Keir Starmer develops distinctive narrative for his and Labour’s mission - it's mostly about the PM

Keir Starmer is for the first time developing a distinctive narrative for his and Labour’s mission. It is mostly about Boris Johnson.

Here it is, in his speech on trust in politics this morning: “It is often said that the prime minister doesn’t believe the rules apply to him. That he has a sense of entitlement which transcends the normal rules of politics. I think it is considerably worse than that. It isn’t that the prime minister thinks the rules don’t apply. He absolutely knows that they do.

"His strategy is to devalue the rules so they don’t matter to anyone anymore. So, that politics becomes contaminated. Cynicism and alienation replace confidence and trust. So that the taunt 'politicians are just in it for themselves' becomes accepted wisdom

"It is a strategy to sow disillusion; to convince people that things can’t get better; government can’t improve people’s lives; progress isn’t possible because politics doesn’t work."

This is not simply an attack on Boris Johnson. It is a self-preservation exercise for Starmer and Labour too, because the data shows declining trust in all conventional politics and politicians.

The canard “they’re all as bad as each other” is heard too often. It is a cancer on our democracy. That is why so many Tory MPs were furious when Johnson smeared Starmer for personally failing as Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute Jimmy Savile.

Restoring confidence in our great democratic institutions is the project of our time. The paradox was that Brexit for many was all about rebuilding trust and confidence in the UK’s system of government and governance.

The opposite has been happening. Tragic