Even As Rivals Close In, Keir Starmer's Government Still Cannot Communicate

The last week was a PR disaster from a flailing Number 10.

Political Correspondent

Minister Chris Bryant had an unenviable job on Wednesday. He had to tell his fellow MPs that the government had made a mistake.

A rather big one, it turned out.

“We have handled this rather clumsily,” he told the Commons. “I think we have ended up giving the wrong impression of what we are trying to do...”

He was, on this occasion, talking about Labour’s confused messaging around the UK’s sanctions against Russian oil, which caused international bewilderment this week.

But the minister could have been talking about a number of Labour’s major policies from its two years in office.

This latest saga started when the Department of Business and Trade incorrectly suggested it was going to be easing its sanctions against Russia on Tuesday.

Successive governments have taken pride in the UK’s robust support for Ukraine following Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion.

Ministers have regularly announced fresh rounds of penalties against Russia and its lucrative oil industry to squeeze its economy.

So the apparent decision to effectively water down years of hard work caused instant outrage.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Keir Starmer of “losing his moral compass” in prime minister’s questions.

Labour and chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Emily Thornberry slammed the decision, telling the BBC: “People feel very let down.”

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office even approached........

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