Five takeaways from Keir Starmer’s conference speech | UK News

Sir Keir Starmer sought to rally his party and set out his vision for the country in his keynote speech at Labour’s conference in Liverpool.

So, what were the standout moments? Let’s look at five of them.

The central theme of the Labour conference is taking the fight to Reform UK, which is leading in UK-wide opinion polls.

Throughout the conference, Labour ministers and MPs have attacked Reform and framed its fight with the party in existential terms.

In his speech, the prime minister reinforced that message, telling the party faithful the country faced a stark choice between “renewal or decline”.

“It is a test,” Sir Keir said. “A fight for the soul of our country, every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war, and we must all rise to this challenge.”

Calling out the Reform UK leader by name, Sir Keir asked: “When was the last time you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future?

“He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain. Doesn’t believe in Britain.”

In these spiky comments, Sir Keir was pointedly naming Farage as the principal opponent in the “fight”, rather than Labour’s traditional competitor for power, the Conservatives.

The Tories were barely mentioned, and there was a chorus of laughter when Sir Keir quipped: “The Tories – remember them?”

There has been some discomfort among Labour MPs over the home secretary’s plans to make it harder for migrants to gain permanent settlement status in the UK.

Sir Keir acknowledged this in his speech, but argued the government would have to take “decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party”.

In a departure from the New Labour years, he said the party had placed too much faith in globalisation and the idea that “immigration is all we need to give us the workers”.

He talked about meeting a woman in Oldham, shortly after becoming an MP in 2015.

Sir Keir said the woman complained about “a group of men from Eastern Europe” who had recently moved into her street, “didn’t put the rubbish out at the right time and spat on the ground”.

The prime minister said the woman “felt she had to prove to a Labour politician that she wasn’t racist”.

Sir Keir said at that time, Labour “had become a party that patronised working people” and “that’s why we changed the party”.

The speech blended the personal and the political.

But the prime minister did announce one new policy. Sir Keir said the UK government would scrap a commitment to get 50% of England’s young people into university.

Tony Blair set the target over 20 years ago to boost social mobility when he was prime minister, and the symbolic 50% mark was passed for the first time in 2019.

Sir Keir said the target would be changed to two-thirds of young people going to university or “gold standard apprenticeships”.

He said the government would invest in new technical excellence colleges and skills training.

Personal and political were entwined here: he reminded the conference about his father’s job as a toolmaker who worked with his hands – and said that further education colleges had been “ignored – because politicians’ kids don’t go there”.

There’s been a lot of debate about patriotism and national flags – and what they represent – ahead of and during the conference.

A few weeks ago, following a march organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson in London, the prime minister said the UK would never “surrender” its flag to those who wish to use it as “a symbol of violence, fear and division.”

To a waving sea of flags in the conference hall, Sir Keir elaborated on that argument.

“Labour is the party of national renewal. Labour is the patriotic party.”

He said the flags of the UK “belong to all of us and we will never surrender them”.

Patriotism, the prime minister said, was about serving the “common good” – and disputing the idea that Britain was “broken”, Sir Keir praised the work of ordinary people, including a woman named Melanie who organises meet-ups for people in care in Yorkshire.

He also mentioned Kaitlyn, a 15-year-old sitting in the audience, who set up her own girls football team at school in Barnet, and George, who delivers food parcels in Telford.

“Mere politics cannot break Britain, conference,” Sir Keir said.

The upcoming Budget has loomed over the conference, fuelling speculation of tax rises, which most economists think are likely.

In his speech, the prime minister reflected on the last Budget, which saw the chancellor unveil £40bn in tax rises – the biggest increase in a generation – to raise money to pay for the NHS and other public services.

“We asked a lot at the last Budget – I know that,” Sir Keir said. “And the tough decisions they will keep on coming.”

Rejecting calls for a wealth tax and increases in borrowing to fund government spending, Sir Keir said he would not “cast off the constraints and indulge in ideological fantasy”.

Sir Keir said losing control of the economy means “working people pay the price” and promised “I will never let that happen again”.