'The opportunity to rib me': Keir Starmer answers exactly why he said 'sausages' at Labour conference speech

The Prime Minister butchered a call for Hamas to release the hostages in Gaza, instead demanding “the return of the sausages” before swiftly correcting himself.

Asked about the mistake during a trip to the United Nations, Sir Keir told reporters: “I just mangled the beginning of the word.”

He added: “These things are there to give you all the opportunity to rib me.”

The blunder in his conference speech on Tuesday was swiftly picked up on social media.

The Conservatives posted on X: “Keir Starmer uses his first big speech as Prime Minister to call for the return of the sausages.”

During his speech in Liverpool, Sir Keir made a plea for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, but slipped up and then called for the “return of the sausages” before correcting himself and saying “hostages”.

He said: “I call again for restraint and de-escalation on the border between Lebanon and Israel and for all parties to pull back from the brink.

“I call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the return of the sausages, the hostages, and a recommitment to the two-state solution, the recognition of a Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.”

Sir Keir had been referencing the Hamas attacks on 7 October, where numerous Israelis were taken hostage - some are still held hostage in Gaza almost a year later.

This comes after Lebanon said more than 550 people had been killed, including 50 children, in Israeli strikes since Monday.

At his speech at the United Nations overnight, the Prime Minister was very deliberate in the words chosen.

He pleaded with both sides to step back from the brink and agree a ceasefire following escalating clashes across the Lebanon border.

Stressing the need to prevent a regional conflict in the Middle East, Sir Keir said “further escalation serves no one”.

“I call on Israel and Hezbollah. Stop the violence. Step back from the brink,” he said. “We need to see an immediate ceasefire to provide space for a diplomatic settlement and we are working with all partners to that end.”

He warned the alternative is “more suffering for innocent people on all sides and the prospect of a wider war that no one can control and with consequences that none of us can foresee”.