Keir Starmer tells families 'I will fight for you' as he promises new Britain
Keir Starmer told families “I will fight for you” as he promised to build a new Britain. The Labour leader defiantly set out his pitch to become PM after a glitter-throwing protester attempted to disrupt his party conference speech.
“If he thinks that bothers me, he doesn’t know me,” he said as he rolled up his sleeves and carried on with his address to cheers and applause. “Protest or power? That’s why we changed our party.”
Mr Starmer promised to "bulldoze" his way through restrictions to build 1.5million new homes by creating new towns across the country. He vowed to get the NHS "back on its feet" by bringing down waiting lists and ending the 8am scramble for GP appointments. And he said he will bring down energy bills and create jobs of the future by investing in green industries.
Mr Starmer praised the spirit of the British people despite the "Tory project to kick the hope out of this country". He said "the fire of change still burns in Britain" and it "lives on in Labour".
If Labour gets into power in next year’s election, he said the scale of the challenge would be immense compared with his predecessors. "If you think our job in 1997 was to rebuild a crumbling public realm, that in 1964 it was to modernise an economy left behind by the pace of technology, in 1945 to build a new Britain out of the trauma of collective sacrifice, then in 2024 it will have to be all three,” he said.
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Mr Starmer said that “our way back from this will be hard” and there is “no magic wand”, but he vowed to create a “Britain built to last”, adding: “Let’s get to work.”
Giving hope, he said he would create a nation where “working people are respected, crime is prosecuted, ambulances come, the minimum wage is enforced, infrastructure gets built”. He continued: “Children feel safe in their classroom, business and workers unite in partnership, fight together for the jobs of the future, jobs that are well-paid and in your town”.
Concluding his speech, he said: “I grew up working class. I’ve been fighting all my life. And I won’t stop now. I’ve felt the anxiety of a cost-of-living crisis before. And until your family can see the way out, I will fight for you.”
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “Keir Starmer outlined today a proper plan for repairing and rebuilding Britain. And he showed that he will stand up for working-class communities. The contrast with the Tories’ slash and burn approach couldn’t be greater.”
The police face questions about why officers were slow to react after the protester stormed the stage. It was left to two female security staff from the conference centre in Liverpool to drag him out of the main hall. Merseyside Police said a 28-year-old from Surrey was arrested on suspicion of assault, breach of the peace and causing public nuisance.
A Labour spokesman said Mr Starmer was “completely unfazed by what happened and it shows the strength of his character that he got on and delivered the speech of his life”.
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