Monday 26 September 2022 10:47 PM Keir Starmer pitches to be the heir to Tony Blair trends now
Keir Starmer will today try to present himself as the heir to Tony Blair – and claim Labour is now the party of economic credibility.
Amid rising confidence in his party about the next election, he will directly recycle his predecessor’s claim that Labour represents the ‘political wing of the British people’.
But his economic credentials risked being undermined last night after Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed that union leaders would be given a role in setting economic policy. She wants to appoint them to a new national economic council sitting alongside figures from industry.
A Labour source yesterday dismissed the idea that Sir Keir believed he was on course for a 1997-style landslide at the next election. But the insider added: ‘He wants to be the next Labour leader to take the party from opposition to government. Tony Blair was the last person to do that.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (left) with former Prime Ministers Tony Blair (middle) and Gordon Brown (right). Amid rising confidence in Sir Keir's party about the next election, he will directly recycle his predecessor Mr Blair's claim that Labour represents the ‘political wing of the British people’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks on day two of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. He will try to present himself as the heir to Tony Blair – and claim Labour is now the party of economic credibility
Sir Keir will use his speech to Labour’s conference in Liverpool to try to exploit turmoil in financial markets and claim the Government has ‘lost control’ of the economy. He will say he is ready to ‘fight the Tories on economic growth; with Labour now the party of ‘sound money’.
A Labour spokesman said the party would ‘go into the next election as the guardian of fiscal responsibility’. Sir Keir will today pledge to make the UK a ‘growth superpower’, saying his plans for a green revolution would create a million jobs and tackle climate change.
And he will signal that Labour is ready to extend its energy price freeze beyond its current six-month lifespan, saying: ‘We should never be left cowering in a brace position, worrying about how to get through a winter. It’s time for Britain to stand tall again.’
Revealing her plans, Miss Reeves said: ‘I would bring together a national economic council that will bring together industry and trade unions, so working people and businesses were at the heart of economic decision-making.’
A Labour source said unions would
