Keir Starmer today delivered what was probably the best speech of his premiership, issuing a rallying cry for the country to unite against the likes of Nigel Farage
Keir Starmer today delivered what was probably the best speech of his premiership, issuing a rallying cry for the country to unite against the likes of Nigel Farage who stoke division and fan the flames of division.
The Prime Minister set out what the government had done to help working communities up and down the country, with his pledge to renew Britain, while also setting out his vision for the country and rejecting the populism of the far-right, speaking up for an inclusive patriotism.
Here are five key takeaways from Keir Starmer’s speech:
1.Taking on Farage and racism
The Prime Minister rejected the politics of grievance pushed by Reform UK and those who stoke division and hatred, telling the Labour conference in a combative tone that the flag belonged to everyone: “They’re our flags, they belong to all of us, and we will never surrender them.”
He also called out racism, telling the conference hall: “Labour is proud of Britain’s flags but if they are painted alongside graffiti telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride – it’s racism.”
He also named Farage directly and said: “When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future? He can’t, he doesn’t like Britain.”
The prime minister said he was engaged in a “fight of the soul of our country” with Farage’s Reform UK.
2. A break with globalisation
The Prime Minister criticised those who put too much faith in globalisation, saying that Labour had “become a party that patronised working people”
He said: “The establishment across so many institutions in hock to its lazy assumptions that immigration is all we need to give us the workers, infrastructure will always be there because we build it decades ago…it doesn’t matter if industry leaves…conference look at our world now, because in our age of insecurity we see now that it does matter, we do need to put out security first”.
3. Time to replace 50% university target
In a break with New Labour, Starmer said it wasn’t correct to want to make 50% of young people go to university.
He said: “I don’t think the way we currently measure success in education, that ambition to get 50% of kids to uni, I don’t think that’s right for our times.
He said that he would end that aim.
“If you’re a kid or a parent of a kid who chooses an apprenticeship, what does it say to you? Do we genuinely, as a country, afford them the same respect? Because we should …”
4. Criticises those who sold Brexit lies
The Prime Minister criticised those who told lies on Brexit, as he reminded the public of the damage Brexit had done. To a standing ovation, he told the conference: “I have had enough of lectures from self appointed champions of working people…those who crashed the economy, those who unleashed chaos and walked away after Brexit.”
5. A break with the status quo that failed working people
Keir Starmer said the Labour government should never be ‘defending status quo that failed working people’
He said: “[People are] losing faith. They’re ground down. Politics has made them question Britain, and could you blame them?
“They’ve been nothing but patient. They lived through austerity, Brexit, Covid, played by the rules, kept their side of the bargain, but time and again, politics ducked the challenge of renewal.
“Their high street, their pubs, their youth clubs, the places that shape a life, that create a common memory – struggling against the tide of decline.
“That is why we must never, never find ourselves defending a status quo that manifestly failed working people.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
Left Foot Forward doesn’t have the backing of big business or billionaires. We rely on the kind and generous support of ordinary people like you.
You can support hard-hitting journalism that holds the right to account, provides a forum for debate among progressives, and covers the stories the rest of the media ignore. Donate today.
