Here’s a round-up of the main points from the Prime Minister’s speech, what he said about his own future and Labour party plans
Prime Minister Keir Starmer giving his speech in London on Monday(Image: Getty Images)
Sir Keir Starmer made a make-or-break speech aimed at saving his premiership on Monday. This came after Labour’s devastating losses in the Local Elections last week.
In his address, held in a venue across the River Thames from Westminster, the Prime Minister hit out at his doubters and talk of challenges to his authority. Sir Keir took responsibility for the ballot box disaster that saw Labour suffer massive defeats across the country.
In the North East, the party lost control of councils in Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, and South Tyneside. The Prime Minister vowed to prove his “doubters” wrong as pressure continued to build on his premiership. ChronicleLive covered his speech live with every update and subsequent reaction here.
While a number of Labour Party MPs showed their support for the PM, others called for his resignation. David Smith, the MP for North Northumberland, said the Prime Minister must “set a clear timetable for his departure”. Here is a look at what Sir Keir said and the plans he laid out.
The Prime Minister’s future
Sir Keir hit out at his “doubters” in the speech, which he made in an attempt to move the dial on from Labour’s losses in national elections in Wales and Scotland, and in councils across England. People have doubted his leadership since he took over, Sir Keir said, adding: “I can prove them wrong again.”
The Prime Minister would not be drawn into saying whether Labour leadership contender Andy Burnham should be allowed to return to Parliament as an MP. He insisted it was a matter for Labour’s central governing body. The majority of the National Executive Committee is made up of Sir Keir’s allies and the Prime Minister himself has a seat on it.
Sir Keir did however praise Mr Burnham and said he had also recently spoken with another leadership contender, his former deputy Angela Rayner, but sidestepped a question of whether she had ruled out ever mounting a leadership challenge against him. Sir Keir said: “I know that people are frustrated by the state of Britain, frustrated by politics, and some people frustrated with me. I know I have my doubters, and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will.”
Labour’s future
Sir Keir ruled out calls to move Labour either left or rightwards to win over voters who have been wooed by the Green Party and Reform UK. He told campaigners that Labour “cannot win as a weaker version of Reform or the Greens”, after describing a “battle for the soul” of the party in the aftermath of the elections.
“We can only win as a stronger version of Labour, a mainstream party of power, not protest,” he said. The Prime Minister has faced calls from a range of senior figures to change course in light of the election defeats, with many on the soft-left of Labour calling for a more bold, progressive agenda.
Nationalising British Steel
British Steel will be brought into full public ownership, the Prime Minister announced in the first of three policy interventions in his speech, aimed at demonstrating a new resolve by the Government. A Bill to formalise public ownership of the Scunthorpe steel plant will be in the King’s Speech this week, Sir Keir said.
The company was brought under Government control last April amid worries that the Chinese owner, Jingye, was going to close its blast furnace, the last in Britain able to make virgin steel. A commercial sale of the steel plan has not been possible, Sir Keir said, and “now a public interest test could be met”. Sir Keir insisted the move was a demonstration his Government is on the side of “working people”.
Closer relations with Europe
The UK will be placed “at the heart of Europe” by the Government, Sir Keir said in his second policy offer, indicating he wanted even closer economic, trade and security ties with the EU. The Labour Government will be “defined” by rebuilding ties with the bloc, Sir Keir said.
Part of this will be an “ambitious” youth mobility scheme allowing young people from Britain to travel, work and live in Europe with ease, and vice versa, the Prime Minister said. The deal is set to be agreed at an annual summit with the EU this summer.
Later, Sir Keir was asked by reporters if he would rule out including membership of the single market or customs union in the next Labour manifesto, and appeared to leave the door open to both, which were key planks of Brexit. The EU-UK summit will be a “big leap forward”, he said, adding it “will then be a platform on which we can build as we go forward”.
Jobs guarantee for young people
The Prime Minister promised to make sure that every young person struggling to find a job will get a guaranteed offer of a job, training or work placement. The Government is trying to crack the nut of rising levels of young people not in employment, education or training, the so-called “neets”, and has already begun work on this.
But Sir Keir tried to broaden the emotional pitch of the plans, referring to “kids ignored by the status quo because politicians kids don’t go there”. Young people from less well-off backgrounds “will finally get the respect that they deserve”, he added.
Stand against the ‘far-right’
Sir Keir said he would block “far-right agitators” from coming to the UK for a march on Saturday that he said was “designed to confront and intimidate… this diverse country”. The rally is due to take place on Saturday May 16 in central London.
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