Keir Starmer has been Britain’s prime minister since July. More than three months on the job and it was an especially rocky “first 100 days.” The Tory press has had their knives out for Starmer from the start, as he’s tried to turn the page from fourteen years of Tory rot at the heart of British politics. It seems that now is not the time for Keir Starmer to make enemies in the monarchist British press. So PM Starmer was called upon to praise King Charles in the wake of Australian Senator Lidia Thorpe’s one-woman demonstration in Australian Parliament on Monday. Not even twelve hours after Thorpe’s brave and ballsy protest, Starmer had to come out and defend the poor old colonialist king. The way the monarchist media is working overtime to make King Charles the “victim” of this story is really remarkable.
King Charles is doing a “fantastic job”, particularly in the context of his “health challenges”, the prime minister has said after the royal was heckled by the Indigenous Australian senator Lidia Thorpe. Charles had just finished addressing MPs and senators at Parliament House in Canberra, as part of his five-day tour of Australia with Camilla, when he was approached by Thorpe, who yelled: “This is not your country.”
After the launch of the public consultation on the future of the NHS on Monday, Keir Starmer was asked whether it was “disgraceful” that Australian politicians were “heckling the king”.
Starmer said: “Look, I think the king is doing a fantastic job, an incredible ambassador not just for our country, but across the Commonwealth. I think he’s doing a fantastic job, and we should remember in the context of health, that he is out there doing his public service notwithstanding, you know, the health challenges he himself has had – so I think he’s doing a great job.”
Charles has paused his cancer treatment, after his diagnosis in February, while he carries out his first tour as monarch to Australia, and his state visit to Samoa. Starmer also praised the monarch as an “incredible ambassador” for the Commonwealth, and said he was looking forward to joining Charles in Samoa for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) summit.
When asked if Britain was guilty of genocide in Australia, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said he would not be drawn on comments made in relation to royal matters. But he said Britain’s relationship with Australia was “fantastic” and that it was a key ally. But No 10 said Starmer remained opposed to apologising for the UK’s historical role in slavery, with the spokesperson noting talks around reparations are “not on the agenda” for the Chogm meeting.
“The position on apology remains the same,” they said. “We won’t be offering an apology at Chogm, but we will continue to engage with partners on the issues as we work with them to tackle the pressing challenges of today and indeed for the future generations.”
I actually chuckled at the artful dodge of “When asked if Britain was guilty of genocide in Australia, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said he would not be drawn on comments made in relation to royal matters.” It’s not actually funny, but at a purely political level, it’s amazing to answer accusations of historical genocide with what amounts to “We will not comment on what the royal family did for centuries.” Prime minister to king: that’s your mess, you clean it up.
As for what Starmer said on the record – it’s not actually a ringing endorsement to mention Charles’s health in the second sentence. It’s basically saying: he’s doing his job as king and please remember that he’s in very poor health. Starmer doesn’t want to go on the record, kicking a king with cancer. But there are other reasons why Starmer is choosing to back Charles at this moment too. And I appreciate that Starmer didn’t do any kind of character assassination on Lidia Thorpe as well, because the British media is braying for Thorpe’s blood at this point.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.