Starmer makes jab at President Macron as he dons sunglasses at comedy show
The French president wore the stylish glasses after giving a speech to the military with a bloodshot red eye
Sir Keir Starmer has poked fun at French President Emmanuel Macron after donning a pair of aviator sunglasses.
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The Prime Minister was handed the shades while appearing at The Political Party Live at the Duchess Theatre.
Sir Keir laughed and said "bonjour" - a nod to the French President who made headlines for wearing sunglasses to the World Economic Forum last week.
He tagged Mr Macron in the post, adding the caption “Talk to me, Goose”, a reference to the film Top Gun, which made aviator-style sunglasses iconic.
The French president donned the stylish glasses after previously giving a speech to the French military with a bloodshot red eye.
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Mr Macron appeared with a puffy, red eye during his speech at the military base in Istres, in southern France on January 16. He earlier wore sunglasses during an outdoor troop inspection.
"Please pardon the unsightly appearance of my eye," Mr Macron said at the beginning of his speech.
"It is, of course, something completely harmless."
"Simply see an unintentional reference to the Eye of the Tiger ... For those who catch the reference, it is a sign of determination," he joked, in an apparent reference to the name of the hit theme song by American rock band Survivor from the 1982 Rocky III movie starring Sylvester Stallone.
Sir Keir's appearance at the Duchess Theatre comes amid political turmoil for the Labour Party.
A 10-strong group from Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), including the Prime Minister himself, voted to deny Manchester mayor Andy Burnham permission to stand in Gorton and Denton at a meeting on Sunday.
But critics accused the Prime Minister and his supporters of blocking Mr Burnham’s candidacy for factional reasons, fearing a leadership challenge from the mayor if he returned to Westminster.
They included backbench MPs such as former cabinet minister Louise Haigh, who said the NEC should reverse its decision “otherwise I think we’ll all come to regret this”, and Simon Opher, who called the decision an “own goal” for Sir Keir’s advisors.