Lammy's a liability but his successor may be even worse

KEIR Starmer absolutely cannot afford to lose another Deputy Prime Minister but the country cannot afford to keep him. David Lammy's cringeworthy Commons outing was so bad his colleagues have now viciously turned on him, leaving his future in doubt.

- Sam Lister

The Justice Secretary has been accused of “cowardice” for the hit and run performance where he refused to answer questions about the mistaken release of Algerian sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif from Wandsworth prison.

Lammy left a junior minister to clean up his mess, sending out Alex Davies-Jones to explain the situation instead of facing up to the problem himself.

Other senior ministers and government sources have criticised his lack of judgment, aggression and rank incompetence.

All were anonymous but Thangam Debbonaire, a Labour peer, publicly went for him, accusing Lammy of being “uncollegiate”.

She told Times Radio: “I think it’s important to be out front and centre, defending yourself and your own department.

“And I'm not that impressed that he sent Alex Davies-Jones out to bat for him. I think Alex did a valiant job, but she was put in a very difficult position and I don't think that's a great idea and I don't think it's a great look.

“And I think David's more than capable of answering for himself. I really wish that's what he'd done.”

As Boris Johnson said when he was ousted “the herd instinct is powerful” in Westminster and “when the herd moves, it moves”.