'Keir Starmer has destroyed the Labour Party - I will never vote for him again'

"I'd rather have Maggie Thatcher as Prime Minister than Keir Starmer". Not the words of a fervent Tory cheerleader but those of a lifelong Labour supporter and die-hard socialist.

They were spat out with some considerable venom by my taxi driver as I arrived in Liverpool last night. Quite a statement about a Conservative leader unanimously despised in these parts.

As we reached my destination, with rain lashing down on the windscreen of the black hackney-cab and the meter still ticking over, he had more to get off his chest.

It went something like this - Keir Starmer has destroyed the Labour party, I will never vote for a Labour party that introduces identity cards, Starmer has done nothing to stop illegal migration, I'd rather have Andy Burnham as leader......Nigel Farage will be the next Prime Minister.

Now, Sir Keir is not a natural fit to win over the hearts of Liverpudlians, unlike his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, but the bitterness towards him was stark.

The Prime Minister spoke the other day about fighting Farage for the soul of the country.

But it would appear he has a much more pressing battle closer to home - the soul of his own party.

The city on the River Mersey is the setting for this year's annual Labour Party conference which comes at a moment of great peril for Sir Keir Starmer.

A disastrous first 14-months in No 10 plus the recent scandals over Angela Rayner and Peter Mandelson have left the PM teetering.

Labour is already staring down the barrel of a complete election wipeout, the party is riven with splits from welfare to Gaza, and Sir Keir is already facing a major leadership challenge.

Here in Liverpool the Labour leader will hope to steady the ship and get his premiership back on track.

This could easily be derailed over his controversial plans to recognise the state of Palestine, which has split the party between those who say it doesn't go far enough, and those arguing it amounts to rewarding Hamas' terror attack on October 7.

The PM has already riled his left flank with the proscribing of Palestine Action as a terror group following their attack on an RAF base, which caused millions of pounds in damages.

A mass protest has been announced for the first day of conference, with Palestine Action supporters set to turn up in Liverpool and goad the police into arresting them.

Burnham, the Manchester mayor, is a problem that will linger like a bad smell for the PM all week.

The former Cabinet minister triggered widespread speculation about a potential leadership coup when he claimed fed-up backbenchers want him to challenge for the leadership.

This prompted an unusual acerbic response from the typically benign Sir Keir as he suggested Burnham's economic plans risk a repeat of Liz Truss' market meltdown.

Burnham is appearing at several events during conference, in the city of his birth, so expect more fireworks.

Much like my taxi journey, Reform UK will almost certainly dominate discussions at the Labour conference.

A lot of the rise in support for Nigel Farage's party has been caused by Sir Keir's complete failure to stop small boat crossings.

With the Labour party locked into several more years of hosting its annual jamboree in Liverpool it won't be the last the city sees of Sir Keir.

Unless he is ousted beforehand, polls suggest he is destined to be a one-term Prime Minister.

I know at least one person will be relieved - if he can wait that long.