As for Starmer, he’s invoked Thatcher because he’s trying to get Tories to vote for him. It’s as simple as that. He will have known how it would play out not just on the left but right across the media and, like a lot of things he’s done that have got people’s backs up, has done it anyway.
Correct of course.
I wouldn't be so surprised if the telegraph article overstating the praise of Thatcher was part of the deal for Starmer to write an article for the telegraph. We know his MO. His method for wooing tory voters is more about attacking socialists than anything else.