Sir Keir: I’d have fired Cummings

LABOUR LEADER Sir Keir Starmer has denied he remained too quiet during the row over the Prime Minister’s controversial adviser Dominic Cummings and his trip to Durham during the coronavirus lockdown.

In an exclusive interview with

The Yorkshire Post, Sir Keir reiterated that had he been Prime Minister he would have sacked Mr Cummings.

But he said: “I was very taken by the fact that the criticism of the Prime Minister that was the most powerful came from the probably hundreds of thousands of people across the country who have contacted MPs and other people to say how much they disapprove of what’s going on.

“I think they’re really powerful voices in this.”

Unlike other opposition figures, Sir Keir did not call for Mr Cummings to resign, instead setting out what he would have done in the circumstances.

Asked if he had purposefully avoided that as more than 40 of Mr Johnson’s own MPs were doing the work for him, he said: “Well, lots of MPs are doing it and the number rises by the day.”

He said time had been wasted over the situation. Boris Johnson has said he wants to draw a line under the affair after Mr Cummings travelled 260 miles from London to County Durham to self isolate on his father’s farm.

SIR KEIR Starmer has vowed to learn lessons from Labour mayors as he set out the type of candidate he hoped would take on the key role in West Yorkshire.

A devolution deal was agreed for West Yorkshire in March, unlocking £1.8bn of funds, and an elected mayor is set to be chosen in May next year.

Despite the election still being a year away, discussions have already began over who could stand for each party in the new role.

Speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post, Labour leader Sir Keir said: “The mayoral roles are really important, and I do Zoom calls with all the existing mayors at the moment and we might start doing them with some of the candidates.”

He added: “So if you take the mayors that we’ve got, people know who they are for their area.

“It’s got to be somebody identifiable, strongly associated. And that I think people want to look at and be proud of them there.”

Labour have five metro mayors including Sadiq Khan in London, Andy Burnham in Manchester, Steve Rotherham in Liverpool, Dan Jarvis in the Sheffield City Region, and Jamie Driscoll in the North of Tyne.

The Tories have four mayors – Ben Houchen in Tees Valley, Andy Street in the West Midlands, Tim Bowles in the West of England, and James Palmer in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Sir Keir, who became leader last month after Jeremy Corbyn stepped down following Labour’s disastrous General Election result in December, said: “One of the things I’ve felt quite strongly over the last few years is that there’s been a bit of a gap between the leader of the Labour Party and our locally elected mayors, actually council leaders as well.

“I’ve been trying to bridge that gap, and therefore I’ve already had individual meetings with each of our Labour mayors, but also collective meetings.

“I want them to feel more centrally involved in what the Labour Party does. Secondly, there’s a lot that we could learn. We’re trying to get the Labour Party from a party that has lost four elections to one that can win elections, and the mayors have won elections.”

The move could see mayors becoming more integrated with the party, and feeding into the Westminster wing. Sir Keir said: “If I want to know what’s going on on the ground, actually, why wouldn’t I talk to our mayors? One of the features of my leadership is going to be closing that gap.”

WHEN I became Labour Party leader last month, I promised a new and responsible type of opposition – an opposition that puts the national interest first.

That is particularly important at a time of national crisis. At times like these we all share a common purpose: to save lives and protect our country. Labour must play its role in supporting this national purpose.

That means supporting the Government when they are getting it right and challenging them when they make mistakes. And mistakes have been made.

The Government was too slow to enter lockdown, too slow to increase testing and too slow to protect care homes from the virus.

And this week the Prime Minister failed to take any action against his closest adviser.

Dominic Cummings broke the lockdown rules. It is as simple as that. His actions were an insult to the millions of people across Yorkshire and the United Kingdom who have sacrificed so much during this pandemic.

People have stayed away from their loved ones, their friends and their family. Many people have been forced to isolate alone.

And in the most tragic circumstances, people have not been able to say goodbye or hold a funeral in the way they would have liked. It is because of those sacrifices that people have felt so angry – and I share that anger.

If I was Prime Minister, I would have sacked Dominic Cummings. Boris Johnson was too weak to do so and instead we wasted a week talking about the actions of one adviser rather than how we protect the health of the nation and lift the lockdown restrictions safely.

When I was elected leader, I also promised to listen. Labour did not just lose the last election. We have lost four in a row. We have lost the trust of the British people as a force for good and a force for change.

I know we can only restore that trust if we start listening again and understanding why people in Yorkshire and elsewhere have turned their back on Labour.

That’s why this week I visited Doncaster, not in person, but virtually, to listen to the views and concerns of over 100 residents.

Unusually for a political leader, I don’t want these meetings to be easy. I made it clear I wanted to be challenged, for them to be frank and blunt with me – about politics and about the Labour Party.

We talked about coronavirus. I heard from a woman desperately worried about the strain on our National Health Service and care homes – not just from the pandemic but from years of underfunding.

I heard about the pressures facing the self employed in Doncaster, some of whom have fallen through the gaps in the Government’s support packages.

I heard about the frustration people felt over the Prime Minister’s actions this week which have undermined the Government’s own public-health advice.

And I heard about the anger of many of those in Doncaster about the Government’s failure to offer a quick and comprehensive response to the flooding last November. We also discussed Brexit. I know there are strong feelings about this across Yorkshire on both sides of the argument but as I said in Doncaster on Thursday: We have left the European Union. The Leave-Remain divide is over.

The challenge now is how we shape our country’s future for ourselves and our children. Like all those on the call, I want to see Doncaster prosper. I want to see new jobs created, businesses supported and promises of investment delivered.

The Conservative Party talk a good game on this issue but their record after a decade in power is one of consistent failure to properly invest in our regions.

The North-South divide is continuing to grow. Without Government action, there is a real risk coronavirus deepens the existing injustices and inequalities.

Finally, people spoke candidly to me about the Labour Party and the state of politics. I am under no illusion that Labour has a mountain to climb to

It is not enough to clap on a Thursday then return to business when the crisis ends.

win the next election but I am determined to restore people’s faith and trust in our party and in politics.

That means supporting the country through the coronavirus pandemic. It also means offering people hope for a better society after this crisis is over.

The past few months have shown us so clearly who the key workers really are.

Our NHS staff, care workers, ambulance drivers, porters, shopkeepers, police and emergency services. It is because of their dedication and sense of public service that Yorkshire has kept moving. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

It is not enough for us to clap them on a Thursday night and then return to business as usual when this crisis ends. It is our duty – Labour’s duty and my duty – to offer that vision for a better, fairer, more equal society.

I know Labour has a big job to do. Not just to respond to the coronavirus but to reconnect with our communities.

This week’s event in Yorkshire is not unique. It will be the first of many. I hope to be back in Yorkshire soon and I hope to be back in Doncaster.

And when I am, I hope we can meet in person. To talk about the challenges we face as a nation and how, together, we can deliver a better future.