Jewish figures criticise ‘stigmatising’ Tory attack on Starmer family time
Jewish figures criticise ‘stigmatising’ Tory attack on Starmer family time
Conservatives push out ‘final warnings’ amid backlash over targeting of Labour leader’s Friday night ‘protected time’
Keir Starmer has accused the Conservatives of desperate tactics amid claims that Tory criticism of his defence of family time was insensitive and had antisemitic undertones.
With Rishi Sunak embarking on a marathon day of campaigning, beginning with a pre-dawn visit to a distribution centre and closing with a late-night rally, Tory ministers and aides sought to contrast these efforts with what they termed Starmer’s “part-time” approach.
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Downing Street chiefs believe the criticism of Starmer for saying he would maintain his current habit of trying to spend time with his wife and children after 6pm on Fridays “pretty well come what may” has resonated with voters.
However, it has sparked an angry backlash, with senior Jewish figures saying the decision to target such a culturally significant time of the week – Starmer’s wife, Victoria, comes from a Jewish family – was ill-judged and deeply unfair.
“I would have thought to anybody it’s blindingly obvious that a Friday night is quite important in some religions and faiths,” Starmer told reporters during a campaign stopover in Derbyshire.
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After spotting a social media response to the comments, Conservative campaign organisers chose to pile in and inaccurately argue that Starmer had said he would not work on any evening.
“It’s after 6pm so of course Angela Rayner is back in charge,” said the party’s official account on X. Claire Coutinho, the energy secretary, said: “I do think that it’s pretty unrealistic for a prime minister not to work past 6pm.”
The comments prompted warnings from senior Jewish figures about the risks of singling out someone for trying to observe the tradition of spending time with family on Friday evenings.
Marie van der Zyl, who was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews until earlier this year, called the attacks “horribly stigmatising”.
Still better than Boris, I can’t imagine he was productive on Friday nights with all the COVID parties going on.
I can't imagine he was productive at any time - other than producing children.
The election is tomorrow and the shit-slinging is getting desperate
Pretty low even for the Tories.
I quite like the idea of a PM who isn't going to work 24/7 as that can lead to impaired decision-making.
You're onto something. We need leaders who take more time off, not submerge themselves in bureaucracy.
I remember Thatcher boasting about only needing four hours sleep a night, which led me to wonder if getting eight hours might have made her nicer. I doubt it but it's worth a shot. Unless there's a crisis on, it feels like a sign you could be a control freak and/or poor at delegating, rather than it being a positive trait.
What a confusing narrative. "Family time is good, but keep away from Friday."
It's like we're all out of things to get angry about. It makes you question if the anger is just for the attention, because what could it be trying to solve otherwise?
I love the idea that the conservatives are trying to put across the narrative that in some way he is going to refuse to do any work after Friday 6:00 p.m. no matter what.
Sor, Russia launched a nuclear attack against the UK what should we do? Put it on my desk, I'll deal with it on Monday.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
With Rishi Sunak embarking on a marathon day of campaigning, beginning with a pre-dawn visit to a distribution centre and closing with a late-night rally, Tory ministers and aides sought to contrast these efforts with what they termed Starmer’s “part-time” approach.
Calling the attacks “laughably pathetic”, the Labour leader said his comments in a radio interview the day before had simply been to set out how he tried to keep Friday evenings aside for his family and would if elected prime minister, adding: “But I know very well it’s going to be really difficult to do it.”
John Mann, a former Labour MP and now peer, who is the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, called the Conservative attacks “dangerous”, noting that parliament did not sit on Sundays due to Christian traditions.
A Tory campaign video posted on social media and emailed to supporters shows an imaginary voter in July 2025 struggling with power cuts, unpayable bills and closed schools, ending with the message: “48 hours to stop a Labour supermajority.”
Sunak’s penultimate day of campaigning focused on seats that would ordinarily be safely Conservative, including an early morning visit to a supermarket in Witney, Oxfordshire, formerly David Cameron’s constituency.
Asked if it was right for Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, to claim that Starmer might clock off when pressing military decisions needed to taken, Sunak said: “I do worry about our country’s security, as there are deep concerns about it.
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