Sir Keir Starmer has ceded that Labour ministers “don’t get it quite right” – just as his party’s popularity plummets to a new low.
Speaking to the Commons Liaison Committee, the PM’s words have followed recent controversy swirling around his Cabinet colleague Darren Jones, who compared benefits for disabled people as “pocket money”.
The Treasury minister was quick to apologise for his “offensive” and “patronising” on air gaffe, admitting that his words were “tactless”.
He later told ITV: “I’m sorry about it. It was tactless and it wasn’t well considered.”
Today, Starmer said that colleagues who make such blunders “usually apologise” and are “quite right to”.
The PM told the Commons Liaison Committee: “Of course language matters, I think every member of Cabinet knows that. Occasionally people don’t get it quite right. They usually apologise and are quite right to.”
He added: “The two values that have driven me in everything I’ve done as a lawyer and as a politician are dignity and respect. Dignity is probably the most important word in my dictionary.”
It comes as a new YouGov poll has revealed that Labour’s approval rating now sits at just 14 per cent – its joint-lowest since the General Election.
