Red Knight: The Unauthorised Biography of Sir Keir Starmer

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Starmer oversaw the case of Gary McKinnon, an autistic IT expert who had hacked into the remarkably insecure CIA database to look for evidence of UFO encounters – in this high profile case Starmer never wavered in his desire to extradite the man despite several medical professionals stating that McKinnon would likely commit suicide if removed from the country. This authoritative – but not authorised – biography by Tom Baldwin provides answers by drawing deeply on many hours of interviews with the Labour leader himself, as well as unprecedented access to members of his family, his oldest friends and closest colleagues.

Well, hold on a tick: I definitely never got that memo, that it was a matter of democratic accountability for any prospective prime minister to have their life story told by Michael Ashcroft. In these pages, the man comes across quite clearly as an authoritarian interested in power and fearful of decisions. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, as even the most eagle-eyed Westminster observers have found this challenging to do. Change country: -Select- Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Islands Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Cook Islands Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia Gabon Republic Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Republic of the Congo Reunion Romania Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands South Africa South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U. I was in Kier Starmer's leadership campaign video (for which I was well roasted by my friends), because it looked good for him to be on the campaign trail standing next to a black guy.That said, we see Starmer's character over the 4 chapters, and whilst Mr Eagleton may disagree with my own Afterword here, his book is one to be recommended to all those interested in UK politics, especially as we may very likely see Starmer as PM in 2024. Ashcroft uncovers more revelations than in his previous effort, notably regarding Starmer's childhood, early career and, chiefly, his years as a barrister. He has published six books, three of them bestsellers in his native South Africa, and has written for publications including the Guardian and the Independent.

We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. On climate change, incidentally, Starmer's Labour will see the planet burn before it will regulate the free market for the sake of change. The Green Transition Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. Here we see the approach he takes to remove the left-wing Corbynites from key posts in the shadow cabinet, and indeed wider into the depths of the party.Why would this prominent human rights barrister oppose the death penalty at all, when 15 years later he’d be leader of the opposition? The Politician sees Starmer elected to parliament, and immediately thrust into the life of the Labour MP and indeed into the febrile atmosphere of the then Labour parties relationships and factions: those who supported the then leader Jeremy Corbyn and those who didn't (in simple terms). He is still obliged to satisfy the original pitch – setting out his “vision for Britain” and his principles – but his apparent reluctance to put anything down on paper is rational. I particularly like the claim that Starmer is not merely a vacuous career politician but actually does have some politics, albeit ones that ought to terrify us: statist, socially conservative, and nigh-on authoritarian.

here, Mr Eagleton again uses people who worked with and for Starmer as well as others who played central roles in Corbyn's Leader of the Opposition (LOTO) team, or at Millbank, the Labour party's central HQ in London. Holden describes how Labour Together pursued its objectives with a substantial pot of undeclared funding, which it used to secretly insert itself into the Labour Party's 'antisemitism crisis' at a time when it was publicly maintaining a position of neutrality in the Party's vicious factional-infighting. Jimmy Mubenga was killed by guards hired by the home office in a botched deportation, Starmer recommended no prosecution despite a later inquest ruling informal death.Perhaps more importantly, it seems to switch focus from Starmer to Corbyn for too long in a book about Starmer - it's more of an obsession with vanquishing Corbyn's replacement. The latter role is the basis of much of Starmers reputation, it is unfair, as is suggested in a quote, to blame the DPP for the decisions of individual prosecutors but he can be held responsible for overall policy such as always believe the victim which had adverse consequences. They included people who are now among the most senior members of Keir Starmer's Shadow Cabinet: Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting, Shabana Mahmood and Steve Reed. Many of us who follow politics, especially on social media, are aware of much of what this book relates. At its heart will be a portrait of a leader and a gripping narrative account of four years that will determine Starmer’s, Labour’s and the country’s future in 2024.