A post shared widely on TikTok on October 1, 2024, contains an audio clip of Sir Keir Starmer saying: “If you don’t like the changes that we’ve made, I say the door is open and you can leave.” This is also written in large text at the top of the video and in the description of the post.
Evaluation
The clip is a genuine one of Sir Keir speaking, although it has been edited and re-ordered. But it has been presented out of context, as it was originally delivered in February 2023, with Sir Keir inviting those who disagreed with his changes to the Labour Party to end their membership. This was more than a year before Sir Keir became Prime Minister.
The facts
In February 2023, the Equality and Humans Right Commission ended its monitoring of the Labour Party, following the implementation of an action plan to address incidents of antisemitism. Sir Keir, the Labour leader who had overseen this action plan, delivered a speech on the subject the same day.
In the speech and an official transcription, Sir Keir said the opening line of the TikTok clip. It is clear in this context that he is talking about changes to the Labour Party, and returns to the door metaphor later by saying: “To all those who want to make this great country, greater still I say the door is open.”
The rest of the TikTok video continues with quotes that also appear in this speech: “When I became leader, I said I would turn Labour around and give it back to the British people. And the most important and urgent part of that was in tearing out antisemitism by its roots. It’s meant rebuilding trust, not just with the Jewish community, but all those who were rightly appalled by the culture of the party under the previous leadership. The Labour Party is unrecognisable from 2019 and it will never go back.”
All of this audio is from the same speech by Sir Keir but has been edited in a slightly different order, which does not substantially change the meaning. None of the audio is from Sir Keir’s time as Prime Minister nor is it directed at the British public in general.
Links
Equality watchdog concludes monitoring of Labour Party action plan | EHRC (archived)
Keir Starmer responds to the EHRC announcement – YouTube (archived audio)
Keir Starmer responds to EHRC announcement – The Labour Party (archived)
