In defence of Starmer’s toboggan ride: Do we really want our Prime Minister to stand in line?

Give Starmer a break, the leader of our country should absolute jump queues, writes former Downing Street comms chief Katie Perrior in today’s Notebook

Criticising Starmer’s queue pushing is a slippery slope

I’ve had it with people criticising the PM over a three hour wait for a toboggan ride in Maderia. It’s a very fine ride which I’ve queued for myself – but are we seriously saying we expect our PM to stand in line? Do we consider for even one minute how hard it is to have a parent who is a well-known politician? 

They didn’t ask for it – and it would be torturous to stand there waiting with him, not least a security risk for them all. Or do we expect children of politicians to stay locked up for their teenage years? 

When parked up next to gatherings of world leaders abroad, the PM’s Voyager plane looks like bloody Lego

This is not popular to say, but other countries do not treat their leaders with the same disrespect we show ours. In my role as director of communications at No.10 I had to defend the Voyager plane we used (shared with the RAF and the Royal Family to ensure value for money). Yet when parked up next to gatherings of world leaders abroad, it looked like bloody Lego. It was embarrassing to be next to Air Force One – our PM’s ‘changing room’ is a cubby hole with a curtain held together with clothes pegs.

If we cannot find better ways to treat our politicians, fewer people with the skills and qualities we so badly need will come forward. We will be left with the desperados and fame hungry types, resulting in a democratic crisis where only the likes of foreign dictatorships are left rubbing their hands in glee. Whatever you think of the particular queue-jumping politician in question, he is the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. If you can’t respect the person, at least respect the office. And give the kids a break.

Giving up AI passivity

2025 is the year where business leaders stop being bystanders to the AI revolution and become active participants, investing in their own customised models and buying the best tools on the market to deliver an improved service. It fascinates me how people are not preparing themselves for this. A twenty-something me would be begging for courses on AI prompting, researching how to make my life easier and work better. Are you going to lead your team in this new world or sit there and have it done to you against your will? I know which one I’d choose.

Trump, tariffs and toasts

I’m hosting a small dinner party on the evening of Trump’s inauguration later this month. Having had lunch with the man once already, I’m not exactly celebrating (he did, after all, anti-bac his hands after shaking mine) but I’m obsessed with discussing the various business strategies of Britain’s leading industries and how they intend to navigate this President’s second term in office, coming back to finish what he started. It should be an interesting chat around trade, tariffs, tech and much more.

Grading government

The government recently set itself tests to mark its performance against what was promised, but I’m not convinced it will work. Say waiting times for an 80-year old’s hip operation is reduced from 18 to five months, will they be thankful? How will they know the government has saved them from 13 months of hell? Or will they still be cross that they have to wait five months in any case? It’s a tough gig this governing lark.

Hooray for political podcasts

I love listening to political podcasts, where people can speak without constant interruptions and can disagree well without descending into chaos. The growth of political podcasts in Britain has been extraordinary and should be recognised, hence why I’m launching the inaugural Political Podcast Awards later this month. I’m chuffed that Google has agreed to sponsor it and that Gyles Brandreth will be our host. I’m just hoping he behaves outrageously – I’ve even had a jumper knitted especially for him.

Katie Perrior is the chair and founder of Inhouse Communications and a former director of communications to the PM at No.10 Downing Street