Kemi Badenoch has described Sir Keir Starmer's latest effort to salvage his premiership as 'sad to watch'. The Conservative leader asserted that the Prime Minister has attempted to revive his faltering government so many times that 'even his reset button needs a reset'.
Badenoch's criticism of Labour leadership
Mrs Badenoch argued that Sir Keir is not Labour's sole problem, as none of his potential successors possess a coherent vision for the future. Speaking yesterday, she stated: 'Keir Starmer's speech was sad to watch. But I do not take pleasure in watching the Prime Minister flounder. The country needs leadership, not another speech from a man who clearly knows something has gone badly wrong, but still can't explain why.'
She added: 'This is Labour's real problem. It is not just Starmer – all the pretenders jostling for his job do not have the answers either, because they all believe the same things: more welfare, more state control, more borrowing, more regulation. They are busy arguing over who should drive the car, but the truth is they are all heading in the wrong direction. They have no vision for the future.'
Conservative alternative proposals
The Opposition leader called on Labour to adopt her party's plans for government, which she said would 'reward effort, cut the cost of government, secure our borders, rebuild industry and back families who do the right thing'. Under the alternative King's Speech published by the Conservatives this week, Britain would withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), resume drilling in the North Sea, and triple police stop-and-search powers.
'If Labour are serious about fixing the country they could do all of this tomorrow. Whether they have the bravery or the common sense to do that is a different matter,' Mrs Badenoch said.
Shadow Cabinet reactions
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy remarked: 'The country needs leadership. But Labour are fighting among themselves.' He accused Sir Keir of 'promising policies he knows will never come' and claimed that MPs defending him are 'saying things they know aren't true', while leadership contenders are 'too afraid to move'.
Another Shadow Cabinet member, Alex Burghart, criticised Sir Keir's refusal to rule out Labour campaigning to rejoin the European Union at the next election. The Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: 'Starmer's speech has achieved nothing except create more chaos. In a last-ditch attempt to distract from his dwindling premiership, he is attempting to reignite long-settled debates on Europe while abandoning the very manifesto he was elected on.'
Reactions from other parties
A Reform UK spokesman commented: 'If Keir and Labour want to fight the next election on rejoining the single market, aka returning to freedom of movement – bring it on.' Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats urged the Prime Minister to go further in undoing Brexit. Party leader Sir Ed Davey said: 'Voters sent Keir Starmer a clear message that Britain needs a bold new direction, but he keeps delivering the same old speech. If the Government wants to regain the trust of the British people, they have to end the cost of living crisis. There is no way of doing that without getting rid of Keir Starmer's red lines on Europe and fixing the botched Brexit deal, including a customs union. It's really that simple.'
