Starmer takes aim at Tories as Labour buoyed by promising poll

The Labour leader will quote Sir Tony Blair to dub his party the ‘political wing of the British people’.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Sir Keir Starmer will be buoyed by promising polling for Labour as he accuses the Tories of losing control of the economy and vows to get the UK “out of this endless cycle of crisis”.

He will quote Sir Tony Blair to dub Labour the “political wing of the British people”, as a new YouGov survey suggests the party has opened up a 17-point lead over the Conservatives – the greatest since the firm began polling in 2001.

Sir Keir will outline an ambition to “turn the UK into a growth superpower” as he argues Labour is the party of financial responsibility after the pound plummeted in response to the Tories’ plans to borrow billions to pay for massive tax cuts.

He will argue Labour is now the party of “sound money”.

But his direct quoting of Sir Tony, the last Labour leader to win a general election, also seeks to put further distance between himself and his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn.

The Conservatives accused Labour of “another relaunch full of vacuous statements and empty promises, with no details”, as they claimed “no one knows what Starmer stands for”.

“Starmer is a weak leader with no plan to grow the economy,” a Tory spokesman said.

“This Conservative Government is taking bold and decisive action to grow the economy and get Britain moving again.”

Sir Tony referred to New Labour as the “political wing of the British people” ahead of his landslide 1997 election victory, in a departure from the party being described as the political wing of the union movement.

A Labour spokesman said echoing Sir Tony is an intentional move to show that Labour is “back in the centre ground” and in the “mainstream” of public opinion.

“Ultimately he wants to be the next Labour leader who takes the party from opposition into government,” the spokesman said.

He accepted Sir Keir has overhauled the party to distance it from the one led to two general election defeats under Mr Corbyn, who is sitting as an independent MP as he fights suspension.

“We’ve changed the party to make sure we’re in tune with the instincts and aspirations of the British people once again,” the spokesman said.

One of the changes to the party he was noting was how he opened the party’s conference with a tribute to the Queen in form of singing the national anthem.

Sir Keir’s strategy to boost growth includes a green prosperity plan to create one million new jobs in towns and cities across the country.

He was committing to begin this mission, to also include bringing down energy bills, raising living standards and tackling the climate crisis, within 100 days of forming a government.

To achieve this, he will say, requires “a different way of working”, developing “the biggest partnership between government, business and communities this country has ever seen”.

Sir Keir will argue “we cannot afford to miss out” on the opportunity to lead the world in renewable energy, electric vehicles and harnessing new hydrogen power.

Sir Kier was set to attack the Conservatives on the economy by saying: “What we’ve seen from the Government in the past few days has no precedent.

“They’ve lost control of the British economy – and for what? For tax cuts for the richest one per cent in our society.”

The Labour spokesman argued the party would borrow less than the Tories, after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng revealed the biggest package of tax cuts for 50 years.

But the aide conceded that the party was accepting a higher level of borrowing than before the Chancellor’s package of tax cuts last Friday.

Sir Keir is pledging to reverse the abolition of the top rate of tax for the nation’s wealthiest, but was supporting the reduction of the bottom rate to 19p in the pound.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said her fiscal rules set out that increased borrowing is permitted during national emergencies.

Sir Keir will declare that Labour will get the UK “out of this endless cycle of crisis with a fresh start, a new set of priorities and a new way of governing”.

“We should never be left cowering in a brace position, worrying about how to get through a winter. It’s time for Britain to stand tall again,” he will add.

The YouGov polling for The Times suggests widespread public dissatisfaction with the Government’s mini-budget on Friday, with 72% of voters – including 69% of those who voted Tory in 2019 – opposing Mr Kwarteng’s move to axe the top rate of 45% tax for those earning more than £150,000.

The survey also finds that 71% of the electorate, including 67% of Tory voters, disagree with the Government’s decision to lift restrictions on bankers’ bonuses.

Only 9% of voters thought the budget would benefit them financially, and just 15% believed it would help boost economic growth.

The polling, conducted over the weekend, suggests Tory support had dropped by four points to 28% in the wake of the budget and Labour’s had surged by five points to 45%, with the Lib Dems unchanged on 8%.

It comes as the pound crashed to its lowest level for at least half a century and the Bank of England issued a statement saying it “will not hesitate” to raise interest rates if needed.