Labour Leader Keir Starmer’s speech, in which he suggested his party deserved to lose the 2019 election under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, has been ridiculed online as being self-defeating and full of “meaningless platitudes.”
“When you lose an election in a democracy, you deserve to,” Starmer said during a Tuesday press conference. He added that his fellow Labour officials should ask themselves “what [were they] doing” for it to come to this.
The opposition leader then lamented the losing streak his party is currently on, having lost four general elections in a row.
Starmer also tried to pitch himself and Labour to the electorate by talking about British “values,” saying, “I want this to be the best country to grow up in, and the best country to grow old in.”
The self-deprecating speech with no policy specifics might have backfired, as Starmer was harshly mocked for it online. Many commenters took issue with him seemingly “blaming” Corbyn for the 2019 loss. Some even saw it as an apology for the former leader’s left-wing positions.
