The PM criticised the way the Tory party descended into civil war after the nation rallied from Covid, and warned his would-be successors against doing the same
Keir Starmer has warned against party infighting and vowed to make Britain a fairer country for all.
The PM criticised the way the Tory party descended into civil war after the nation rallied from Covid, and warned his would-be successors against doing the same.
As rumours swirl that Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are all working on leadership bids for after the local elections, Mr Starmer vowed to “rise to the moment”.
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Writing in The Observer, he said: “When the nation rallied together to deal with Covid, the last government could have channelled that spirit to build a better nation. But instead, they descended into political infighting and let the country slump back to the old status quo. Not this time.
“We see a fractured world – a perfect storm of crises sweeping towards us. War on two fronts. Global economic strife, already impacting our daily lives. A world that is more dangerous than at any point in my lifetime.
We have a choice. We could sink into the politics of grievance and division. “Or we could rise to this moment – together – in a national effort that matches the scale of the threats and turbulence we face.
I am talking about a national mission to become a stronger, more resilient, and more united nation, allowing us to take control of our future, raise our sights, and reach towards something better.”
The polling makes grim reading for the party, with predictions that Labour could lose more than 1,800 councillors in England, as well as lose Wales and come third in Scotland.
In a defiant vow, the PM said he took inspiration from former PM Clement Attlee, who brought in the NHS. He said: “Faced with new threats and a broken, fractured world, Attlee saw that it was not in our interest – or the British character – to be mere passengers of history, buffeted by events, but instead to seize the moment with both hands and shape it as best we can.
His government did not just make the country more secure – they made it better and fairer too. That is my blueprint for this moment.”