IT was a bold move, shameless even, some might say; Keir Starmer, the arch-Remainer, who people may recall campaigned for a second Brexit referendum, appropriating the Leavers’ campaign slogan “take back control”.

With a gimlet eye on all those lovely Brexit-supporting red wall seats, the chief comrade in his opening keynote speech of 2023 said he wanted to “embrace” the Leavers’ slogan and turn it “into a solution”.

He even suggested a Take Back Control Bill, promising more devolution across the UK, as the “centrepiece” of a new Labour government’s first King’s Speech to deliver a “new Britain”. The slogan sound familiar, Tony?

Under questioning, Starmer explained: “That phrase 'take back control' was really powerful; it was like a Heineken phrasing got into people. And the more they ask themselves - do I have enough control? - the more they answer that question: no.”

The Labour leader denounced the way Westminster was run as a dysfunctional “circus,” there were too many “sticking-plaster” policies, that Whitehall hoarded too much power and so a “huge power-shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy”.

He even suggested people’s desire for taking back control witnessed in the 2016 Brexit referendum was the “same in the Scottish referendum in 2014; many of those, who voted ‘yes,’ did so for similar reasons. And it’s not an unreasonable demand.

"It’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what “take back control” meant. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.”

Nicola Sturgeon must have been choking on her midday tea-cake. All of these sentiments could have come joyously from her mouth; indeed, she might consider recycling some of them as the SNP’s own campaign slogans.

Yesterday, the Scottish Greens urged Anas Sarwar to reject Starmer’s line on Brexit. But he won’t. Because the Scottish Labour leader knows the most important thing is to win the General Election, preferably with a working majority, which means winning back those English red-wall seats as well as Scottish ones.

In his own keynote speech, the PM set out five pledges - minus the Prescott-style card - to halve inflation, grow the economy, lower national debt, reduce England’s NHS waiting lists and stop the small boats crossing the Channel. Apart from the first one, all were without specific timescales, leaving Sunak with wriggle-room come the election campaign.

While few Conservatives desire the upheaval of having a fourth leader in less than 12 months, there are fears the Johnsonites could seriously undermine the PM’s bid to keep the Tories in power.

Some remain bitter at Sunak over his “betrayal” of Boris Johnson, who is waiting patiently in the wings to pick up the Conservative crown should the current party leader lose the 2024 General Election, which, as things stand, seems likely.

On the day of Sunak’s big speech who should appear with what appeared to be vindictive timing but Nadine Dorries, one of the ex-PM’s Praetorian Guard, who back in summer, as her hero was ousted, came in for criticism for sharing a mocked-up Caesar-like image of Sunak stabbing Johnson in the back with a knife.

Just to sour Sunak’s big moment, the ex-Culture Secretary tweeted: “Three years of a progressive Tory government being washed down the drain. Levelling up, dumped. Social care reform, dumped. Keeping young and vulnerable people safe online, watered down. A bonfire of EU leg, not happening. Sale of C4 giving back £2b, reversed. Replaced with what?”

She added it would be it “almost impossible to face the electorate at a GE and expect voters to believe or trust our manifesto commitment”. Crikey.

Now we’re told a new Momentum-style grassroots campaign is being formed called the Conservative Democratic Organisation to give members more say in how their party is run. Its leading figures are, by sheer coincidence, all Johnson allies.

One of them, Lord Cruddas, the CDO’s President, insisted the group was not about Johnson but, rather, to change the party’s constitution so no future prime minister “could ever be coronated in the future without the members having their say; especially as Rishi was already rejected by members and they have been disenfranchised from the leadership campaign”.

If that was not destabilising enough to Sunak’s leadership, there is another group being formed called Next Generation Tories, aimed at attracting younger people to the Conservative cause. Its creator is Simon Clarke, the ex-Cabinet minister, an avowed supporter of Johnson and then Liz Truss, sacked by Sunak.

The former Levelling-Up Secretary is determined to keep her emphasis on growth at the forefront of Conservative minds. He warned: “There is a real risk with Liz’s eclipse comes the wider rejection of an entire school of Tory thinking,” adding, somewhat ominously for the PM, that a “battle for the soul of the Tory Party is underway”. Already?

It certainly doesn’t sound like harmony is breaking out; quite the opposite in fact and it appears some Conservatives already believe they have lost the election. All of which will be sweet music to Labour ears.

Sunak yesterday attended an NHS “recovery forum” to heave England’s healthcare system out of its current malaise and plan a way forward while tomorrow UK ministers will meet with unions to try to end the industrial strife on the railways just as they are about to introduce controversial legislation to limit the effects of strike action. Today, the PM will seek to charm voters in a round of TV interviews.

After the Ides of March Budget, his first electoral test will come in May when hundreds of English council seats will be contested. The PM could be forgiven for watching the results from behind the Downing St sofa.

Starmer’s theft of the Brexiteers’ powerful slogan might be regarded as brave or foolish – time will tell – but if the Labour leader wants a concise and effective message, he should look no further than the most tried-and-tested one of all: time for change.