Class onion

Keir Starmer defends university participation and promises long-term investment for research

Well, having heard his speech at this year’s conference, no one will be rushing to do a remake of Love Actually featuring a version of the present Labour leader. Keir Starmer’s lectures are less Hugh Grant and more Shelia Grant.

Shelia Grant, if you recall, was the name of Sue Johnson’s dependable, long-suffering, working-class matriarch in the Liverpool-based soap Brookside. Shelia endured hardship and misery but somehow always managed to put the dinner on the table.