The Capitalist: King tickles Starmer, a French misstep and Blair’s good advice
It’s the way he tells them
To the ancient Guildhall in the heart of the City at the start of this week, where the new Lord Mayor Alastair King welcomed Sir Keir Starmer for the PM’s traditional foreign policy speech. The banquet is always a grand affair; white tie, no less, with judges, ambassadors, City grandees and trumpets galore. The Capitalist is pleased to report that the pomp and ceremony didn’t stop the Lord Mayor from cracking the odd gag in his speech. He noted that he was a mere 24 days into his mayoralty, “Or halfway through, as Liz Truss might put it.” That certainly tickled Starmer, as did King’s quip that “as a lifelong Tottenham fan, tonight is the first time I have actually looked forward to sitting next to an Arsenal supporter.”
Try harder, Paris
They say that in business, as in politics, timing is everything. Tell that to the marketing gurus who launched a series of “bring your business to Paris” adverts in British newspapers last week, singing the praises of French stability and economic prowess. The adverts are part of a campaign to lure firms over the channel, but as France descends into the kind of political chaos usually reserved for late stage Tory administrations, one Francophone CEO told the Capitalist that London suddenly seems very welcoming indeed.
Back to school
Ahead of the election there was no shortage of people suggesting that Starmer was basically the second coming of Tony Blair; centrist, modern, a man we can do business with. That theory didn’t hold up for long, and this week columnist Charles Moore directed readers to a nugget from the diaries of Alistair Campbell that reiterate just how far apart the two Labour leaders are. Campbell recalls the time when, at the end of 1994, then leader of the opposition Blair found out that a member of his shadow cabinet had briefed the press that Labour would introduce VAT on private school fees. Blair apparently went “berserk” and asked his spin doctor “Do we care what a few activists think, or do we care about what millions of people think?” We know Blair’s answer. And we know Starmer’s, too.