Starmer to quote Blair in calling Labour ‘political wing of the British people’ - Sir Keir will outline an ambition to ‘turn the UK into a growth superpower’....
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The Independent
2022-09-26T21:43:19Z
Sir Keir will outline an ambition to “turn the UK into a growth superpower” as he argues Labour is the party of financial responsibility after the pound plummeted in response to the Tories’ plans to borrow billions to pay for massive tax cuts.
He will argue Labour is now the party of “sound money” and recommit the party to an office for value for money to ensure taxpayers’ money is spent in the national interest.
But his direct quoting of Sir Tony, the last Labour leader to win a general election, also seeks to put further distance between himself and his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.
Sir Tony referred to New Labour as the “political wing of the British people” ahead of his landslide 1997 election victory, in a departure from the party being described as the political wing of the union movement.
A Labour spokesman said echoing Sir Tony is an intentional move to show that Labour is “back in the centre ground” and in the “mainstream” of public opinion.
“Ultimately he wants to be the next Labour leader who takes the party from opposition into government,” the spokesman said.
He accepted Sir Keir has overhauled the party to distance it from the one led to two general election defeats under Mr Corbyn, who is sitting as an independent MP as he fights suspension.
“We’ve changed the party to make sure we’re in tune with the instincts and aspirations of the British people once again,” the spokesman said.
One of the changes to the party he was noting was how he opened the party’s conference with a tribute to the Queen in form of singing the national anthem.
Sir Keir’s strategy to boost growth includes a green prosperity plan to create one million new jobs in towns and cities across the country.
He was committing to begin this mission, to also include bringing down energy bills, raising living standards and tackling the climate crisis, within 100 days of forming a government.
To achieve this, he will say, requires “a different way of working”, developing “the biggest partnership between government, business and communities this country has ever seen”.
Sir Keir will argue “we cannot afford to miss out” on the opportunity to lead the world in renewable energy, electric vehicles and harnessing new hydrogen power.
Sir Kier was set to attack the Conservatives on the economy by saying: “What we’ve seen from the Government in the past few days has no precedent.
“They’ve lost control of the British economy - and for what? For tax cuts for the richest one per cent in our society.”
But the aide conceded that the party was accepting a higher level of borrowing than before the Chancellor’s package of tax cuts last Friday.
Sir Keir is pledging to reverse the abolition of the top rate of tax for the nation’s wealthiest, but was supporting the reduction of the bottom rate to 19p in the pound.
Sir Keir will declare that Labour will get the UK “out of this endless cycle of crisis with a fresh start, a new set of priorities and a new way of governing”.
“We should never be left cowering in a brace position, worrying about how to get through a winter. It’s time for Britain to stand tall again,” he will add.
25 сен 2022
