In his speech to Labour conference, the Prime Minister hailed a country that has the ‘grit of the Lionesses, the swagger of Oasis, the strength of the Red Roses’
Keir Starmer has promised to “fight with every breath I have” for the “tolerant, decent, respectful Britain I know” as he declared war on Nigel Farage’s toxic politics.
In a speech to Labour conference, the Prime Minister hailed a country that has the “grit of the Lionesses, the swagger of Oasis, the strength of the Red Roses”. And he rejected the idea that Britain is broken, pointing to the ordinary people who cleared racist graffiti off a Chinese takeaway, rebuilt riot-damaged buildings and delivered food parcels to their neighbours.
The PM said voters had reasonable concerns about illegal migration but warned Farage and his right-wing cronies had crossed a “moral line” with threats to deport people who came to Britain legally. Thin-skinned Farage hit back, accusing the PM of inciting violence against Reform.
But the PM rubbished his claims – and said he wouldn’t back down. He told the Mirror: “That is not an accurate reflection of what I am saying. I am saying there is a fundamental fork in the road for our country.
READ MORE: Keir Starmer hits back at Nigel Farage’s violence claims – ‘I won’t back down’
“We can either go forward with a Labour government for patriotic national renewal, where we bring the whole country with us, our beautiful, tolerant, diverse country, or we can go for toxic division and decline that will, in my view, tear our country apart.
“I’m not going to back down from making that argument, because it’s a crucial argument to make for our country, the country that I love.”
In a speech to party faithful in Liverpool, Mr Starmer said a person who argues that “people who have lived here for generations” should now be deported is “an enemy of national renewal”.
To thundering applause, he said: “This party, this great party, is proud of our flags, yet if they are painted alongside graffiti, telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride, that’s racism.
“You say or imply that people cannot be English or British because of the colour of their skin, that mixed-heritage families owe you an explanation, that people who have lived here for generations, raised their children here, built lives here – working in our schools, our hospitals, running businesses – our neighbours, if you say they should now be deported, then mark my words, we will fight you with everything we have because you are an enemy of national renewal.”
Mr Starmer cast the fight with Reform and others pushing a “politics of grievance as a battle for the soul of the nation. But he said Britain must secure its borders – and said Labour had fallen into a trap of patronising working class people concerned about immigration.
Mr Starmer also pledged a “muscular state” that would intervene to boost growth and protect jobs. But he warned against snake oil merchants “on the right and on the left” who offer quick fixes.
He said: “Tax cuts that magically pay for themselves, a wealth tax that somehow solves every problem, the Brexit lies on the side of that bus.
“‘Click here for your new country’. We can all see these snake oil merchants on the right, on the left. But be in no doubt, none of them have any interest in national renewal.
Mr Starmer also promised to replace an ambition for 50% of youngsters to go to university with a new aim of two-thirds of young people going to either university or doing a “gold-standard apprenticeship”.
And he set out plans for an “online hospital” for England, offering patients consultations with specialist doctors from their homes.
He was introduced by Hillsborough campaigner Margaret Aspinall, whose son James was killed in the 1989 football disaster.
She spoke of how the families were let down by other Prime Ministers, who have broken their word to change the law. But introducing Mr Starmer, she said: “I’ve met a prime minister who’s kept his promise.”
The Prime Minister said the new Hillsborough Law, designed to prevent state cover ups by imposing criminal sanctions on public officials who lie, would mean other families would be spared the same injustice.
He said: “The British state consistently refused to see injustice because of who the victims are. Because they’re working class, they’re black, they’re women and girls.”
He said he could never undo the pain suffered by victims of state cover ups like Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office scandal.
But he added: “We can show that in the Britain that we are building, the state will see, the state will listen, the state will be accountable to working people. Because now – injustice has no place to hide.”
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