Tag: Keir Starmer

The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 10 May 2021. Details of the Shadow Cabinet reshuffle are here.

The Labour Party must be the party that embraces the demand for change across our country. That will require bold ideas and a relentless focus on the priorities of the British people. Just as the pandemic has changed what is possible and what is necessary, so Labour must change too.

In the last 24 hours we have seen fantastic results for Labour Metro Mayors, as well as the Labour government in Wales under Mark Drakeford. They have shown the difference Labour can make in power, standing up for their communities.

We have seen Labour begin to turn around its fortunes in Scotland under the leadership of Anas Sarwar. These results give us optimism and inspiration for the future. The challenge for us now is to build upon these successes and learn from the places we lost.

I look forward to working with our refreshed and renewed team to take on that challenge, deliver that change and build the ambitious programme that will deliver the next Labour government.

The open letter written by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 4 May 2021.

In a couple of days’ time our country faces important elections. I wanted to write to you directly about the choice facing your community.

This is a changed Labour Party. Under new leadership, we are putting working people and their communities first, focusing on creating jobs, tackling crime and protecting the NHS.

My dad was a toolmaker who spent his life working on the factory floor. I’ve always believed in the importance of having a good, secure, local job you can be proud of. But these days, that kind of work is difficult to find for too many people. I want to change that. That’s why Labour will back local businesses and entrepreneurs to create jobs that boost the economy and your community.

I am proud that my mum, sister and wife have all worked for the NHS. I know the value of our amazing key workers – from nurses and police officers to supermarket workers and delivery drivers, they have kept our country going during this pandemic. Under my leadership, they’d get the rewards they deserve.

As Director of Public Prosecutions, I led a criminal justice system that prosecuted criminals and protected victims of crime. I know what it takes to get things done to make our country a safer and better place, reversing the rise in violent crime and anti-social behaviour we have seen in recent years.

As we emerge out of this pandemic, my burning desire is to build a brighter future for our country. My vision for Britain is simple: I want this to be the best place to grow up in and the best place to grow old in, whoever you are and wherever you live. That can start with this week’s elections. Labour in your area has a plan to deliver that future by:

Investing £30bn to support the creation of hundreds of thousands new jobs in the industries of the future, including steel and manufacturing.
Introducing a guarantee for young people to get them into work, training or education and end long-term unemployment.
Getting police out from behind desks and back on our streets to tackle the recent rise in violent crime and anti-social behaviour.
Guaranteeing the proper pay rise our NHS heroes were promised.

Under my leadership, the country’s priorities will always be Labour’s priorities. Labour councils, councillors and mayors who are utterly focused on delivering the secure jobs, safer streets and health services we all want to see. We are focused on those issues because they matter most. They are the first step of Labour’s plan to rebuild Britain, based on security and opportunities across the country

Under the Conservatives, it is one rule for them, another for everyone else. I get angry when I hear how the friend and neighbour of a Tory minister gets £30million of taxpayers’ money, while towns and communities across the country see their local services cut. Or when I see the British people’s money wasted on government contracts that don’t deliver.

If I were Prime Minister, I would stop the abuse of taxpayers’ money, stop the wasteful approach to outsourcing contracts and clean up our politics. When I was Director of Public Prosecutions, I was not afraid to prosecute MPs who had broken the rules over MPs’ expenses. As Prime Minister, I would not be afraid to overhaul a system that still allows power to be abused.

But it is not just about fixing things, it’s about a restless, relentless focus on change. Improving people’s lives and the country we all love. There’s no reason we can’t have better jobs, better schools, more opportunities, high streets we are proud of, public services that put people first and an NHS that is the envy of the world again: we just have to prioritise them.

That means a Labour Government, councils and mayors who are focused on the country, not a Conservative Government busy providing favours for those who have ministers in their WhatsApp contacts. A Labour Government that can deliver a better future for our children, not one cutting pupil premium or that has to be dragged kicking and screaming to provide free school meals for families.

On Thursday, you have a chance to vote for the first step in that change towards a brighter future and a Britain that works for you. A vote for Labour on Thursday is a vote for more jobs, more police on the streets and to protect our NHS. That’s the change Labour will deliver for you locally and it’s the change I am focused on delivering nationally. It’s the future our country deserves.

The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 5 May 2021.

Our fantastic Labour candidates have shown in this campaign that Labour’s priorities are the British people’s priorities. Creating jobs, tackling crime and protecting the NHS.

I can’t wait to join Tracy, Dan and Liam on the campaign trail today. They have run energetic and ambitious campaigns and will all make outstanding Mayors.

Across the UK, if you want strong voices for our towns and cities, our regions and nations, then vote for Labour candidates. They will stand up against a Conservative Government in Westminster which is more interested in providing favours to friends than backing Britain’s communities.

This is a different Labour Party, under new leadership. Vote Labour tomorrow to put you, your family and your community first. Let’s make Britain the best place to grow up and grow old, whoever you are and wherever you live.

The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 5 May 2021.

Today’s elections are a chance to vote for a brighter, better future for you, your family and your community.

This is a changed Labour Party. Under new leadership, we are putting working people and their communities first. Your priorities will always be Labour’s priorities, with Labour councils, councillors and mayors utterly focused on delivering the secure jobs, safer streets and health services we all want to see. They are the first step of Labour’s plan to rebuild Britain, based on security and opportunities across the country.

The choice at this election is simple: a Labour Party in your community that is creating jobs, tackling crime and protecting our NHS or a Conservative Party that handing out contracts to their mates, or wasting taxpayers’ money on contracts that don’t deliver.

Vote Labour today for more jobs, more police on the streets and an NHS that is protected. Vote Labour for a Britain that works for you.

