Daily Mail readers were right to reject Labour in 2019, Sir Keir Starmer said last night.
In a frank interview with this newspaper, the Labour leader insisted he had worked ‘ruthlessly’ to change the party since Jeremy Corbyn‘s era.
Directly echoing Sir Tony Blair‘s speech on the steps of Downing Street in 1997, he said: ‘We have campaigned as changed Labour and we will govern as changed Labour.’
In a wide-ranging interview, Sir Keir confirmed he will lower the voting age to 16. However he refused to match the Tory pledge to ensure the basic state pension is never taxed.
He also insisted he doesn’t have a woman problem after author JK Rowling criticised the party for its record on trans issues.
In a frank interview with this newspaper, the Labour leader insisted he had worked ‘ruthlessly’ to change the party since Jeremy Corbyn ‘s era
In a wide-ranging interview with political editor for The Daily Mail Jason Groves (pictured), Sir Keir confirmed he will lower the voting age to 16. However he refused to match the Tory pledge to ensure the basic state pension is never taxed
Sir Keir served in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet for four years and once even claimed he would make a ‘great prime minister’
Sir Keir served in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet for four years and once even claimed he would make a ‘great prime minister’.
But yesterday he suggested voters had been right to reject him.
He said: ‘What I would say to any of your readers that voted other than Labour last time around was that I took the strong view.
‘When you lose like that you don’t say to the electorate or to the voters or Daily Mail readers: “What were you doing?” You look at your party and say: “It’s our party that needs to change”.
‘That’s why, from day one of my leadership, I said, “we’re going to change this party”, and set about ruthlessly changing it to make sure that this time around I can put a changed Labour Party before your readers that absolutely understands it is country first, party second.’
Sir Keir Starmer previously refused to take back his controversial claim that Jeremy Corbyn would have made a better prime minister than Boris Johnson
His comments came as:
Mr Corbyn yesterday said Sir Keir had not indicated he was unhappy with his authority at the time. The former Labour leader told LBC: ‘He said he wanted me to be the prime minister.
‘He said he wanted to support me as leader of the Labour Party. He said he supported the manifesto… and I think people should just own up to that.’
But – days after suggesting Mr Corbyn would have made a better PM than Boris Johnson – Sir Keir told the Mail: ‘We’re a completely changed Labour Party. Jeremy Corbyn has been expelled – that’s never happened in the history of the Labour Party before – a former leader expelled by the current leader of the Labour Party.’
Sir Keir previously defended serving as a shadow minister under his predecessor as Labour leader, claiming he felt a ‘responsibility’ to take on a senior role in the party
Keir Starmer with Jeremy Corbyn when Corbyn was leader of the Opposition in 2019
Asked about a potential lurch to the Left if Labour wins a supermajority, he said: ‘I’m not going to be deflected.
‘I’m absolutely clear that it’s wealth creation, making sure that we grow the economy, making sure that across Britain, your readers are better off is the number one mission in terms of what we do as a party.’
Sir Keir confirmed that Labour would not raise the headline rate of income tax, National Insurance or VAT. But he refused to rule out taxing the basic state pension, saying he was ‘not going to make commitments that aren’t fully funded and sustainable’.
The combination of a six-year freeze in tax thresholds with the impact of the pensions triple lock has led experts to warn that the state pension will be taxed at some point during the next parliament for the first time in history.
The Conservatives have pledged a higher tax allowance to ensure it does not happen.
Jeremy Corbyn (pictured at a pro Palestine protest in London) is running against Labour as an independent candidate in Islington North
But Sir Keir said he could not responsibly match the pledge. He said he would ‘absolutely take on the challenge of reducing the burden on pensioners’ by working to lower bills, but added: ‘I’m not going to say before the election that I can do something unless I know for sure it’s sustainable. And it’s fully funded.’
Sir Keir dismissed Tory claims he wants to ‘rig’ the electorate in Labour’s favour as ‘completely wrong’.
But he confirmed he would look to lower the voting age as 16-year-olds should ‘have the right to vote to determine what you think your taxes should be spent on.’
The Labour leader said he would not press ahead with a previous pledge to give EU citizens in this country the vote during Labour’s first term, saying his ‘absolute focus’ would be on ensuring ‘a decade of renewal’.
He also suggested he would be ‘very happy’ to meet former Labour donor Ms Rowling after she attacked the party for its stance on gender identity and women’s rights.
Although he suggested his position was often misunderstood, he refused to confirm specific policies.