Sir Keir Starmer opened his keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool yesterday by condemning the Truss Tory government’s mini-budget last week, saying: ‘We can’t go on like this, the government has lost control of the British economy.
‘They’ve crashed the pound, and for what? Not for you, not for working people, but for tax cuts for the richest 1% in our society. Don’t forget, don’t forgive – the only way to stop this is with a Labour government.’
He said that the Tories used to lecture the Blair-Brown Labour governments that they had ‘failed to fix the roof when the sun shone.’
He went on: ‘But just take a look around Tory Britain today, they haven’t just failed to fix the roof, they’ve ripped out the foundations, smashed through the windows and blown the doors off for good measure.
‘My government will get us out of this cycle of crisis. This party is always on the side of working people in times of crisis. It’s time for Britain to stand tall again.’
Starmer then went on blame Russia for the bankruptcy of the British economy and flashed his pro-imperialist credentials, saying: ‘We’ve seen the biggest hit to living standards in a century, largely due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘We will never allow Putin’s threats and imperialism to succeed. Let this conference say together “Slava Ukraini. Country first, Party second”.
‘But the war didn’t make people’s homes cold. In one bold move on Friday, the Tory party gave up any claim it may have had to claim to be the party of aspiration.’
He went on: ‘I am so proud to launch our green prosperity plan’ and claimed that a Labour government would bring in ‘a Britain that is fairer, greener, more dynamic’.
Echoing the Blair leadership of the Labour Party, Starmer said that ‘Labour is back in the centre ground of British politics and is ready to offer the country a fresh start.
‘My government will be different. We will get us out of this endless cycle of crisis,’ he claimed.
Starmer then recalled: ‘I was a human rights lawyer,’ failing to mention his despicable role in the incarceration of Julian Assange.
He also said that when he told doctors in his constituency that the NHS was on its knees, they replied: ‘No Keir, it’s face down on the floor.’
He said a Labour government would take on an extra 7,500 medical students every year, double the number of district nurses, and offer 10,000 extra nursing placements.
Starmer said that his parents were able to improve their lot by ‘working their socks off,’ but now, he said, people are ‘working harder and harder just to stand still … our spirit is ground down,’ he claimed.
Starmer insisted that he is on the side of business, saying: ‘We’re not just pro-business, we want to be a partner with business.
‘A Labour government would scrap business rates and level the playing field for start-ups on the High Street.’
He would ‘invite business to drive forward our modern industrial strategy – a true partnership between government, businesses and trade unions.’
He said his government would ‘increase the supply of affordable homes’ – claiming that ‘ownership is the bedrock of stability of aspiration’, in contrast to the current government, under which ‘the dream of owning your own home is slipping away’.
‘Labour is the party of home ownership in Britain today,’ Starmer claimed, adding that he is targeting home ownership for 70% of people – offering new mortgage guarantees and a clampdown on buy-to-let landlords.
Sounding like a true Tory, Starmer went on: ‘We must think differently about our public services.
‘In health, it’s about moving treatments towards our communities, exploring how technology can free up NHS workers to focus on care.’
• See editorial
