Pathetic PM should've been boulder

WATCHING Keir Starmer's desperate struggle to cling to office this week, I couldn't help remembering those Greek myths about mortals set impossible tasks by the gods.

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You know the ones. Poor old Sisyphus, condemned to push a boulder to the top of a hill only to see it roll back down again within a few feet of the summit, over and over again. Danaus's daughters, tasked with filling an enormous bath but forced to use sieves.

Tantalus, eternally hungry and thirsty, made to stand in a pool of water that receded every time he stooped to drink; overhead, branches laden with fruit that lifted up when he reached for them.

Everyday, humdrum tasks compared with today's hopeless challenge - to lead Labour.