SIR Keir Starmer will today promise voters he won’t go cash crazy if he wins the keys to No10.
Setting out his own stall, the Labour leader is unveiling a vision for a “decade of national renewal” but without rinsing taxpayers with a “big government chequebook”.
Sir Kier Starmer is unveiling a vision for a ‘decade of national renewal’ but without rinsing taxpayers
In a New Year speech he will rail against the “sticking plaster politics” of quick fixes and instead offer a “new way of governing”.
He is expected to say: “We can give people a sense of possibility again, show light at the end of the tunnel.”
But in an attempt to restore Labour’s economic credibility – left in tatters by Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership – he will express restraint and champion big business.
Sir Keir will say: “Let me be clear – none of this should be taken as code for Labour getting its big government chequebook out again.”
“Of course investment is required – I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone.
“But we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess – it’s not as easy as that. There is no substitute for a robust private sector, creating wealth in every community.”
Sir Keir’s keynote address was overshadowed last night by a public spat between two of his frontbench MPs.
Shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan refused three times on the radio to back her boss, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, over his position on the NHS.
She later tried to downplay the row by tweeting that she and Mr Streeting were “a team”.
But a Tory spokesman said: “Only days into the New Year and Labour are already at each other’s throats.”
Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi further branded Sir Keir’s speech “yet another desperate relaunch attempt”.
