Why it’s unfair to criticise Sir Keir Starmer for setting aside family time

However, the outdated view that working long hours equates to working effectively needs to be consigned to the rear view mirror of history.

The Tory party has launched a desperate attack on Sir Keir Starmer for saying that he tried not to work past 6pm on a Friday.

The Leader of the Opposition says he takes that time out for his family. Starmer’s wife is Jewish and Friday night Shabbat dinners are important in the faith. He has talked about making sure his children are aware of their heritage in the past.

As Lord Mann, a Labour peer who was appointed as antisemitism adviser by Theresa May, says, it is “insidious” of those who were especially aware of that fact to attack Starmer over his comments.

There’s a wider point as well of expecting political leaders to not make time for their families.

The point is often made, whenever MPs' pay rises are discussed, that there’s a need to attract the best to the job. If we want the best to occupy key public roles then they should not only be allowed to make time for their families but it should be actively encouraged.

Bosses of successful companies are known to make time for themselves and their families. It also provides a sense of perspective.

The Tory attacks are at best hollow and at worst hypocritical given that one of the biggest scandals of the past five years was the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his subordinates partying while the public was under strict restrictions. And in 2021, the then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was on holiday as the Taliban advanced on Kabul.