Keir Starmer makes his pitch in pre-election Labour conference speech

Protester storms stage during Keir Starmer speech at Labour conference and screams ‘democracy is in crisis’ before throwing glitter over leader in major security breach

• Starmer using his speech to set out plans for a ‘decade of national renewal’
• Labour wants to reclassify ‘low-quality’ green belt land to build more homes 

Keir Starmer’s big conference speech was hit with a major security breach today when a protester invaded the stage screaming ‘democracy is in crisis’.

The Labour leader was just about to start his speech when the man ran up to the podium and started shouting and throwing what appeared to be glitter on his jacket.

He yelled ‘politics needs an update’, ‘we demand a people’s house’, ‘we are in crisis’ and ‘our whole future is in jeopardy’ as he was wrestled to the ground. 

But Sir Keir took off his jacket and continued after the man was removed saying, ‘If he thinks that bothers me he doesn’t know me.’

He also joked that he was glad it hadn’t happened to his wife Victoria because her dress was ‘beautiful’. 

The extraordinary incident will raise huge concerns about the protection for the Opposition leader. It is the second time during this year’s event that an interloper managed to get to the podium.

Unlike the Tory gathering Labour conference has delegates speaking during debates in the main hall, and the numbers in the audience are far higher. 

Sir Keir used the speech to claim the ‘tide is turning’ for Labour today as he gives potentially his last conference speech before an election.

Sir Keir insisted he is the leader to ‘heal’ the country – but warned it will require a ‘decade of national renewal’. Sir Keir said he had turned Labour into  a ‘party of service’, ‘renewed’ after the Corbyn era.

He is also warning activists in the packed hall in Liverpool against complacency, despite the latest poll showing the party in an 16 point lead.

Worryingly for the Tories, their standing has actually gone backwards since Rishi Sunak wrapped up their conference last week. 

he Labour leader was just about to start his speech when the man ran up to the podium and started shouting and seemed to throw something on his jacket

The man was wrestled to the ground by security after his protest, with Sir Keir resuming his speech saying he was not ‘bothered’ 

Sir Keir was left rubbing glitter from his hair after the extraordinary incident

Sir Keir’s wife Victoria was watching in the audience, as he said he was glad the protest had not ruined her ‘beautiful’ dress 

Worryingly for the Tories , their standing has actually gone backwards since Rishi Sunak wrapped up their conference last week

Keir’s big ideas 

• Reclassify ‘low quality’ green belt to allow more homes to be built
• Boost devolution by giving all towns and cities in England new powers and funding
• Boost borrowing to invest in the economy while ensuring debt is falling over long-term
• Close tax loopholes for the ‘wealthy’ while protecting ordinary workers from more pain
• Encourage doctors to work more overtime to help stabilise the NHS  
• Crack down on government waste to save ‘billions’ and recover Covid fraud cash 
• Order police to tackle lower-value shoplifting and create specific offence for assaulting retail staff 

The address at 2pm is expected to be an ’emotional appeal’ to the country, rather than laden with new policies – as Labour is still keeping its powder dry until closer to an election. 

Sir Keir will put a ‘big build’ at the heart of his pitch, vowing to reclassify ‘low quality’ green belt land.

Labour wants to construct thousands of new homes, and even new towns, by streamlining planning and removing obstacles.

He will also try to quell fears that taxes will spike again if he gets into No10, stressing that government should ‘tread lightly on people’s lives’. But Sir Keir will repeat shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves’ hints that there will be pain for wealthier Brits. 

In his speech today, Sir Keir will accuse the Government of breaking Britain during 13 years of ‘Tory decline’.

But he will say that ‘what is broken can be repaired, what is ruined can be rebuilt’.

He will add: ‘People are looking to us because they want our wounds to heal and we are the healers. People are looking to us because these challenges require a modern state and we are the modernisers.

‘People are looking to us because they want us to build a new Britain and we are the builders.’

Sir Keir will insist that Labour has been transformed since the days of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, saying he now leads ‘a changed Labour Party, no longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest… Those days are done. We will never go back.’

Instead, he will claim that Labour is now ‘a party of service… country first, party second’.

Sir Keir is expected to echo shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves in hinting that any Labour tax rises will be levied on business and the better off rather than ‘working people’.

In light of the cost of living crisis, he will say: ‘We should never forget that politics should tread lightly on peoples’ lives, that our job is to shoulder the burden for working people – carry the load, not add to it.’

Sir Keir will promise a major expansion of devolution, with councils and combined authorities getting control over housing and planning, skills, energy and transport.

That would essentially mean the same powers as London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.

Keir Starmer pictured arriving at conference with wife Victoria before delivering his big speech 

‘If we want to challenge the hoarding of potential in our economy then we must win the war against the hoarders in Westminster. Give power back and put communities in control,’ he will say.

The Labour leader will double down on pledges to tear up Britain’s planning system to ‘get Britain building’.

He will suggest that a new Labour government would oversee a ‘big build’. But previous pledges to build 100,000 new council houses a year have not been repeated this week.

Michael Gove yesterday said that Labour’s proposals to reform the planning system for infrastructure projects appeared to recycle initiatives the government has already made.

The Levelling Up Secretary said: ‘I hope everyone covering today’s non-announcements from Labour notes that they have literally no idea what to do on infrastructure.’

Sir Keir yesterday said he was ready for an election as early as May next year – and predicted the Conservatives would fight a dirty contest.

Addressing business chiefs, he said he expected Rishi Sunak to ‘go low’ in the fight to cling to power, and warned that the campaign was likely to ‘descend into a place which isn’t about big politics’.

Sir Keir’s comments suggest he believes he is now on course to hold power until the mid-2030s. 

Shadow international development minister Lisa Nandy yesterday hinted at the long-term ambitions, telling activists at a Labour fringe meeting: ‘We’re going for more than two terms.

Labour frontbencher Pat McFadden tried to play down the suggestion this morning, insisting Sir Keir is just levelling with the public about the challenge.

He told BBC Breakfast: ‘What he’s doing is he’s setting out realistically that after 13 years of the Conservatives it’s going to take time to turn things round.

‘He is levelling with the public here. He’s saying we can’t solve everything overnight but what we can do is turn the page and begin a process of national renewal.

‘He’s assuming nothing. He’s being honest with the people about the time it’s going to take to face up to the challenges the country is facing right now.’

Insiders said Sir Keir would reveal ‘little if any’ new policy in today’s speech, fuelling concern that Labour is hiding its agenda for fear of public scrutiny. 

A senior Labour source yesterday said that even the party’s election manifesto next year would be only a ‘slim volume’, setting out Sir Keir’s five missions for government, with relatively little in the way of detailed policy.

Source: Read Full Article