London | British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made a stumbling reference to Israeli hostages as “sausages” on Tuesday, adding a farcical note to his set-piece attempt to reset an already beleaguered premiership.

In a speech to Labour’s annual party conference – intended as a celebration of his thumping election victory just 12 weeks ago, but now a desperate attempt to shore up his plummeting popularity – Sir Keir misread his script, which called for the return of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 last year.