I made my mind up about Keir Starmer’s character years ago.
It’s a highly personal account I now share for the first time, as Sir Keir is poised to lead Labour into government.
In 2015, I set up an anonymous Twitter account called The Secret Barrister. The idea was to draw public attention to problems that I saw daily in the criminal justice system.
The account achieved mild success, and led to the publication of several books. As part of my rampant self-publicity, I would do “Legal Live Tweets” - exercises in tedious pedantry whereby I would sloppily apply rudimentary legal knowledge to popular movies. A number of lawyers began to follow me. At some point, Keir Starmer became one of them.
Then the rumours began.
Reddit was the worst. A couple of right-wing blogs fanned the flames. The Times mischievously floated the idea. Labour Party members joined the speculation.
The question kept recurring:
IS KEIR STARMER THE SECRET BARRISTER?
After all, we were both barristers. What further proof was needed?
Despite what, it was clear to all, was a concerted international media campaign - photographers on my lawn, journalists haranguing my grandma, my Welsh flatmate answering the front door naked to the world’s press - Keir Starmer said nothing.
Not a single word to dispel the rumours.
Not a single speech in Parliament.
Not a single line in his manifesto promising to correct the record.
And now, as he stands on the precipice of power, what has he said in the course of this campaign to dispel these wicked whispers? To offer the nation the reassurance that it craves?
Nothing.
So it is that I remain at the mercy of conspiracy theorists, mischief makers and Kwik Fit fitters. And our Prime Minister-to-be seemingly could not care less.
Whatever Sir Keir’s many achievements, I will never forget the character of the man who followed me on Twitter, sat back and watched my world burn.
I just saw a child’s head in Gaza, no body, just a head as people search for her remains. Earlier I saw a Palestinian man tied to the hood of an Israeli military truck as it drove thru the WEST BANK.
We’re watching a total assault on Palestinian life and people still defend it.
He doesn't refer here to the dozens of innocent Palestinians - many of them kids - killed in this raid.
Here is a vivid illustration of how Palestinian life is judged to have no worth at all.
So i wanna understand where are the “tortured” “raped” israeli hostages?
Noa, Shlomi, Almog and Andrey; they are perfectly healthy, well fed, using their phones and celebrating with their families.
For 8 months israelis were parroting the same propaganda, where is it?
Bombshell 💣
‼️Americans you are being robbed ‼️
Israelis or to be more specific Jews receive American organs for free and get fast-tracked for their procedures while americans except dual citizens of israel have to pay loads of bills and wait for days or weeks or even months.