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Wednesday, 7 May 2025

Defeated by his ability to say words



Keir Starmer slams Kemi Badenoch as 'climate defeatist' but she says he's 'on another planet' in net zero row

Sir Keir Starmer came under attack at Prime Minister’s Questions from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party over cuts to winter fuel payments and net zero reforms.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the PM of being ‘on another planet’ over the Government’s controversial net zero drive.

But Sir Keir branded her a “climate defeatist”.


It is a terrible thing to speculate on how man has been defeated by his ability to say words. The brown bear in the forest has no such power and the lack of it has enabled him to retain a kind of nobility of bearing sadly lacking in us. On and on through life we go, socialists, dreamers, makers of laws, sellers of goods and believers in suffrage for women and we continuously say words, worn-out words, crooked words, words without power or pregnancy in them.
 
Sherwood Anderson - Marching Men (1917)

4 comments:

DiscoveredJoys said...

Politics through the looking glass:

"When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master— that's all."

Sam Vega said...

Politics seems to have become totally debased by the tendency to repeat meaningless slogans. I guess politicians or their advisers hear a phrase that appeals to them, and then squirrel it away until it can be wheeled out. But the more it's repeated, the less power it holds, and there is a tendency to mis-use it when it doesn't quite apply, but there it is burning a hole in your phrase-book, so let's not waste it. And the other people pick it up and save it....

Lee Anderson is good at pointing this out. He often notes that the government spokespersons have uttered a string of gibberish.

If you ask me, their language needs turbocharging.

Tammly said...

'Climate defeatist'. Makes about as much sense as anything else Starmer says.

A K Haart said...

DJ - Humpty Dumpty was right and elites know it. Cabinet members should all have a picture of Humpty Dumpty on their office wall.

Sam - yes it's curiously amateurish, as if political advisers lack the experience to see how empty and transparent it all is. Or maybe noticing it comes with age.

Tammly - it's almost surprising that Starmer thinks it's good enough and doesn't use his own phrases. Not surprising now that we know his limitations though.