Rees-Mogg: Starmer only offers inaction, uncertainty, and an utter lack of charisma

SIR Jacob Rees-Mogg has said the Prime Minister shows “an utter lack of charisma” and lacks leadership.

Speaking on GB News, he said: “Sir Keir Starmer wills the end, but not the means.

“He says he wants to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. So, it’s the push me pull you, Prime Minister. He wants something to happen – that is the oil to trade, the oil to flow, the boats to come through, the ships to go. But he won’t do anything about it.

“And Donald Trump isn’t very impressed by this.

“Now, it may be that the Americans are getting a taste of their own medicine though, after all, they were late to both the First and Second World War, and they may feel that we’re being late this time around.

“But Sir Keir Starmer is not showing any leadership. What you need when the world is on the edge of a great war is the Prime Minister of this country to be standing there in Downing Street by that podium, giving us confidence that he knows what he’s doing, confident that he is leading, that he can inspire, that he can take difficult decisions.

“And what does he say? Well, he prattles about his interpretation of law. He delegates his decision making to the Attorney General. He gives no feeling that he is in command of events, but that he is pushed around by events.

“The same is true for what he’s proposing to do on energy policy. He doesn’t have one. £53 million is a drop in the ocean. Government expenditure is, what £1.2 trillion?

“He’s not offering anything serious, and he’s carrying on with the 5p increase in petrol and diesel prices that Rachel Reeves pencilled in for later this year.

“And that’s actually six because there’s VAT on top, and the government’s actually making money, making extra cash out of the rise in oil prices from VAT, and he has no policy on that.

“He’s not giving us the guidance that we need or the leadership we need. Perhaps we should begin to feel sorry for him, because he is a little figure in a big job, and the job has got bigger or more difficult as the world has become more dangerous and the issue in the Middle East has become more pressing.

“America is in need of allies. America wants to do the right thing, and whether you like the war or not, it is now a reality. And whether you like it or not, British interests are involved, and British interests have been attacked.

“A leader, somebody who knows how to command events, would be giving an explanation of how he deals with that, how he will solve problems, how he will help others be in alliance with others.

“But instead, we get mealy mouthed legalese. We get inaction, uncertainty and an utter lack of charisma and that great quality of leadership, which we’ve had in the past.

“I’m not just talking about Churchill, but Margaret Thatcher, even Lloyd George in the First World War, Palmerston in the century before that, Pitt the Elder in the 18th century; these great figures, Elizabeth I who knew what to do when the nation was at risk.

“Sir Keir Starmer consults his lawyer.”