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Steve Coogan tells LBC he 'despairs' of Keir Starmer's 'all things to all men' approach to governing
27 January 2025, 18:28
Steve Coogan speaks to Andrew Marr
Steve Coogan has said he "despairs" of Keir Starmer's method of governing, telling LBC that the Prime Minister "wants to be all things to all men".
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Alan Partridge star Coogan, who is a long-term Labour supporter, told LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr that he feared Starmer's methods might "bite [him] on the bum" over the course of his time in Downing Street.
Coogan said that Starmer was "a decent man" but that British people might respect him more if he was clearer on his principles and policy positions.
Starmer's government recently raised eyebrows when Rachel Reeves said the government would soften its crackdown on non-doms by making it easier for them to move money to the UK, via an increase in the temporary repatriation facility.
This allows non-doms - people who live in Britain but don't pay UK tax on money made abroad - to bring money into the UK without paying significant taxes on it.Labour had earlier promised to get rid of non-dom status in their election manifesto, so this change represents a softening in their plans.
Read more: Labour to soften non-dom tax changes after mass exodus of millionaires from UK revealed
Ms Reeves said she would be making the changes to the plans after "listening to the concerns" non-doms had raised.
Other issues that have caused divides in the party since the election have been the one-child benefit policy, and recent discussion of backing a third runway at Heathrow despite some MPs' environmental concerns.
It's unclear if this is what Coogan was referring to, but he said he told Andrew: "I'm a Labour supporter, but I do despair of the risk free, be all things to all men, approach of Keir Starmer, which I think is a fool's errand and might work in the short term, but eventually bites you on the bum for down the line."
He compared Starmer to a loss adjuster choosing the "least, worst, lowest risk decision".
Coogan added: "I know that is a decent man, but I think you know you sometimes you have to... accept the fact that sometimes people respect you more when you draw a line in the sand [even] if they don't agree with you."
Caller Carol condemns Labour's move on non-dom tax status
The actor and comedian was speaking after Prince Harry accepted a "substantial" payout to settle his phone-hacking trial with the publisher of the Sun.
Coogan, who was also the victim of phone-hacking by tabloid newspapers at the now-defunct News of the World in the 2000s, said that despite the payout, the dispute was not over.
He urged the police to pursue newspaper senior executives and warned that if the alleged perpetrators were not taken to court "there will inevitably be private prosecutions".
