Starmer takes aim at Farage

斯塔默瞄准法格本

Today in Focus

2025-10-01

33 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

The Labour leader entered conference with the polls against him and Reform UK snapping at his heels. He came out fighting – but was it enough to change his critics’ minds? Helen Pidd. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • This is The Guardian.

  • Today, could this be Keir Starmer's last Labour conference as Prime Minister?

  • A quick warning before we start.

  • This episode contains a racist slur.

  • So we're outside a German-themed pub in central Liverpool,

  • eagerly awaiting the start of the Labour-list karaoke night,

  • which is apparently one of the highlights of every Labour conference.

  • I've never made it before.

  • I've heard wild stories from the past of cabinet ministers disgracing themselves,

  • or proving themselves to be surprisingly good.

  • After a few false starts, things finally get underway.

  • The first cabinet minister steps up to the mic.

  • But instead of belting out Bicycle by Queen or Gary Newman's cars,

  • she opts for a bit of Britpop nostalgia.

  • You'll learn new things about MPs at conference.

  • Like the fact that Alex Davies-Jones, the Justice Minister and the MP for Pontypreeth,

  • used to be a Celine Dion impersonator touring working men's clubs in the South Wales.

  • But not everyone has the pipes for such vocal gymnastics,

  • and many opt for crowd-pleasing sing-alongs instead.

  • You can see why Labour MPs might prefer karaoke to reality right now.