Keir Starmer's just proved he's totally lost the plot - can he not read the room?

Last week, Sir Keir Starmer oversaw an electoral bloodbath with more than 1,500 councillors losing their seats. His approval ratings continue to be in freefall, and by most measures, he is now the least popular prime minister in British history. Now his own MPs are openly demanding he step aside, and his response?

More Europe.

Sir Keir's speech this morning will have left most people shaking their heads in disbelief. The Prime Minister had a moment to deliver a barnstorming speech that would have forged a path forward for his downtrodden party, and instead he declared that his floundering Government would be defined by putting Britain at the "heart of Europe".

Can he not read the room? Labour was decimated in last week's local elections because voters are furious about immigration, appalled by the Mandelson scandal, and watching their energy bills soar whilst Ed Miliband blocks North Sea oil. They are angry about bins not being collected, potholes not being filled, and a Government that seems more interested in Brussels than Britain.

And Sir Keir's answer? An "ambitious youth experience scheme" so young people can work and study in Europe. A scheme nobody asked for, nobody voted for, and nobody wants, whilst waiting lists for GPs stretch into weeks and council services collapse. Handing out borderless study schemes might poll well in leafy Camden, but surrendering our sovereignty so the children of metropolitan dinner circles can study on the French coast is nothing short of absurd.

The Prime Minister claims we cannot keep going back to a "status quo that didn't work". He is right. But the status quo that did not work was successive governments putting European priorities ahead of British ones. It was Westminster politicians ignoring what voters were telling them. It was the attitude that got us Brexit in the first place.

Sir Keir stood in front of cameras this morning and declared that standing "shoulder to shoulder with the countries that most share our interests, our values and our enemies" is the right choice for Britain. But British voters do not share the EU's interests on immigration. They do not share Brussels' values on sovereignty. And they are tired of being told what is good for them by politicians who refuse to listen.

Labour just lost 1,500 council seats because voters rejected their policies. Sir Keir's response is to double down on the very European integration those voters oppose.

As questions mount around Sir Keir Starmer's leadership, his decision to stand at a podium today with his fingers in his ears whilst singing the same old tune will do little more than spur his naysayers into action.

Because if Sir Keir does not listen to British voters, his MPs will start the search for someone who will.