Stephen Fry has blasted Sir Keir Starmer’s first 100 days in charge, saying it has been a “mess”.
The new Labour administration, which came to power in July after 14 years in opposition, is set to deliver its first Budget later this month and has warned of a “black hole” in the public finances.
This contrasts with the mood before the General Election, when Starmer talked of a “decade of national renewal”.
Fry, who was previously a longtime Labour supporter and even appeared in a party political broadcast in 1993, said Labour’s current plight seemed “extraordinary… because you think you’re in opposition, you’ve got a bit of time to get things together.”
Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC, he said they should have learned from the lessons of the previous administrations, saying:
“Look at what happened with Boris [Johnson] and everyone else, the Spads, the Special Advisors, the Civil Service, Dominic Cummings, all these people. Look at the infighting. Look at even with the previous Labour governments. Look at the bad blood between [Tony] Blair and [Gordon] Brown towards the end and so on. Let’s make sure the first thing we do, even before policy is process.
“That’s what Blair always used to say. And so, let’s make the process clear and transparent and honest and friendly and efficient.’
“And instead, they do the opposite. I mean, what is it? Is it just plain human susceptibility to whatever it is that power does to people?”
His strongly worded assault of Labour’s first 100 days in charge contrasts starkly to Lucy Powell’s assessment, who listed out what the government has achieved in a short period in the House of Commons today:
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