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Keir Starmer appeals to patriotism in Labour conference speech Keir Starmer: Boris Johnson is 'just not up to the job'
(about 1 hour later)
Sir Keir Starmer is promising to prioritise security for families and the country during his first party conference speech as Labour leader. Sir Keir Starmer has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being "just not up the job", in his first Labour conference speech as leader.
In an online broadcast, he will tell voters who abandoned the party at December's election that "we love this country as you do". "It makes me angry that, just when the country needs leadership, we get serial incompetence," said Sir Keir.
He will ask them to return to Labour, stressing it is "under new leadership". But he said Labour had to win back the trust of voters to win back power.
But the Conservatives have accused him of "refusing to take a position" on important issues facing the country. In an online broadcast, he said the party needed to "get serious about winning" and urged voters to "take another look at Labour".
Sir Keir will tell party members it is time to "get serious about winning", as he addresses them on the final day of Labour's four-day annual conference. He said: "We are under new leadership. We love this country as you do.
The online event replaces the party's traditional party conference due to be held in Liverpool, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "This is the country I grew up in….and this is the country I will grow old in.
Sir Keir will say he wants Britain to be the "best country to grow up in and the best country to grow old in. A country in which we put family first." "And I want it to be the country I know it can be."
Speaking from Doncaster, he will list "security for our nation, our families and all of our communities" as "values I hold dear". The speech was delivered to a near-empty room, in Doncaster, West Yorkshire, because of social distancing restrictions, and was greeted with silence instead of the usual applause and ovations.
He will vow to listen to voters who abandoned Labour at last year's election, when the party was swept aside by the Conservatives in its traditional heartlands. In it, Sir Keir attacked Boris Johnson for not being a "serious" politician and delivered a stark warning to his own party that it faced a long road to win back the trust of voters.
He said: "We're becoming a competent, credible Opposition but that's not enough.
"I didn't come into politics to be in opposition, and neither did you.
"I came into politics to change lives. But you don't get the permission to act unless the public trusts you."
Keir Starmer literally stood in front of a red wall in Doncaster, and his key message was to those who had abandoned Labour in 2019 - we hear you.
He has something of an innovative policy chief in Claire Ainsley - one who doesn't believe in setting out detailed policies.
So he was blatant - clever policy offers aren't enough to win trust.
Far more important are values.
The classic Labour collection was here - "compassion", "opportunity" but, he added (and re-emphasised) "family" and "security" - seen as a weak spot for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.
And while there weren't specific policies to close the educational attainment gap, there would possibly be a "task force" - a signal that it's a priority for him.
His message to his own party was more brutal than anticipated - suggesting that it would be a "betrayal" to be anything other than relentless in seeking power.
But he was also brutal towards the prime minister - Starmer was a serious lawyer when Boris Johnson was writing flippant columns.
So far, Starmer's focus as Labour leader has been on competence.
Polling suggests this has been successful.
But he has been accused of being managerial, even funereal, in his approach.
Today he succeeded in injecting passion into a speech in a near empty hall.
His "new leadership" is ambitious for change, but he was also "angry" that he wasn't in power to achieve it.
Labour's four-day online event replaced the party's traditional party conference due to be held in Liverpool, which was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sir Keir said he wanted Britain to be the "best country to grow up in and the best country to grow old in. A country in which we put family first."
He listed "security for our nation, our families and all of our communities" as "values I hold dear".
He vowed to listen to voters who abandoned Labour at last year's election, when the party was swept aside by the Conservatives in its traditional heartlands.
Sir Keir replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader in the contest that followed the poll, where the party won fewer Commons seats than any election since 1935.Sir Keir replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader in the contest that followed the poll, where the party won fewer Commons seats than any election since 1935.
"Trust takes time. It starts with being a credible Opposition, with taking the job seriously. That's what we will do," he is expected to say. On the economy, the Labour leader repeated calls for "properly funded" public services and "huge investment" in skills to create work opportunities.
Addressing ex-Labour voters who switched to the Conservatives, he will add: "I ask you: take another look at Labour. We're under new leadership." He also called for action to tackle climate change, and for the government to develop a new strategy to close gaps in education inequality.
On the economy, the Labour leader will repeat calls for "properly funded" public services and "huge investment" in skills to create work opportunities. And he pledged to work "hand-in-hand" with both the private sector and trade unions in a bid to create "high quality jobs".
He will also call for action to tackle climate change, and for the government to develop a new strategy to close gaps in education inequality.
And he will pledge to work "hand-in-hand" with both the private sector and trade unions in a bid to create "high quality jobs".
Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy told the BBC there had been a "real change in tone and approach" under Sir Keir's leadership, with the party focused on "listening to what people have to say and acting on the very real problems they have in their lives".
Pressed during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today about what substance there was behind the rhetoric, she suggested in foreign affairs the party was prioritising "standing up for British interests" and was determined to bring the country together after years of bitter divisions over Brexit.
'Platitudes''Platitudes'
But ahead of the event, Sir Keir has been warned against "watering down" the "radical policies" of his leadership campaign by the Labour-affiliated Fire Brigades Union.But ahead of the event, Sir Keir has been warned against "watering down" the "radical policies" of his leadership campaign by the Labour-affiliated Fire Brigades Union.
The union, one of the more left-leaning of the 12 affiliated to the party, called for Sir Keir not to "cede any ground" to the Conservatives.The union, one of the more left-leaning of the 12 affiliated to the party, called for Sir Keir not to "cede any ground" to the Conservatives.
In an interview with the BBC, its general secretary Matt Wrack added that he had not "heard Keir make that case" since becoming Labour leader.In an interview with the BBC, its general secretary Matt Wrack added that he had not "heard Keir make that case" since becoming Labour leader.
Ahead of Sir Keir's speech, Conservative co-chairman Amanda Milling said: "If you take another look at Labour, the leadership may be new, but the attitudes to Brexit, immigration and the economy remain the same.Ahead of Sir Keir's speech, Conservative co-chairman Amanda Milling said: "If you take another look at Labour, the leadership may be new, but the attitudes to Brexit, immigration and the economy remain the same.
"For all his platitudes, the reality is that Sir Keir refuses to take a position on the most important issues facing our country, always preferring to carp from the sidelines.""For all his platitudes, the reality is that Sir Keir refuses to take a position on the most important issues facing our country, always preferring to carp from the sidelines."