole in the nation’s finances.
But if he survives all this, his most dangerous moment will come in May when Labour is braced for a pounding in the local, Scottish, Welsh and mayoral elections.
All this against a backdrop of problems — the asylum crisis, a stagnant economy and the costly dash for Net Zero.
An air of doom hangs over Downing Street after his week from hell in which he lost two Labour big beasts — deputy leader Angela Rayner and ambassador to Washington Peter Mandelson — hours after publicly defending them.
A source said: “Keir’s run out of goodwill and has adopted a bunker mentality.
“He knows his MPs are coming to get him.
“There’s a scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors break into a kitchen and try to hunt down two terrified children hiding in a cupboard.
“That’s what it’s like in No10 right now. Keir and his chief of staff are holed up while Labour MPs sharpen their claws.”
GettyThe PM had a week from hell in which he lost two Labour big beasts, one of whom was deputy leader Angela Rayner[/caption]
Bitter Lord Mandelson is ‘a bomb waiting to go off’PA
The real-life raptors stalking him include Manchester mayor and self-styled “King of the North” Burnham, who is eyeing up a return to Westminster to mount a challenge.
Bitter Lord Mandelson is “a bomb waiting to go off” after telling allies he was “hung out to dry”.
And resentment is festering among junior ministers who were sacked over the phone in last week’s hasty reshuffle.
Sir Keir’s fatal flaw was his failure to appoint a heavyweight team in No10. Chief of staff Morgan McSweeney is under pressure after pushing for the high-risk gamble of hiring Lord Mandelson.
For once, we’re all united on one thing. We cannot go on like this and Keir has to go
Labour veteran
Questions are also raised over why the PM was not alerted to embarrassing emails linking Mandy to the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But sacking McSweeney will still leave questions about Calamity Keir’s own judgment and ability.
He has had more catastrophes in 14 months than the Tories in 14 years.
Last week was supposed to herald a “reset” of the Government to draw a line under all previous setbacks.
But no sooner had he lost two senior players than grim figures were released showing the economy flatlining, with zero growth in July.
Sir Keir has pressed the reset button so often he must have blisters on his fingertips.
The only topic of conversation in the Westminster bars is who to rally behind for a crack at the leadership.
One Labour veteran said: “For once, we’re all united on one thing. We cannot go on like this and Keir has to go.
‘So vulnerable’
“The only thing saving him is that there isn’t a replacement we’re all agreed on.”
A former minister said: “There is absolutely no chance of Keir leading us into the next general election. He’s a dead man walking.
“The only question is when and how he goes. He’s so vulnerable that the moment could come at any time.
“But whatever happens, I don’t think he’ll survive after we get battered in the May elections.”
MPs are again questioning whether Sir Keir stands for anything other than wanting to be PM.
Devoid of core beliefs or great vision, they doubt he’s up to the job of fixing the problems Britain faces.
As America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton once said: “If you stand for nothing, what will you fall for?”
OUR national flags were a source of division AND unity over the weekend.
Thousands draped themselves in the Union Jack during a march on the streets of London by supporters of far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
At the Royal Albert Hall, the Union Flag was waved proudly at the Last Night of the PromChris Christodoulou/BBC
It led to violent clashes with police who tried to keep them away from counter-protesters, some waving Palestinian flags, from an anti-fascism group.
But just a few miles away in the Royal Albert Hall, the Union Flag was waved proudly at the Last Night of the Proms, along with the flags of Wales, Scotland and many other countries.
It even united classical music lovers with pop fans, when Queen teamed up with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to perform Bohemian Rhapsody.
It was a rousing celebration of all that is great about Britain.
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