Labour ready for difficult decisions in new age of insecurity, Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer will insist Labour can deliver ‘security for decades’ as he addresses his party’s Scottish conference in Glasgow on Sunday.
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Your support makes all the difference.Sir Keir Starmer will insist that Labour can deliver “security for decades” by taking the difficult decisions necessary in a “new age of insecurity”.
The UK Labour leader will use a speech to his party’s Scottish conference in Glasgow on Sunday to set out his credentials to be the UK’s next prime minister.
A general election is almost certain to take place later this year, with all polls pointing to the Tories being out of Downing Street after 14 years in power.
With his party meanwhile narrowing the gap on the SNP north of the border, Sir Keir will tell voters there that the “power to build a new Scotland, is in your hands”.
But he will also use his speech to highlight the “enormous upheaval” Scotland has experienced since 1979 – the year Margaret Thatcher became prime minister.
Speaking about the “scars of the Scotland born of 1979 onward”, he will tell how the “prosperity” that the discovery of oil and gas in the North Sea could have brought had been “squandered”.
Meanwhile he will tell how the move away from traditional heavy industries, such as coal mining and steel in both Scotland and the UK had been “chaotic, unstable, and needlessly cruel”.
Sir Keir will say that the country is again living in a “time of upheaval”, noting that “revolutions in energy, science, technology that are changing our children’s future beyond recognition”.
My Labour party is ready to make those difficult decisions. My Labour party is ready to deliver security for decades.
Meanwhile, he will say there are “new threats to democracy” as a result of the overturning of “the established relationships of power all around the world”.
Describing this as a “new age of insecurity”, the UK Labour leader will add: “Make no mistake, in this era, the difficult decisions will come thick and fast and the consequences will stay with us for decades.”
But he will state: “My Labour Party is ready to make those difficult decisions. My Labour Party is ready to deliver security for decades.”
He will make a direct appeal to Scottish voters to back his party when the general election comes, telling people that his party needs the “chance to serve” if they want to see “that difference for Scotland”.
Sir Keir will say to people: “The power of the vote, and the power to build a new Scotland, is in your hands.”
However he will say that Labour will “have to fight for every vote” in the general election, adding: “The right to say we are the change Scotland needs must be earned.”
He will go on to tell Scots who used to vote Labour but who have moved away from the party that “Scotland’s influence in Britain will be strongest when you have a Scottish Labour Party working with a Labour Government”.
The Labour leader will tell people: “If you want a Britain that places Scotland and its interests at the heart of the Westminster debate, if you want a politics that is committed to smashing the class ceiling, if you want to see more money for Scottish public services or Scottish community energy projects then that’s the change we can deliver for Scotland.”
This will provide no confidence to communities across Scotland
But Scottish Conservative chairman Craig Hoy insisted: “Keir Starmer has a nerve to talk about changing Scottish politics when you can barely distinguish between his party’s policies and the SNP’s.
“His weak attempts to pass the blame onto the SNP Government for the challenges facing our oil and gas sector conveniently neglect to mention that his own party have repeatedly voted with the SNP on this issue, making clear their desire to shut down one of Scotland’s most profitable industries.
“He claims Scottish Labour will support the working people of Scotland, but this uninspiring speech from the Labour leader repeatedly fails to reveal how we plans to do it.
“This will provide no confidence to communities across Scotland.”
Meanwhile SNP MP Alison Thewliss said: “Whether it’s Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to end Tory austerity, his silence on the damage of Brexit or his party’s failure to back a ceasefire to end the suffering in Gaza, Labour is completely out of touch with Scotland’s values.
“Labour have made their values clear, they will cap child benefits but not bankers’ bonuses – even Anas Sarwar has now acknowledged Scotland needs protecting from Sir Keir Starmer.
“Sir Keir Starmer has already made clear his fondness for Margaret Thatcher so it’s of no surprise he mentions squandering Scotland’s resources, ironically just days after he dumped his £28 billion green renewable investment pledge and put thousands of Scottish jobs at risk.”
She added: “Westminster isn’t working for Scotland and at the upcoming general election Labour doesn’t need Scotland to win, but Scotland needs SNP MPs at Westminster to stand up for Scotland’s interests.”