"Sir Keir Starmer might not quite have 100 battles, but he's got a fair few on his hands: with his party, with the bond markets, with the mayor of Greater Manchester. And yet the prime minister, who still helms an enormous Commons majority, has a resolute focus on who the singular enemy is. And it's a party with five MPs: Reform UK."
"But in the lanyard-laden fringes and bars in Liverpool, there is a live conversation about the wisdom of this strategy. Does naming your enemy so publicly help bring focus to the government's operation and attack? Or does it risk elevating Reform UK, a new party with no record in government, to an elite status which only serves to bolster rather than damage them?"
"At the weekend, Sir Keir said the fight with Reform is different. "Most elections have always been Labour or Conservative," he said. "This is a different election that we are facing. We have not had a proposition like Reform in this country ever before. This is a different fight. It is a fight about who we are as a country, it goes to the soul of our future.""
Sun Tzu's injunction 'Know yourself and know your enemy' frames Keir Starmer's political focus. Starmer faces multiple pressures — party unity, bond markets and the Greater Manchester mayor — yet targets a single opponent: Reform UK. He repeatedly highlights Nigel Farage, has declared the Conservatives 'dead' and largely ignores Lib Dems, Greens and other left‑leaning challengers. Conference attendees debate whether naming Reform sharpens messaging or unintentionally boosts a new party with no governing record. Reform relish the attention, with Farage and his MPs reacting theatrically in Parliament. Starmer casts the contest as a fight over the nation's soul.
Read at www.bbc.com
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