Keir Starmer overcomes pressure by union backers to commit to big spending election pledges

SIR Keir Starmer earlier tonight saw off attempts by his union backers to force him to sign up to big spending election pledges.

Labour shadow ministers met with unions and activists in Nottingham to begin hammering out manifesto plans ahead of next year’s election.

The opposition boss tonight overcame pressure to sign up to matching the minimum wage for under-18s to adults and to scrap support for a two-child benefit cap.

Attempts to sign up the party to back universal free school meals and reverse all cuts to Sure Start centres were also said to be defeated.

Sir Keir’s team also claimed the party and unions had backed his promise to on borrow more than the Tories for investment despite some testy moments behind the scenes.

A Labour spokesman said: “Labour’s democratic policymaking body has endorsed Keir Starmer’s programme.

“This is a serious, credible and ambitious policy programme that lays the groundwork for an election-winning manifesto and a mission-driven Labour government that will build a better Britain.

“There are no unfunded spending commitments in the document.”

However, the Unite union said it could not sign up to an agreed document “in full” as it fell short on workers’ rights and zero hours contracts.

The union – which is a major financial backer of Labour – also accused the leadership of trying to bounce them into policy changes.

A spokesman said: “The process in Nottingham was chaotic with an attempt to push through changes to the policy document without first sharing them with conference participants, including Unite.”