Sir Keir Starmer revealed his nickname of ‘Special K’ as he paid a visit to a Kellogg’s factory.
The Labour leader toured the site in Trafford Park, Greater Manchester this morning and met business leaders, apprentices and trade union representatives to discuss the country’s supply chain crisis.
He told reporters he shared a name with one of the manufacturer’s well-known brands, saying: ‘I’ve been dubbed Special K since I was born, K for Keir.’
While Special K is the name of one of Kellogg’s most popular cereals, it is also a slang term for ketamine.
The substance is sold illegally as a hallucinogenic drug but is also used by medical practitioners and veterinarians as an anaesthetic.
Before the visit, Sir Keir criticised the Prime Minister for ‘refusing to take responsibility’ for shortages and ‘offering only jokes and slogans’.
He said: ‘Boris Johnson failed to act when industry warned him of driver shortages months ago, allowing this chaos to develop.
‘Without an adequate plan to recruit and train more drivers now, the chaos will continue as demand rises in the run-up to Christmas.
‘Britain needs a high-wage high-productivity economy, but this Government has no plan to get there.’
Instead, he said that wages are ‘stagnant’ and ‘bills are rising’, with the Conservatives raising taxes on working families and small businesses.
It comes after nearly two weeks of fuel chaos across the UK caused by the lack of HGV drivers.
Despite the PM insisting the situation is ‘stabilising’ and the army being brought in to help drive tankers, there are still huge queues in some parts of the country as petrol stations are left without fuel.
While visiting the North West, Sir Keir was asked whether housing secretary Michael Gove was the right man to ‘level up’ the region.
He said: ‘It is not a question of whether he’s the right man, it’s how on earth can the Government claim to be levelling up when it’s hitting six million families who most need it with a £1,000 cut.
‘If you cannot level up those that are most in need, you’re not interested in levelling up.’
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