Starmer says end of restrictions will let him ‘open up’ to the public in Piers Morgan interview
Sir Keir Starmer has claimed that the end of Covid restrictions will allow him to “open up” and show his true self to the electorate, after claims he is too stiff and robotic in public.
When answering questions on his low personal popularity ratings, the Labour leader told ITV in an hour-long interview tonight to “let me get out there, let me take the mask off”.
Starmer spoke to Piers Morgan in a highly personal interview in which he discussed topics like the death of his parents, how he met his wife and his student days.
He was described by friends of his in clips as a “party animal” and someone who “loves shouting on the football pitch”, despite his often serious and lawyerly public demeanour.
Morgan said “you’re not boring, you’re not robotic, but you have to somehow communicate more of the passion in a passionate way”.
Starmer said the end of restrictions would give him that opportunity.
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“Let me get out there, let me take the mask off,” he said.
“We’ve been living in restrictions. As we come out of this, this will allow the space to open up.
“The pandemic allows the political space to open up, the restrictions allow me to open up.”
The interview also saw Starmer cry while discussing his mother who suffered for 50 years with an autoimmune disease, which left her unable to speak or walk in the latter part of her life.
“One of my biggest regrets is that our kids never knew her, because by the time she was born she was incapable of moving, speaking or being who she was and she was broken by then,” he said.
He also denied to say on 14 occasions if he had ever taken drugs at university, before saying “I haven’t said no”.
Guido Fawkes reported shortly before the interview aired today that Starmer had bragged about taking LSD while representing the blog’s owner Paul Staines in 1989 as a young lawyer.