Sir Keir Starmer warned Boris Johnson not to ‘waste the sacrifices of the last year’ with a botched rebuilding of the UK economy today as he set out his own economic vision for the future.
The Labour boss warned the PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak against hiking taxes or implementing a new wave of austerity in a ‘roadmap to yesterday’ as he sought to reboot his leadership.
He called for the March Budget to avoid short-term measures to balance the books and invoked post-war Labour prime minister Clement Attlee to say that Britain should be rebuild with a longer-term, futuristic vision.
Mr Attlee heavily defeated Winston Churchill in the general election held following the Second World War and went on to build the NHS and other major arms of the welfare state.
In another idea from the time Mr Starmer also suggested the formation of a ‘British recovery bond’, with echos of the ‘war bonds’ that helped finance the war effort.
But Mr Starmer, who has faced accusations of a lacklustre first year in charge of the party, also criticised the policies of predecessor Jeremy Corbyn as he set out to woo businesses, saying they were not ‘something just to be tolerated or taxed.’
The major speech came after Sir Keir was last week told to undergo a ‘patriotic rebrand’ to distance himself from his predecessor’s dismal leadership. Hhe was told to pose with the Union flag and military personnel to reconnect Labour with traditional voters.
Mr Starmer today described next month’s Budget as a fork in the road, saying that ‘the public finances must be returned to sustainability over the medium to long-term not in the short-term’.
‘So this is no time for a second wave of austerity. And this is no time for tax rises on businesses and families either,’ he said in the speech broadcast live from Labour headquarters.
‘That would waste the sacrifices of the last year. And it would choke off our recovery.’
And in a nod to late Labour former prime minister Sir Harold Wilson, who said the party is ‘a moral crusade or it is nothing’, Sir Keir said: ‘Our moral crusade now is to address the inequalities and injustices that this crisis has so brutally exposed – and to build a better, more secure future.’
He called for the March Budget to avoid short-term measures to balance the books and invoked post-war Labour prime minister Clement Attlee to say that Britain should be rebuild with a longer-term, futuristic vision.
Attlee (pictured), defeated Winston Churchill in the general election held following the Second World War and went on to build the NHS and the rest of the Welfare State
The Labour boss warned the PM and Chancellor Rishi Sunak against hiking taxes or implementing a new wave of austerity in a ‘roadmap to yesterday’ as he sought to reboot his leadership.
Sir Keir said there is ‘a chance to diagnose the condition of Britain and to start the process of putting it right,’ adding: ‘That’s the path I would take in the March Budget. To begin a new chapter in the history for our country.’
The pandemic was made worse because ‘the foundations of our society have been weakened over a decade’, he added.
‘We’ve the worst death toll in Europe and the worst economic crisis of any major economy.
‘Now, I’ve said a lot about the incompetence of the Government’s handling of the pandemic and I make no apology for that.
‘They have been slow at every stage. They’ve ignored advice. They haven’t learnt from their mistakes.
‘Yet a Government out of its depth is not even half the story.
‘The terrible damage caused by the virus to health and to prosperity has been made all the worse because the foundations of our society have been weakened over a decade.’
In another reference to Mr Attlee’s administration, he added: ‘The age in which Government did little but collect and distribute revenue is over.
‘I believe people are now looking for more from their Government – like they were after the Second World War.’
Sir Keir Starmer said he would create a ‘new partnership’ between Labour and businesses, announcing plans to offer 100,000 start-up loans if he comes to power.
The party leader said in an online speech: ‘If we’re honest, for too long Labour has failed to realise that the only way to deliver social justice and equality is through a strong partnership with business – under my leadership, that mind-set will change.
‘A new partnership with business – one where we have high expectations of business and where business can have high expectations of Labour – is pivotal to my leadership and to my vision of the future.
‘That’s why, if I was prime minister, I’d back a new generation of British entrepreneurs by providing start-up loans for 100,000 new businesses across every region of the UK.
‘For too long, businesses have been concentrated in too few parts of our country – this doesn’t reflect where our talent lies and it stifles potential.’
He backed the creation of a ‘British recovery bond’ to help provide money for investment in communities.
The Opposition leader said the move was in response to the Bank of England suggesting the ‘vast majority of savings built up during the pandemic won’t be spent’.
Sir Keir is facing questions about why Labour remains below the Conservatives in the polls. And last night his ‘reset’ speech was dismissed as not radical enough by the Left-wing of his party.
Andrew Scattergood, co-chairman of the pro-Jeremy Corbyn Momentum group, said it had ‘no ambition, little substance’.
He added: ‘We can’t win in 2024 by promising to be better managers of the same system.’
Sir Keir, the former Director of Public Prosecutions, was expected to bring his experience as a lawyer to forensically cross-examine Boris Johnson in the Commons.
But earlier this month he was humiliated by having to admit he had made a mistake at Prime Minister’s Questions.
War bonds: Patriotic loans to help pay for the defeat of the enemy
A war bond is a fundraising measure that has commonly been used during conflicts including both world wars.
In essence it is a patriotic loan from a member of the public to the Government to bankroll the ‘war effort’.
It provides the Government that issues them with a ready source of cash to pay for items like tanks, aircraft and other materiel.
They usually see members of the public pay a set price for a bond that pays them a set rate of interest over a pre-determined number of years.
This means that the holder makes money during the term of the bond. When it ends, which is called ‘reaching maturity’, they are repaid the price of the bond in full.
War bonds provide the Government that issues them with a ready source of cash to pay for items like tanks, aircraft and other materiel
So the taxpayer makes money through buying the bond and being paid the interest, although often the interest rate was not huge.
Historically, advertising campaigns were run to suggest it was a patriotic duty to buy them, rather than promoting huge financial returns.
Silent movie star Charlie Chaplin helped promote US Liberty Bonds during the First World War.
What the Government gets through a massive bond issue is a massive supply of ready cash, which is vital for huge spending projects like a war, or huge postwar rebuilding.
But they can often take a long time to fully repay. Britain’s First World War debt was only repaid in full in 2015 – more than 100 years after the outbreak of the conflict.
The Government repaid some £1.9billion still owed to more than 100,000 people who held war bonds issued in 1917 to help fund the military effort.
The Government was paying 3.5 per cent in interest to the 120,000 people who bought the bonds. The Debt Management Office estimated that Britain has paid some £5.5 billion in total interest on the loans since 1917.
Low interest rates six years ago meant mean the Government was able to pay off the debt by issuing new bonds which pay a much lower rate of interest.