This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54241844

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Keir Starmer: Boris Johnson is 'just not up to the job' Keir Starmer: Labour must 'get serious about winning'
(about 1 hour later)
Sir Keir Starmer has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being "just not up the job", in his first Labour conference speech as leader. Sir Keir Starmer has told Labour to "get serious about winning" in his first conference speech as leader.
"It makes me angry that, just when the country needs leadership, we get serial incompetence," said Sir Keir. Sir Keir attacked Boris Johnson's "serial incompetence" and said he was "just not up to the job" of being PM.
But he said Labour had to win back the trust of voters to win back power. But he said Labour had work to do win back voters' trust - and had deserved to lose the 2019 general election.
In an online broadcast, he said the party needed to "get serious about winning" and urged voters to "take another look at Labour". In an online broadcast, he set out his vision for the UK and urged voters to "take another look at Labour", adding: "We are under new leadership."
He said: "We are under new leadership. We love this country as you do. And he assured voters who deserted the party in droves in some of its traditional heartlands: "We love this country as you do."
"This is the country I grew up in….and this is the country I will grow old in. The speech was delivered to a near-empty room, in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, because of social distancing restrictions, and was greeted with silence instead of the usual applause and ovations.
"And I want it to be the country I know it can be." He criticised the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and said the crisis had revealed Boris Johnson as being "just not serious" and "not up to the job".
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. "It makes me angry that, just when the country needs leadership, we get serial incompetence," said the Labour leader.
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. But he said Labour had to be "brutally honest" with itself about why had it had lost four general elections in a row.
He said: "We're becoming a competent, credible Opposition but that's not enough. "When you lose an election in a democracy you deserve to. You don't look at the electorate and ask them: 'what were you thinking?'," he told the party.
"I didn't come into politics to be in opposition, and neither did you. He said Labour was "becoming a competent, credible Opposition but that's not enough".
"I came into politics to change lives. But you don't get the permission to act unless the public trusts you." And he vowed that "never again will Labour go into an election not being trusted on national security, with your job, with your community and with your money. That's what being under new leadership means."
Brutal to his party, brutal about the PM
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.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.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.So he was blatant - clever policy offers aren't enough to win trust.
Far more important are values. Far more important are values. He emphasised the classic Labour values of "compassion" and "opportunity", but also stressed the importance of family and security - seen as a weak spot for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.
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.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.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.So far, Starmer's focus as Labour leader has been on competence.
Polling suggests this has been successful. Polling suggests this has been successful - but he has been accused of being managerial, even funereal, in his approach.
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.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.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.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." In his speech, Sir Keir said the policies on which Labour will fight the next election in 2024 "won't sound like anything you've heard before".
He listed "security for our nation, our families and all of our communities" as "values I hold dear". "It will sound like the future arriving," he said of the party's next manifesto.
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. On Brexit, Sir Keir, who campaigned for a second referendum, declared that Labour would not be a party "that keeps banging on about Europe".
"Let me absolutely clear," he said, "the debate between Leave and Remain is over."
He called on the prime minister to secure a trade deal with the EU, and said he would be "failing Britain" if he failed to achieve one.
He also pledged to fight for the Union, saying: "We must make the case much more persuasively that we achieve more together than we do alone.
"To stop the Nationalists ripping our country apart by design, and to stop the Tories dismantling it by neglect."
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.
On the economy, the Labour leader repeated calls for "properly funded" public services and "huge investment" in skills to create work opportunities.On the economy, the Labour leader repeated calls for "properly funded" public services and "huge investment" in skills to create work opportunities.
He also called for action to tackle climate change, and for the government to develop a new strategy to close gaps in education inequality.He also called for action to tackle climate change, and for the government to develop a new strategy to close gaps in education inequality.
And he pledged to work "hand-in-hand" with both the private sector and trade unions in a bid to create "high quality jobs".And he pledged to work "hand-in-hand" with both the private sector and trade unions in a bid to create "high quality jobs".
'Platitudes' Momentum, the left wing campaign group originally set up to support Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, said Sir Keir's speech was a "missed opportunity to show substance".
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 group's co-chair, and West Midlands regional secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, Andrew Scattergood, said: "If Starmer wants to appeal to working class voters, his pitch should be based on solidarity with the working class and defending their interests, not just slogans and platitudes."
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. He accused the Labour leader of being silent on key issues, including Black Lives Matter and the end of the evictions ban in England - and suggested he was "rowing back" on promises made during his leadership campaign, such as taxing the "super rich".
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."