To party fold, Starmer tells voters
LABOUR LEADER SETS OUT HIS VISION AND ‘PATRIOTIC VALUES’
LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer appealed on Tuesday (22) to former supporters of the party, asking them to return to the fold with a message that he offers a “new leadership” and shares their patriotic values.
Labour suffered heavy losses at last year’s election, when prime minister Boris Johnson’s ruling Conservatives won seats in Labour heartlands with a promise to “get Brexit done” and by tapping into discontent with then leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Turning to what he described as his anger against Johnson’s “serial incompetence” over the coronavirus crisis and Brexit talks, Sir Keir also distanced himself from Corbyn, saying Labour was becoming “a competent, credible opposition”.
Since his election as Labour leader in April, Sir Keir wants to win back many of the so-called ‘Red Wall’ seats in northern and central England taken by the Conservatives, and also faces a tough struggle to convince voters in Scotland to return to the party.
Addressing the party’s virtual conference from Doncaster in the north of England, Sir Keir told Labour members: “To those people in Doncaster and Deeside, in Glasgow and Grimsby, in Stoke and in Stevenage to those who have turned away from Labour, I say this: we hear you.”
“I ask you: take another look at Labour. We’re under new leadership. We love this country as you do.”
Sir Keir also set out his vision for Britain, saying a Labour government would properly fund public services, create a worldclass education system, invest in skills and become “an active force for good in the world” by tackling climate change.
“Never again will Labour go into an election not being trusted on national security, with your job, with your community and with your money,” he said. “That’s what being under new leadership means.”
With an election still nearly four years away, the 58-year-old former chief prosecutor is trying to navigate Labour’s way in winning back former supporters while holding the Conservative government to account, without being seen as unnecessarily critical at a time when the country is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.
After many Brexit supporters were wooed by Johnson’s election message that only he could “get Brexit done”, Sir Keir drew a line under Labour’s often confusing position, saying the party was “not going to be a party that keeps banging on about Europe” and instead wanted a deal with the EU.
Labour has caught up with the Tories for the first time since Johnson became prime minister in July last year, according to a YouGov opinion poll published last Friday (18) that put both parties on 40 per cent.
But the Tories, who have an 80-seat parliamentary majority, are hoping that, by the time of the next election, they will have recovered strongly from the current criticism of their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. To counter that, Sir Keir stepped up his criticism of Johnson personally.
“And I think we’ve learnt a lot about this prime minister,” he said. “He’s just not serious. He’s just not up to the job.”
Many Corbyn supporters are still wary of Sir Keir’s leadership. (Agencies)