Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters slam Keir Starmer’s ‘slogans and platitudes’

Left-wing campaign group Momentum has criticised the ‘slogans and platitudes’ in Sir Keir Starmer’s conference speech.

The Labour leader made clear that he was breaking from the Jeremy Corbyn era in Doncaster this morning and said the party deserved its drubbing at the 2019 general election.

Sir Keir stressed that ‘this is a party under new leadership’ and touched upon patriotism and family values, while also condemning the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis and Brexit negotiations. 

In a lengthy Twitter response to the virtual conference speech Andrew Scattergood, co-chair of Momentum –  who were strongly supportive of former Labour leader Corbyn – said Starmer must show ‘he’s a man of his word, not a careerist politician.’

He said:  ‘Keir Starmer taking the fight to Boris Johnson today is welcome, but after months of the leadership not commenting on policies, Keir Starmer’s speech was a missed opportunity to show substance.

‘If Starmer wants to appeal to working class voters, his pitch should be based on solidarity with the working class and defending their interests, not empty slogans and platitudes.

 ‘74% of people want test and trace taken away from private firms yet Starmer was silent on the catastrophic failure caused by the outsourcing of test and trace, including to companies with links to the Conservative Party, or of Labour’s opposition to privatisation.’

Mr Scattergood said Sir Keir failed to mention the lifting of the eviction ban and also didn’t reference the Black Lives Matter movement. 

He added: ‘Even as Starmer pledged to win back trust, his Shadow Foreign Secretary suggested on Politics Live that he is rowing back on key promises from his leadership campaign to tax the super rich and corporations and to bring key services into public ownership.

‘Breaking your promises to your electorate is no way to win back trust. If Starmer wants to win this country’s confidence, he must show he’s a man of his word, not a careerist politician who’ll say what is needed to win power and then abandon his promises once he gets there.’

But The Confederation of British Industry welcomed Labour leader Sir Keir’s commitment to invest in education and tackling the climate crisis.

Director general Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said: ‘The Labour leader is right to prioritise investment in education and skills to manage the impact on the labour market and deliver high-quality jobs for the future.

‘The emphasis on efforts to tackle climate change is also welcome and something business is wholly committed to. 

‘From a sustained energy efficiency drive to delivering next generation low carbon transport, a green recovery offers huge economic opportunities across all parts of the UK.

‘The past six months have shown what is possible with brilliant collaboration between the public and private sectors, and firms will be looking for Labour to set out how it will work with business on these shared challenges in the months ahead.’

And Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress tweeted that it was a ‘great speech’. 

She said: ‘Keir proves he’s in touch with what working families want – a chance to get on in life, a decent job and a guarantee that hard work pays. #LabourConnected.’