Keir Starmer tells Rishi Sunak ‘carry it on’ as Labour prepared for election battle

Keir Starmer tonight advised Rishi Sunak to “bring it on” and warned voters cannot afford to attend any longer for a normal election.

In his first interview of the election 12 months, the Labour chief stated voters can’t afford to attend for one more 12 months of Tory distress as mortgages rise and payments pile up. But Mr Starmer stated the cowardly Prime Minister is operating scared from calling an election as “everyone knows he’s been an abject failure”.

He stated he was able to tackle Mr Sunak and rubbished studies that he wished to duck scrutiny. “Bring it on I say. Bring on the campaign,” he advised the Mirror from Labour’s London headquarters.

“We’re ready. We’ve been working for four years for this. Working hard to change the Labour Party, to put ourselves in a position where we can change the country. 2024 is the year where we get the chance to change the country for the better. The power of the vote is hugely important and the chance for hope to prevail over decline.”

A current ballot for the Mirror discovered two-thirds of the general public need a normal election by the summer season. Some 31% need a vote “as soon as possible” whereas 19% stated the spring and 16% opted for the summer season.

Asked if he was prepared for a snap election, Mr Starmer stated: “We’re ready, we’ve been ready for a long time. The country is ready, your poll shows that. And that’s because people can’t afford to wait any longer for this Government to finally put itself before the electorate.”

In a direct message to Mirror readers, he stated: “Hope is on the way and the power of change is in your hands.”

He said Mr Sunak was afraid to call an election as “it is apparent he hasn’t delivered”. “He’s now stepping into the place the place he is cooking the books – the asylum backlog is the newest instance of pretending he is solved issues slightly than truly fixing,” he said.

“He’s not going to persuade anybody with this. Everybody is aware of he is been an abject failure. But not simply him – the final 14 years have been an abject failure. I do know the rationale he’s reluctant to name an election and that is as a result of he hasn’t received a report to place earlier than the nation.”

He rubbished Tory Rwanda deportation plans and said Labour would ditch legislation Mr Sunak is trying to force through Parliament to revive the failing scheme. Asked what he would do if the legislation passed, he said: “I do not imagine in losing taxpayers cash on gimmicks that do not work. We would not do it.”

Mr Starmer also dismissed threats from Nigel Farage-linked outlet Reform UK, who claim they are pushing for Labour votes. “Many of them are ex-Tories so I believe that that is actually in regards to the weak spot of the Prime Minister greater than in regards to the Labour Party,” he said. “I’m assured within the case that we wish to put earlier than the nation.”

Labour has vowed not to hike taxes for ordinary workers – including income tax – if it wins the general election. Mr Starmer said he wanted to lower the tax burden for working people but wouldn’t be drawn on whether there would be cuts to income tax or national insurance in Labour’s manifesto.

On inheritance tax, he said: “I believe even they [the Tories] know that extra tax cuts for these which might be higher off with none profit for the overwhelming majority of working individuals can’t be the way in which ahead for this nation.”

He said the Tories were trying to set traps for Labour after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt paved the way for a new austerity drive after the next election, with a major squeeze on public spending. But he added: “Labour isn’t the occasion of austerity. Labour is a celebration that is invested in public companies.”

The Labour leader also signalled that he could allow a free vote on assisted dying if he gets the keys to No10. Mr Starmer, who dealt with cases of assisted dying when he was Director of Public Prosecutions, said: “I do assume it is time for the legislation to alter.

“Any change would have to be carefully considered but I do think there should be a free vote on it and Parliament should properly have its say.” Asked if he would find time for it, he stated a non-public members invoice is “a route we could go down”.

Amid a rising row over whether or not the ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells ought to hand over her CBE, Mr Starmer stated: “I think it’s a matter for her and I can see why people are calling for it.” But he stated his precedence could be getting compensation for postmasters who had been wrongly jailed as a result of “shocking” Horizon IT scandal and advised the Government to “get on with it”.

In a significant speech within the South West on Thursday, Mr Starmer will attraction to those that lent their vote to the Tories in 2019 and urge them to belief Labour once more. He will vow to scrub up politics and crack down on cronyism, with plans for more durable sentences for individuals who defraud the taxpayer. The Labour chief will warn: “Nobody will be above the law in a Britain I lead.”

He may also hit out at high Tories like Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron, saying politics isn’t a “hobby” for individuals who “enjoy the feeling of power”. And he’ll take a swipe at his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, vowing his premiership will not be “vanity dressed up as virtue”.