Keir Starmer to tell Labour conference: ‘People want wounds to heal and we are the healers’ – UK politics live
Good morning. Keir Starmer started his conference at the weekend by saying he needed not just to explain why the Tories should be voted out, but also to answer the “why Labour?” question. Today, at 2pm, he will seek to deliver the answer. In the age of 24-hour news and social media, big, setpiece speeches can still matter in politics, because they can shape the political and national debate for days, months and even years, and, if it’s any good, this speech should be in that category.
Labour sent out a fairly thorough preview last night and it is worth looking at it in. some detail, because it is contains several newsy lines.
Starmer will argue that Labour are “the healers … the modernisers … the builders”. He will say:
People are looking to us because they want our wounds to heal and we are the healers. People are looking to us because these challenges require a modern state and we are the modernisers. People are looking to us because they want us to build a new Britain and we are the builders.
He has been going on about Labour being the builders for some time. Promising to be “modernisers” is pure Blair. But “healers”? It does sound a bit New Age and crystally, but it seems to reflect Starmer’s conviction that the mood of the nation is not like it was pre-1997, there is precious little optimism, and people feel much more beaten and broken. As a nation, we probably need a bit of healing.
He is aiming for a decade in power. The overnight press releaze is headlined “Starmer promises to kick off ‘decade of national renewal’, and that has been interpreted as Starmer saying he wants two terms in office. No doubt he does, it would be unwise to read too much into this. With Labour’s lead in the polls as high as it is is, it would sound a bit limp promising just “five years of national renewal”.
He says Labour will “turn our backs on never-ending Tory decline with a decade of national renewal” and give the British people the “government they deserve”.
He will explain how Labour will revive Britain, the party claims. It says:
The speech will answer the question ‘why Labour?’, explaining how economic growth, safer streets, cheaper homegrown British power, better opportunities, and a rejuvenated NHS will get Britain its future back.
He will stress that change won’t be easy. Labour says:
Starmer will warn that the path back from 13 years of Tory decline will be hard. But he will speak with optimism and hope about Britain’s future, saying: “What is broken can be repaired, what is ruined can be rebuilt.”
He will say that Labour is now a “party of service” and that the days when it focused on gesture politics are long gone. Labour says:
Starmer will tell party conference that the sweeping changes made to the Labour Party under his leadership mean it is, “a changed Labour party, no longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest … Those days are done. We will never go back.” Instead, he will say, Labour is now, “a party of service … country first, party second.”
He will say that the result of the Rutherglen and South Hamilton byelection last week shows that Labour can unite the union. He will say:
There’s nothing more important. The Scottish people are not just looking at us, they’re also looking at Britain. For the first time in a long time we can see a tide that is turning. Four nations that are renewing. Old wounds of division – exploited by the Tories and the SNP - beginning to heal. Let the message from Rutherglen ring out across Britain: Labour serves working people in Scotland because Labour serves working people across all these islands.
He will explain why he does not want to put up taxes. The overnight briefing does not mention tax, but it says Starmer will say:
We should never forget that politics should tread lightly on peoples’ lives, that our job is to shoulder the burden for working people - carry the load, not add to it.
My colleagues Pippa Crerer and Peter Walker have more detail, and they report that Starmer will flesh out ideas to give towns and cities, particularly to promote housing. These are ideas that were first proposed in the report from Gordon Brown’s Commission on the UK’s Future, although there were not widely reported because coverage of the report concentrated on the proposal to abolish the House of Lords (ironically, one of the ideas in the document least likely to happen).
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.45am: The conference proceedings start. Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, opens a debate on crime and policing at 9.55am. There are also speeches from Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, at 10.05am. and from Yvette Coooper, the shadow home secretary, at 11.10am.
10am: Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, takes part in a Q&A event on the fringe.
Morning: Rishi Sunak is doing a visit in Staffordshire.
11.15am: Jess Phillips, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, leads a panel discussion on tackling violence against women and girls.
12.30pm: John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, speaks at a ‘“Justice for Palestine” fringe meeting.
2pm: Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech.
4.05pm: Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, opens a renewed debate on growth. There are also speeches from Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire mayor, at 4.10pm and from Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, at 4.15pm.
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