The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 19 April 2021.

The drop in business birth rates is in no way symptomatic of a drop in ideas, drive, creativity, or commitment from British entrepreneurs. But under this Conservative government, the next generation of business founders are being let down.

Business growth is the engine of our economy and it is only by backing aspiring founders that we can create jobs and rebuild a secure economy. Labour backs business and will provide start-up loans to create 100,000 new businesses across the UK over the next parliament.

The speech made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, in the House of Commons on 12 April 2021.

In supporting the Humble Address, I would like to echo the remarks made by the Prime Minister and, on behalf of my party, to come together today in appreciation of a life well lived, a life of service and of duty, and a life that shaped modern Britain and provided much needed stability to our national story.

My thoughts, first and foremost, are with Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family. Prince Philip was a man of many titles—Duke of Edinburgh, Lord High Admiral, a royal Commander, Baron of Greenwich—but above all he was a much loved father, grandfather and great grandfather. To Her Majesty the Queen he was not only her beloved husband, but, in her words, her “strength and stay” for seven decades, so it is right that, today, this House and the country come together to pay tribute not just to a man, but to the virtues he personified, and to his ceaseless optimism about the country Britain can be and what the British people can achieve.

The life of Prince Philip was extraordinary, lived in a century on fast-forward and a time that saw world war, a cold war, the fall of empire, 20 Prime Ministers, and the invention of the television, the internet, artificial intelligence and technology so extraordinary it might have seemed to a lesser person as if from another world. Throughout that time, the monarchy has been the one institution in which the faith of the British people has never faltered. As we have seen once again in recent days, the royal family has a connection with the British people that runs as deep today as it did when Philip Mountbatten married the then Princess Elizabeth in 1947. That is not by chance; it reflects the quiet virtues, the discipline and the sacrifices we commemorate today.

My own connection to the Duke of Edinburgh began long before I entered this place. Like millions of other children, I—aged 14—started the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, or the DofE, as we called it. My first activity was to volunteer at a local mental health hospital where, unbeknown to me at the time, my late grand-dad would later be admitted. My final activity was wandering around Dartmoor in a small team, with a compass and a map in the pouring rain, frantically trying to find our way. Mr Speaker, if that doesn’t prepare you for coming into politics, nothing will.

In recent days, I have been struck by the countless stories of lives turned around by the DofE Award—young people who found their confidence and found their way. This was summed up by a 14-year-old girl who said, on passing her bronze award, that she felt:

“I can do anything now.”

The DofE Award now covers 130 countries and has helped millions of people around the world. It is perhaps the best symbol of the Duke’s global legacy. He was also patron to more than 800 charities and organisations. He was the first president of the World Wildlife Fund. He was the patron of the British Heart Foundation. He was president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and he was chancellor of the Universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh, Salford and Wales. He carried out, as has been said, a staggering total of more than 22,000 solo engagements, and countless others alongside Her Majesty the Queen.

The Duke will also be remembered for his unstinting support of our armed forces. It was in Dartmouth in 1940 that he graduated as a naval cadet. As the Prime Minister has described, he went on to a distinguished naval career. Today, the British armed forces mourn one of their greatest champions.

The Duke was a funny, engaging, warm and loving man. He loved to paint. His work has been described, characteristically, as

“totally direct, no hanging about. Strong colours, vigorous brushstrokes.”

He was also a great lover of political cartoons—not something the Prime Minister and I can say often. Although I saw a cartoon this weekend that I think captured this moment of national and personal loss perfectly. It depicted Her Majesty dressed in black, looking back at her shadow and seeing the Duke standing there, as ever at her side, attentive and holding her hand.

Britain will not be the same in the Duke’s absence. For most of us, there has never been a time when the Duke of Edinburgh was not present. At every stage of our national story for the last seven decades, he has been there, a symbol of the nation we hope to be at our best, a source of stability, a rock.

Her Majesty once said:

“Grief is the price we pay for love.”

The Duke loved this country and Britain loved him in return. That is why we grieve today. But we must also celebrate him: a life lived in vigorous brushstrokes, like his painting, and we offer up this tribute, “To the Duke of Edinburgh, for a lifetime of public service, the gold award.”

The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 9 April 2021.

The United Kingdom has lost an extraordinary public servant in Prince Philip.

Prince Philip dedicated his life to our country – from a distinguished career in the Royal Navy during the Second World War to his decades of service as the Duke of Edinburgh.

However, he will be remembered most of all for his extraordinary commitment and devotion to The Queen.

For more than seven decades, he has been at her side. Their marriage has been a symbol of strength, stability and hope, even as the world around them changed – most recently during the pandemic. It was a partnership that inspired millions in Britain and beyond.

My thoughts are with The Queen, the Royal Family and the British people as our nation comes together to mourn and remember the life of Prince Philip.

The Easter message issued by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 3 April 2021.

Happy Easter to Christians celebrating in the UK and around the world.

I am in awe of everything that you’ve done in the pandemic over the course of the last year.

The Christian community has always been there for the marginalised and for those that need support and help, but over the last year that has shone through so strong and so visible for everybody to see.

Whether that’s work in Churches with foodbanks, I’ve seen so many in our Churches supplying food to those that need it in our communities. Whether it’s vaccine centres in our Church or just the pure volunteering and looking out for people within our communities.

Thank you for everything you’ve done during this pandemic. Thank you for all that support and community spirit.

I know Easter is a special time for Christians. It’s a time for hope and renewal. And, as we come out of this pandemic, I think those values will be so important to us as a nation.

As we see the light at the end of the tunnel, Easter is a good time for us to reflect on the values and the things that really matter in our lives. So Happy Easter.