Keir Starmer shares post-punk passion and revisits musical past
Keir Starmer has said he is a fan of the Scottish post-punk band Orange Juice and northern soul, in a deep dive of his musical tastes and personal life.On BBC Radio 3’s Private Passions, Starmer chose a selection of his favourite music including works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Elgar, and reflected on his own musical journey, which included learning to play violin alongside Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim, at school.Starmer was a keen musician in his childhood, playing flute, piano, recorder and violin, and won a Guildhall School of Music and Drama scholarship.He said he still listened to music every day as a form of escape.He described the jangle pop band Orange Juice as “absolutely fantastic” and said he had discovered their music after moving to Leeds for university, where he studied law in the 1980s.
“The whole cultural experience going from rural village life to a really busy, diverse, fantastic, living city like Leeds.And with it came a whole new chapter of music,” he said.“I love the music [of Orange Juice], I love the lyrics, but also for me it’s this memory of going to Leeds.”In an interview recorded at Chequers last week, he also talked about his family’s love of northern soul music.“If you can imagine me, sleeves rolled up, chopping in the kitchen, happy, listening to northern soul and my daughter singing away at the top of her voice,” he said.
Starmer shared personal details of his family life, including his mother’s struggle with Still’s disease, a rare auto-inflammatory disorder that led to her death weeks before he was first elected as an MP in 2015.“I later learned that my dad had organised a way to get her into her wheelchair, he’d adapted their car and he had arranged that they would be there when I was sworn in as a member of parliament.I didn’t know this and of course that couldn’t happen,” he said.His first song choice was music from Swan Lake, in tribute to his mother’s love of ballet.The prime minister became emotional as he discussed the death of his younger brother, Nick, aged 60 on Boxing Day last year.
“It really hit me,That was really hard because I just wanted to grieve for my little brother,And music gave me a place to go to escape from all of that,” he said,When questioned about the decline of music on the school curriculum, he said: “I think we’ve let music, creatives and art slip too much,It is a concern that the numbers have gone down.
I think to be fair we need to signal what an A-level in music might give to you,”He also said the government was determined to ease some of the problems created by Brexit that meant British musicians were finding it difficult to tour in Europe,“It’s had a huge inhibiting effect,And I genuinely don’t think anybody voted in that referendum, whether they voted to remain or to leave, to make it harder for musicians and artists to be able to perform in other countries,” he said,“I absolutely understand the urgency and the need for this, and I’m absolutely determined that we will do whatever we can to make it easier.
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Lando Norris hits the front in title race with emphatic F1 Mexico City GP win
If timing is key in any race, Lando Norris might just have taken the bell with absolutely impeccable judgment. His victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix with a consummate drive from pole to flag has catapulted him into the lead of an intense title fight at exactly the right moment. Norris has momentum at the very point the championship enters its decisive phase.With his title rivals Oscar Piastri – Norris’s McLaren teammate – managing only fifth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Norris has the edge at a crucial juncture with four meetings remaining. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished in second, while Britain’s Oliver Bearman took a career-best fourth place with a superb drive for Haas
Saracens’ Noah Caluori called up by England for autumn internationals
Noah Caluori, the 19-year-old Saracens wing, has been named in England’s autumn internationals squad by Steve Borthwick.Caluori burst on to the Prem scene by scoring five tries against Sale on 18 October and, as England gear up for a busy November featuring four Tests, Borthwick has called up the uncapped youngster after initially inviting him to a training camp last week. The 36-player squad, including 19 forwards and 17 backs, gathered at Pennyhill Park in Surrey on Sunday night.Caluori made his second Prem start for Saracens in the defeat by table-topping Northampton on Friday. He had a considerably quieter night than the phenomenal display against Sale, and was given a severe defensive test by the Saints’ all-court attacking game
New York Jets legend Nick Mangold dies aged 41 while seeking kidney transplant
Nick Mangold, a hugely popular player during his 11-season career with the New York Jets, has died at the age of 41.Earlier this month, Mangold said he had been undergoing dialysis and needed a kidney transplant. He sought help from fans of the Jets and Ohio State, where he was a star in college.“In 2006, I was diagnosed with a genetic defect that has led to chronic kidney disease. After a rough summer, I’m undergoing dialysis as we look for a kidney transplant,” he wrote at the time
Shaun Wane requires herculean Ashes effort after England’s Wembley mauling
The scoreline alone offers concrete evidence of how underwhelming England were against Australia in the first Ashes Test on Saturday, but if anyone needed further proof, a glimpse around the Wembley crowd was somewhat telling, too.As a one-sided contest ebbed towards a predictable conclusion, there were cheers among those sitting near the press box. Not for an England try, but for a paper aeroplane crafted by a home supporter that had successfully made its way from the top of one tier on to the pitch. It was about the only thing that went right for those of an English persuasion.The beauty of a three-Test series is that no matter what happens in the first match there is an opportunity to bounce back
England crush New Zealand in final group match but Ecclestone injured
England finished the group stages of the World Cup with a dominant eight-wicket win against a limp New Zealand, after bowling them out for 168 in 38.2 overs.Sophie Devine’s final one-day international ended in disappointment after the 36-year-old departed caught behind off Nat Sciver-Brunt on 23, sparking a collapse in which New Zealand lost their last five wickets for 13 runs.Devine did chime in with a final wicket, trapping Heather Knight lbw for 33, but, despite being surrounded with close fielders in the next over, Amy Jones was able to sneak the winning boundary through the off side, finishing unbeaten on 86 as England won with 124 balls to spare. The only downsides were that Danni Wyatt-Hodge, finally brought into the XI in place of Emma Lamb, faced just seven balls before presumably playing in the semi-final in three days’ time, while Sophie Ecclestone injured a shoulder while fielding
England beat New Zealand by eight wickets: Women’s Cricket World Cup – as it hapened
Righto, that’s all from us today. England progress in style and New Zealand legend Sophie Devine bows out. We’ll be back to bring you all the action from the semi-finals and final in the coming week. Enjoy your Sunday – goodbye!Here’s England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt:“We really wanted to put in a performance today. The way that we’ve gone about cricket in this tournament has been largely successful and so we’re happy to put in that performance and take some confidence into the semi-final
Timely assurance from Lear’s Kent | Letters
The Guide #214: Sleep-inducing songs and tranquilising TV – the culture that sends us to sleep (in a good way)
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