James Starkie

James Starkie is founding partner at communications consultancy 5654 & Co. He worked on Vote Leave in 2016 and was a special adviser in government during Theresa May’s and Boris Johnson’s premierships.

Labour’s attack on Brexit won’t work

From our UK edition

In life, as in film, you need a baddie. Whether it’s Dr No, Nurse Ratched or Voldemort, without someone to root against you have no story. In government, the bad guy (domestically at least) tends to be your predecessors. The Conservatives spent the best part of 14 years blaming the Labour party, with a pitstop in between to dump on their erstwhile coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. Labour certainly didn’t help themselves by leaving that infamous note, meant in jest, declaring ‘there is no money left’; the Tories in turn left the mini-Budget for Keir Starmer. Soon, however, we will have a new (old) villain. Labour has apparently briefed that the Voldemort of North London – Brexit – will play the antagonist in the upcoming Budget.