Starmer polishes his PM credentials
Labour uses major speech to distance leader from Corbyn and contrast with ‘hobbyists’ such as Johnson
SIR KEIR STARMER is to distance himself from Jeremy Corbyn as he vows that his premiership would not be “vanity dressed up as virtue”.
In a thinly veiled attack on his predecessor and on social-media warriors, he will say that politics is not a “sermon from on high” or a “self-regarding lecture” but is about how to make a “practical difference” to people’s lives.
In a major speech to be delivered tomorrow , he will also hit out at former Tory leaders Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron, saying that politics is not a “hobby” for people who “enjoy the feeling of power”. The Labour leader will point to his experience in making “lifeor-death decisions” as a lawyer in the Caribbean, saying that it shows he is ready to run the country because he understands that the action of government can “make a break a life”.
He will promise to restore standards in public life with a “total crackdown on cronyism”, adding: “This. Ends. Now.”
The speech comes as Sir Keir attempts to retain the political initiative at the start of an election year. Rishi Sunak has to call a ballot by the end of the year, and Labour has for months enjoyed a comfortable poll lead. On the same day as Sir Keir’s speech, Mr Sunak will undergo a question-and-answer session in another part of the country.
Sir Keir, who began his career as a lawyer and then the director of public prosecutions, will use his speech to say he came into politics to “serve”.
He will say: “I came into politics to serve, to get things done, to strive every day to make a practical difference.
“It’s a responsibility. But also the reason why – if you can put aside the reality of Westminster for a moment – I still believe in politics.”
He will continue: “When I’ve looked into the eyes of people I’ve served or represented at the Crown Prosecution Service, as a human rights lawyer, in my work with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, what I’ve seen reflected back is the knowledge that government can make or break a life.
“Literally – when it comes to the work I’ve done with people, around the world, living on death row. Life and death decisions – in your hands ... Now there’s pressure that comes with that – of course there is: that goes with the territory. But that’s the responsibility of serious government; the responsibility of justice.
“It’s not a game. Politics isn’t a hobby – a pastime for people who enjoy the feeling of power.
“And nor is it a sermon from on high, a self-regarding lecture, vanity dressed up as virtue.
“No – it should be a higher cause: the power of the vote, the hope of change and renewal, married to the responsibility of service ... That’s what I believe in. And I do believe it remains the best way to change our country for the better. And this year, at the general election, I will ask the British people to believe in it again.”
Mr Corbyn and hard-left armchair warriors are accused by Labour centrists of gesture politics rather than backing what works in practice to make people’s lives better. Mr Johnson and Lord Cameron have been accused of adopting a “born-to-rule demeanour”.
In his speech, Sir Keir will also highlight ones of his priorities to “clean up politics”.
He will say: “There are good people in Westminster; people who love their country and want to change it for the better ... And yet this principle just doesn’t seem to be understood. So I say to all my fellow politicians – Labour and Tory: to change Britain, we must change ourselves. We need to clean up politics ... I’ve put expense-cheat politicians in jail before and I didn’t care if they were Labour or Tory.
“Nobody will be above the law in a Britain I lead.”