Keir Starmer tells Boris Johnson ‘this is no time for tax rises’ OR a new wave of austerity as he channels postwar Labour leader Clement Attlee to demand a future that does not ‘waste the sacrifices of the last year’
Sir Keir Starmer warned Boris Johnson not to ‘waste the sacrifices of the last year’ with a botched rebuilding of the UK economy today as he set out his own vision for the future.
The Labour boss warned the PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak against hiking taxes or implementing a new wave of austerity after 10 years of throttled spending as he sought to reboot his leadership.
He called for the March Budget to avoid short-term measures to balance the books and invoked post-war Labour prime minister Clement Attlee to say that Britain should be rebuild with a futuristic vision.
Mr Attlee heavily defeated Winston Churchill in the general election held following the Second World War and went on to build the NHS and other major arms of the welfare state.
But Mr Starmer, who has faced accusations of a lacklustre first year in charge of the party, also criticised the policies of predecessor Jeremy Corbyn as he set out to woo businesses, saying they were not ‘something just to be tolerated or taxed.’
He described next month’s Budget as a fork in the road, saying that ‘the public finances must be returned to sustainability over the medium to long-term not in the short-term’.
So this is no time for a second wave of austerity. And this is no time for tax rises on businesses and families either,’ he said in the speech broadcast live from labour headquarters.
‘That would waste the sacrifices of the last year. And it would choke off our recovery.’
Labour leader Keir Starmer will address claims he is not up to the job of prime minister in a major speech today setting out his vision for the country
Sir Keir said there is ‘a chance to diagnose the condition of Britain and to start the process of putting it right,’ adding: ‘That’s the path I would take in the March Budget. To begin a new chapter in the history for our country.’
In another reference to Mr Attlee’s administration, he added: ‘The age in which Government did little but collect and distribute revenue is over.
‘I believe people are now looking for more from their Government – like they were after the Second World War.’
Starmer plans to model himself on former Labour PM Clement Attlee (pictured), who defeated Winston Churchill in the general election held following the Second World War
Sir Keir is facing questions about why Labour remains below the Conservatives in the polls. And last night his ‘reset’ speech was dismissed as not radical enough by the Left-wing of his party.
Andrew Scattergood, co-chairman of the pro-Jeremy Corbyn Momentum group, said it had ‘no ambition, little substance’.
He added: ‘We can’t win in 2024 by promising to be better managers of the same system.’
Sir Keir, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, was expected to bring his experience as a lawyer to forensically cross-examine Boris Johnson in the Commons.
But earlier this month he was humiliated by having to admit he had made a mistake at Prime Minister’s Questions.