The inevitable truth about Labour and tax

The man who told you Jeremy Corbyn would make a great prime minister in 2019 wants you to believe that his party has changed. Now is the time for a long, hard think

- Guto Harri

HEARD the one about the student who swears blind they've never had a drink, drugs nor sex? Seems unlikely so you challenge them... and they confess: "There is one thing... I sometimes tell lies".

Having worked in No10 for Boris Johnson, I'm painfully aware of the consequences for a politician of being deemed untrustworthy, but he isn't standing in this election so I won't list all the important promises he kept in power if you agree not to replay that stuck record. Let's focus instead on the man the bookies say is now 1-33 favourite to be the next prime minister.

Keir Starmer seems straight, boringly so in that twisted way personal weaknesses are turned into strengths when it fits the dominant narrative of the time. But is he? I'm not talking about his shifty response to the beer and curry night he was photographed enjoying in Durham while attacking the government over partygate.

I'm not even pondering the professional reality of a career at the Bar where you are paid (handsomely) to make the case for a client whether you think they are guilty or not. Based on what they call the "cab rank" principle, barristers pride themselves on being able to argue either side of a case, regardless of what their heart and conscience may tell them is the truth.

Having thought hard about being a barrister myself I appreciate that even scumbags deserve due process and someone has to represent them. I won't hold that against him, but it does explain why he was so at ease five years ago telling us repeatedly that Jeremy Corbyn would make "a great prime minister". His professional modus operandi is to say whatever it takes to advance his cause.