A former Conservative candidate for Mayor of London and one of her London Assembly member colleagues have criticised Sir Keir Starmer after he described the politics of their fellow right-wing party, Reform UK, as “dangerous”.
Responding to the Prime Minister’s remark, which was made during a speech at the Scottish Labour conference yesterday, Susan Hall, who was defeated by Sir Sadiq Khan at last year’s mayoral election, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “No, the danger is the left wing’s lack of understanding regarding how our economy works” and called the Labour government a “band of imbeciles”.
Hall’s Assembly colleague Alessandro Georgiou accused Starmer of not caring about what he called “dangerous leftwing politics” when serving in former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet and called him “nothing but a commie in a tie”. The derogatory term “commie” is short for Communist, and was often used by right wingers, particularly in the United States, during the Cold War decades following World War II.
Starmer’s speech and the decisions of the two Tory AMs (pictured together, left, main photo) to respond to his warning about Reform by attacking him came as the far-right Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party was expected to finish in second place in Sunday’s German elections – an outcome confirmed by preliminary results – and after US President Donald Trump had praised Farage at a conference in the US on Saturday.
The AfD was strongly supported during the election campaign in Germany campaign by Trump’s so-called “special government employee” Elon Musk. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch praised Trump at a recent international conference of right wingers held in London as the US President was engaging in direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war Putin started in Ukraine, by-passing Ukraine itself and all other European countries, including Britain.
Both Hall, who is also a councillor in Harrow, and Georgiou, who leads the opposition Tory group in Enfield, have welcomed Trump’s return to the White House, with Hall highlighting the President’s proposal for turning Gaza into a holiday resort as an offer to “rebuild Palestine if everyone there finds somewhere else to live” and Georgiou enthusing about Trump’s actions during his first days as President as “having fun”.
Recent opinion polls have suggested the Tories have fallen behind Farage’s party, which has also been ahead of Labour in some recent surveys. There has been speculation, dismissed by Badenoch, that Reform and the Conservatives could form an electoral pact.
In his speech, Starmer accused Reform of “fawning over Putin” and said that while claiming to represent the interests of British workers, its five MPs, which include Farage, had voted against the Labour government’s Employment Rights Bill, which aims to strengthen workers’ legal entitlements in a range of areas, including parental leave, so-called “fire-and-rehire” practices and against unfair dismissal.
OnLondon.co.uk provides unique, no-advertising and no-paywall coverage of the capital’s politics, development and culture. Support the website and its writers for just £5 a month or £50 a year and get things that other people won’t. Details HERE. Follow Dave Hill on Bluesky. Main photo from Alessandro Georgiou’s X/Twitter feed.