Leaked Emails Show Keir Starmer Blocked Labour Criticism Of Margaret Thatcher

Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer (Photo by WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via AP)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer prevented a shadow minister from criticising Conservative former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s policies, a leaked email has revealed.

A leaked email, published exclusively by the Independent, shows how Starmer barred Labour MP Sam Tarry, the then shadow transport minister, from denouncing Thatcher’s 1985 Transport Act. Tarry had intended to lambast the Act for failing to improve transport services and fares in Greater Manchester, but his criticism was prevented on Starmer’s insistence.

The email from Starmer’s office said: “Can we take out the Thatcher stuff and instead criticise the current government?”

This revelation follows Starmer’s divisive comments in The Sunday Telegraph, where he lauded Thatcher for instigating “meaningful change” and unleashing “Britain’s natural entrepreneurialism.”

The backlash from the Labour’s left-wing faction has been fierce. Many have accused Starmer of seeking to “woo Tory voters” in a “Mandelsonian” ploy, a reference to Sir Tony Blair’s spin doctor Peter Mandelson who encouraged Blair to praise Thatcher ahead of the 1997 general election.

Reacting to Starmer’s praise of the UK’s first female prime minister, Labour MPs like Beth Winter and Ian Byrne criticised Thatcher’s policies, citing the destructive impact on communities and the increase in inequality and deprivation. Others highlighted Thatcher’s neglect of working-class communities.

Defending his stance, Starmer stressed at a Resolution Foundation conference that acknowledging Thatcher’s sense of mission and plan does not equate to agreement with her actions. He contrasted her leadership with the “complete drift” of the recent Tory government, emphasising his aspiration for a “mission-led Labour government.”

Labour has not commented on the leaked emails.