The Prime Minister must not hide behind legalese

Sir Keir is so in thrall to the judicial process that he cannot see where the national interest lies Daily Telegraph 25/03/26 Sir Keir Starmer is a human rights lawyer who has failed to recognise that he is now a politician running the government of the country.

He is so in thrall to the judicial process that he cannot see where the national interest lies, as seen with his bizarre and ill-starred decision to hand over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. This fixation with procedure was on full display during Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons, the last before the Easter recess. He was asked by Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, to remove the moratorium on drilling new wells in the North Sea for oil and gas. The urgency of this decision could hardly be greater. The war in the Gulf has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz through which 40 per cent of the world’s oil and gas supplies are transported. We face huge price rises and potential shortages. The importance to the UK of securing as much of its own oil and gas as possible cannot be in doubt to anyone except the Prime Minister and his single-minded Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. There are two fields in the UK sector where exploration could be up and running by the end of the year if licenses were granted by the Government. But there is a freeze on new permissions. Sir Keir said it was not within his competence to lift the ban because the decision was the quasi-judicial responsibility of Mr Miliband. However, the Prime Minister was not being asked to do this personally but as the head of a government of which the Energy Secretary is a member. Were the Cabinet to insist that Mr Miliband exercised his quasi-judicial powers to grant the licences he would have no option but to do so or resign. Perhaps the Prime Minister fears he will do just that, further undermining Sir Keir’s crumbling credibility. To watch the PM become bogged down in legalese to avoid making a decision critical to the nation’s well-being was alarming. He is not being asked to break the law but to require the Energy Secretary to accept what is in the country’s best interests. Mrs Badenoch asked whether it was the Prime Minister running the Government or Mr Miliband, a former party leader rejected by the electorate in 2015. It was pretty clear to everyone watching, including Labour backbenchers who must be dreading the May local elections, where the real power lies, and it is not in No 10. No wonder Sir Keir had his head in his hands.