Browsing today’s headlines, readers may have been shocked to discover Keir Starmer’s apparently unflinching monarchist sympathies, as he declared it is our “patriotic duty” to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – except, well, he didn’t quite say that.
Those responsible for the headlines are either doing their best to produce audible groans from the Republican wings of the Labour Party or are suffering from some extreme form of the Mandela Effect.
Writing in The Telegraph, Sir Keir did indeed declare this Jubilee weekend to be an opportunity to “celebrate a truly extraordinary Queen”. But it was not these Jubilee celebrations that Starmer said it is our patriotic duty to take part in.
Instead, though apparently unclear to some, Keir Starmer wrote: “It isn’t simply a chance for a country wearied by the extraordinary circumstances of the past few years to let its hair down – although it is, of course, your patriotic duty to do just that.”
There you have it – Corbynistas can breathe a sigh of relief through clenched teeth (if that’s possible). Starmer’s praise for the Queen isn’t blind monarchism – after all, he previously advocated abolishing the monarchy – just a weak joke that fell a little flat.
