The title of this piece, more or less, comes from ‘The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams. In ‘Hitch hikers’ there is a company called the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation who made robots with ‘genuine people personalities’ and used the line ‘your plastic pal who’s fun to be with’ as part of their advertising.

‘Robotic’ was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Starmer switching on the Christmas lights in Downing Street. It was cringeworthy and awkward to say the least. Starmer looking extremely uncomfortable doing what millions of Britons do each year and switch on some lights with Lady Starmer standing there with a fixed rictus smile on her face and looking for all the world that she’d rather be anywhere else in the world, apart from standing next to her husband.

Here’s the video in question.

There’s hardly any joy or spontaneity in Starmer’s performance here. What’s worse is that this not even the sort of event that a politician would find challenging. He only had to turn up, smile and glad hand a few people in front of an obedient media chorus. He couldn’t even manage to do that. I’m Jewish and even I could do a much better job of doing the Downing Street Christmas tree lighting than he did, I might even tell some jokes as well.

Starmer was so stiff and awkward that it made me wonder if he’s one of the Sirius Cybernetic Corporation’s failures that plastic pal who’s clearly NOT fun to be with. Personally I’d rather be governed by Marvin the Paranoid Android than Starmer, after all Marvin does at least have a personality.