Starmer quoted Margaret Thatcher...it's not gone down well

Sir Keir Starmer has gone where no Labour leader would dare (unless you were Tony Blair) and quoted Margaret Thatcher in a positive way.

He was speaking at Port Vale Football Club in Stoke-on-Trent, when he said: “Nothing is more important – more fundamental – to a democracy like ours. The rule of law is the foundation for everything.

“Margaret Thatcher called it the ‘first duty of government’ – she was right. An expression of individual liberty – our rights and responsibilities, but also of justice, of fairness, of equality – one rule for all.

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“That’s the principle I’ve been proud to serve all my adult life. As a human rights lawyer, fighting for families with young children, trying to escape mould-infested accommodation, or for freedom of speech in the McLibel case.”

Reactions

Yesterday Starmer quoted Thatcher from a 1975 speech – "the first duty of government"

One of the examples of law breaking she gave in the speech moments before that line was the Shrewsbury pickets.

Crushing people on strike. That was the duty Thatcher was talking about. pic.twitter.com/AwSzLLIZCv
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) March 24, 2023

No one could be this awful unless they were trying very, very hard … pic.twitter.com/tqaoeXrZ8S
— Simon Attwood #PAL #ANewHope 🟠🌤 (@SimonAttwood) March 23, 2023

A labour leader gleefully quoting Thatcher makes my stomach turn https://t.co/kx7nKODqhY
— Harry (@h_rry9) March 24, 2023

And the first duty of a Labour Party Leader is to NEVER praise Margaret Thatcher https://t.co/JkQuflV4Zh
— Cllr Martin Abrams🌹 (@Martin_Abrams) March 23, 2023

Any Labour leader who praises Thatcher agrees with Thatcher's destruction of unions, starving out of miners and their families, the demonisation of people on benefits and the championing of wealth for the 1%. I'd be very worried of where Starmer is going to take you and Britain
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) March 24, 2023

“Labour” leader Sir Keir Starmer continues to show how hard-right he really is

He has now praised Margaret Thatcher, given the fact she decimated working class communities

He is waging a factional war against the Left; refuses to join the unions and striking workers on picket… pic.twitter.com/8BuK5NBMr8
— Socialist Voice ⭑ (@SocialistVoice) March 24, 2023

Labour do their bit to end divisive politics by simply transforming into the Tory party. 🙄#UKOnePartyState #ScottishIndependence https://t.co/utZqvRDosf
— polo5 (@poloandsons) March 24, 2023

Margaret Thatcher should never be quoted by any member of a Democratic Socialist party – let alone, the leader.

Unless, of course, it's to point out another one of her many errors of policy. https://t.co/63y8Gi83o8
— George Peel ☘️ 🖐️ #P&J Project. (@Eesy20) March 24, 2023

That twinkle in his eyes when he mentions Thatcher’s name says everything. https://t.co/PmLdLTPv7k
— Comrade Lana del Proletariat ☭ (@comrade_geo_) March 24, 2023

10.

Margaret Thatcher's government introduced policies that discriminated against people's ethnicity and sexual orientation. Poverty and unemployment rose considerably. But let's also acknowledge that her quotes were off the chain. 👏 https://t.co/Qm6ReWbASV
— Andy Churnwell (@churnwell) March 23, 2023