Can things only get better, Keir? Government approval falls to worst EVER after PM’s benefits humiliation and Chancellor’s tears
The government’s ratings have tumbled to a new low after Keir Starmer was humiliated by Labour rebels and the Chancellor wept in the Commons.
YouGov found just 13 per cent approve of the administration’s performance, the worst level yet detected by the polling firm.
Some 67 per cent had a negative view, with the net score of minus 54 equalling the previous nadir from March.
The latest dire reading came after Sir Keir was forced to U-turn on proposals to curb spiralling disability and health handouts.
There were also extraordinary scenes as Rachel Reeves burst into tears at PMQs. She has insisted it was down to a ‘personal issue’ rather than politics.
Pollsters and historians have suggested Sir Keir has endured the worst start of any premier, after he marked his first year in power.
Since racking up one of the biggest Commons majorities ever on July 4, the PM has seen Reform leapfrog Labour in voting intention.
YouGov found just 13 per cent approve of the administration’s performance, the worst ever detected by the polling firm
Pollsters and historians have suggested Sir Keir has endured the worst start of any premier, after he marked his first year in power
Polling guru Sir John Curtice has observed that Sir Keir was ‘never especially popular’ and the public ‘still don’t know what he stands for’.
Economists have warned that things are only set to get harder, with the Chancellor scrambling for taxes to hike to fill an estimated £30billion hole in the government books this Autumn.
Sir Keir has shrugged off his disastrous start, telling panicking MPs the ‘toughest’ part is over.
But the premier also acknowledged an array of blunders, saying caving in to Labour rebels on welfare was a ‘tough day’ and he regretted a speech warning uncontrolled immigration could turn Britain into an ‘island of strangers’.
Speaking on the Political Thinking podcast with Nick Robinson, the premier tried to make a virtue out of U-turns on issues such as the national inquiry into grooming gangs, arguing it was ‘common sense’ to ‘look again’ when doubts were raised.
And he bizarrely branded himself a ‘hard-enough bast***’ when asked whether he had the determination to revive Labour’s fortunes.
There were also extraordinary scenes as Rachel Reeves burst into tears at PMQs. She has insisted it was down to a ‘personal issue’ rather than politics
