Sir Keir Starmer has described Boris Johnson as a “trivial man” and “a trickster who’s played his one trick”, during his closing Labour conference speech.
Attacking Mr Johnson’s government as “lost in the woods”, Sir Keir added: “Once he’d said the words, ‘get Brexit done’, his plan ran out. There is no plan.”
The Labour leader suffered some heckles as he delivered his high-stakes conference speech in Brighton on Wednesday, during which he sought to draw a firm line under the Jeremy Corbyn era, having indicated he is ready to see Labour’s far-left split from the party.
It comes after the shock resignation of shadow cabinet ministers Andy McDonald, who alleged that the final straw came after he was instructed to vote against a campaign to raise the minimum wage to £15 an hour. In a message read out to leftwing activists at an event on Tuesday evening, during which they accused Sir Keir of “waging war” against the party’s left, Mr McDonald suggested he should seek a new “mandate” if he fails to honour pledges made during the leadership contest.
Meanwhile, in what would represent a significant change of approach from the party, shadow justice secretary David Lammy said a Labour government would seek to “fix” Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal – raising the prospect of more talks with the EU.
‘Keir knocked it out the park,’ Wes Streeting says
Here’s the reaction from Wes Streeting – one of the four Labour politicians whose name was floating around Brighton as Starmer’s potential successor, according to the Evening Standard.
“Keir knocked it out the park. It was the speech we’ve all been waiting for,” Mr Streeting said. “Those of us who work with Keir, we know him, we know his values, we know what makes him tick.
“By God, did we get that powerful story about what motivates him, his lifetime of public service, the decency, the seriousness that he would bring to government as prime minister.”
Welsh Labour’s deputy leader Carolyn Harris was equally effusive:
And former Blair spin doctor Alastair Campbell suggested it was “rich in values and integrity”, welcoming the praise for former Labour governments.
Starmer’s speech ‘important step forward’ but lacking ‘meaningful detail’, business leaders say
With Keir Starmer’s speech, “the Labour Party has taken an important step forward by outlining an agenda where businesses can find common ground”, the Confederation of British Industry has suggested.
“Its ambitions to decarbonise the economy and build a better future for everyone through improving education are shared by business,” said director general Tony Danker. “Lifelong learning is the bedrock of productivity, growth, and in turn, rising wages.”
But while his counterpart at the British Chambers of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland, said businesses would “welcome the focus on digital skills, investment in R&D and the need to make Brexit work”, she said: “Despite the warm rhetoric, what firms really need are concrete, costed proposals and meaningful detail on delivery.”
Labour ‘more divided than ever, Tory Party co-chair says
Oliver Dowden, the Conservative Party co-chair, has claimed Labour is “more divided than ever and has no plan”, adding: “Labour spent five days talking to themselves about themselves instead of to the country.
“From resignations in the middle of their own conference, to their union backers deserting them, to disrupting their leader’s speech, Labour are too preoccupied fighting amongst themselves to put forward a plan for our country.”
However, the BBC’s policy editor suggests that the move to reignite Labours “forever” war “appears to be part of the strategy” – describing a situation in which Labour leaders feel forced to confront the party’s left in order to gain legitimacy in the eyes of some of the electorate.
Here’s one explanation for the length of the speech:
Corbyn-era shadow cabinet members take aim at Starmer’s criticism of 2019 campaign
Sir Keir Starmer’s fellow Corbyn-era shadow cabinet members have issued a reminder of his role in the 2019 campaign.
Sir Keir was met with a heckle of “it was your Brexit policy” as he spoke of the party’s 2019 election defeat and pledged that Labour “will never under my leadership go into an election with a manifesto that is not a serious plan for government.”
Labour ‘clearly not there yet’ with Starmer at helm – Unite
Unite’s national officer Rob MacGregor said that Sir Keir Starmer was lacking in passion while talking about societal injustices in his Labour conference speech today.
Mr MacGregor said: “If you’re a Unite member worried about the cost of living crisis, empty petrol pumps, abhorrent fire and rehire in our workplaces and the end of furlough just hours away, there wasn’t much for you in this speech.
“We needed to hear a Labour leader who is as angry as we are about the harm being done to our workers, and as determined as Unite to stand up against abusive employers.
“We’re clearly not there yet.”
Unite is the UK’s largest trade union and the Labour Party’s biggest donor.
Labour member appears to tell Starmer his father ‘never stopped telling us how proud of you he is’
As he left the stage, a Labour member from Surrey East shouted to Sir Keir Starmer that his father “never stopped telling us how proud of you he is”, according to The Mirror’s Rachel Wearmouth.
Some trade unions react warmly to Starmer’s speech
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said: “Keir’s speech today shows that Labour has a plan for fixing the cost of living crisis, for delivering decent pay work and pay, and for giving our children a brighter future.”
Christina McAnea, general secretary of public sector union Unison said: “Keir set out a new vision for the party and a new vision for the country.
“With the focus on education, public services, rights at work and mental health, Labour is offering just what the country needs after 11 years of Tory mismanagement.”
Paddy Lillis, general secretary of retail workers’ union Usdaw, said: “Keir Starmer today made clear Labour is the party of working people, explaining that he is of working people and for working people.
“That is demonstrated by his commitments to a well-paid and secure workforce through a new deal for workers and we know that he will deliver.
“This is in stark contrast to the Tories who are pulling the rug from under low-paid families with an unfair cut in Universal Credit and increased National Insurance, as we face a looming cost of living crisis.”
Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Labour have understood that any government serious about education needs both a strategy to reduce child poverty and a strategy on boosting schools’ capacity to serve every local child.”
Starmer speaks mainly about parents, work, and tools
It appears that Sir Keir Starmer’s repeated use the word “tool” has not remained unnoticed by journalists at Labour conference.
The former human rights QC’s father was a toolmaker and his mother was a nurse, and it seems his team has been keen to use his keynote speech to remind the electorate of his working-class roots.
In his speech, Sir Keir also said the words “mum” and “dad” 17 and 11 times respectively, and “work” 69 times.
The couple were Labour supporters and named their son after the party’s first parliamentary leader, Keir Hardie.
In his speech, Sir Keir said: “This is a big moment that demands leadership. Leadership founded on principles that have informed my life – and with which I honour where I’ve come from.
“Work. Care. Equality. Security. They’re British values. They’re the tools of my trade. And with them, I’ll go to work.”
Pidcock says Starmer’s ‘long’ speech was ‘quite uninspiring’
Former Labour MP Laura Pidcock described Sir Keir Starmer’s conference speech as “quite uninspiring” and “long”.
The National Secretary of The People’s Assembly was MP for North West Durham from 2017 to December 2019.
Her comments outside the conference chamber in Brighton comes hours after she said on LBC radio that Sir Keir must offer a “credible alternative” to the working class who are facing “an intense crisis” dealing with high living costs.
