Burnham ally says Starmer ‘f***ed it up’ and delivers blunt ‘tatty bye’ message
Karl Turner delivered a scathing farewell message to Sir Keir Starmer and backed Andy Burnham to be a better leader as he can “speak human” unlike the outgoing PM
A tearful Sir Keir announced his resignation on Monday(Image: TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock)
Suspended Labour MP Karl Turner has launched a scathing attack on outgoing PM Keir Starmer and insisted: “I don’t feel sorry for a failed politician who’s f***ed it up.”
The Hull East MP, a key Andy Burnham ally, said he had some sympathy for Sir Keir on a human level, but added: “Thank you very much. Tatty-bye. Farewell. It’s been an absolute pleasure and a treat, now let us move on.”
Mr Turner – who worked on Burnham’s previous Labour leadership campaign in 2015 – has long been a vocal critic of Sir Keir and was stripped of the Labour whip in March after a row over the government’s policy on jury trials.
And speaking after the “King of the North” was sworn in as Makerfield MP, he said: “Keir Starmer is not very good, that is the real truth. He struggled from the very outset, even in opposition. He struggled with the management of the party.”
Speaking to the News Agents podcast, Mr Turner defended calls from Labour MPs for Sir Keir to quit, adding: “If the leader’s utterly c***, is costing you votes and actually you’ve got no chance whatsoever of winning, why on earth are you going to stick with them?”
He said his majority in his traditionally safe Labour seat had dropped in the 2024 election, adding: “There was no love for Keir Starmer in my patch. I was never a fan of Jeremy Corbyn, but in some parts of my constituency, they loved Jeremy.
“But universally Keir was disliked in my area. What people spoke about with me regularly was the fact that Starmer kept changing his mind.
“He was making promises before he was the leader of the party, and with the advent of social media, with clips being constantly used alongside those of him saying the exact opposite, almost once he was in number 10 Downing Street.
“I think the biggest frustration for me with Keir Starmer is you genuinely did not know what he believed in. He wouldn’t be able to verbalise the stuff that was in his head, but he could read it if somebody had written it down.”
Former Greater Manchester Mayor Burnham could be crowned Prime Minister within a few weeks as no other candidate now looks likely to secure the required support of 81 MPs to challenge him.
Mr Turner backed Burnham to connect better with the public as he “has an ability to speak to people”, adding: “I think Burnham will govern well, and the essential difference with Andy Burnham, is that he is normal, he can speak human and he’s charismatic.”
