Keir Starmer unveils Labour’s ‘project hope’ as he urges Rishi Sunak to ‘bring it on’

The Labour leader vowed to defeat the ‘miserabilist Tory project’ and ‘crush their politics of divide and decline’

Sir Keir Starmer kicked off a bold new era for the Labour Party ahead of the general election, promising to deliver “project hope”.

Setting out his stall at the start of an election year, the Labour leader vowed to defeat the “miserabilist Tory project” and “crush their politics of divide and decline”.

Speaking at a factory in Bristol, Sir Keir painted the contest as a choice between continued decline with the Tories, or national renewal with Labour.

Sir Keir, who took over the party in April 2020, also sought to address criticism of his leadership as lacking in purpose (Getty Images)

And, in a challenge to Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir said he is ready for a general election and called for the prime minister to “bring it on”.

As Mr Sunak ruled out a spring contest and Sir Keir looked to set his party on an election footing, the Labour leader:

• Promised to debate the prime minister at any time in the run up to this year’s general election
• Said he would be open to sensible suggestions for processing asylum claims offshore
• Taunted the Tories’ economic record, saying Labour wants to fight an election on the economy
• Attacked the PM’s record on tax, but declined to promise tax cuts if Labour wins power
• Warned the Tories would unleash a gauntlet of fear at the general election 
• Attacked Liz Truss’s resignation honours list, saying the “architects of [people’s] misfortune are swanning around the House of Lords”

As well as launching into the Tories, Sir Keir sought to distance himself from his own predecessor as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Sir Keir said Labour is “no longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest”.

And he promised it had “reconnected to an old partnership” in order to “serve working people as they drive Britain forward”.

Turning his focus to the Conservatives, Sir Keir said the Tories had “nothing good to show, no practical achievements to point towards” after 14 years in power.

And he warned Mr Sunak’s party will unleash a “gauntlet of fear” in the “fight to save their own skins” at the next election. “That’s all they’ve got left now,” he added.

Sir Keir, who took over the party in April 2020, also sought to address criticism of his leadership as lacking in purpose - describing the missions he has set for Labour in power as “unapologetically ambitious”.

The party has set goals to achieve the highest growth in the G7, halve violence against women and girls and transition to clean energy sources by 2030,

And Sir Keir also took aim at apathy towards politics and politicians after “sex scandals, expenses scandals, waste scandals and contracts for friends”.

“Some people have looked at us and concluded we’re all just in it for ourselves,” he said.

But Sir Keir said to “heal the wounds” left by back to back Conservative governments, “Britain must come together”.

In a bid to energise voters, he added: “That means we will need you.”

Responding to questions after his speech, Sir Keir said it was nonsense to suggest he wanted to duck TV debates with the PM.

"I’ve been saying bring it on for a very, very long time. I’m happy to debate any time," Sir Keir said.

It followed a report in the Sunday Times that Labour aides wanted Sir Keir to duck televised debates against Mr Sunak.

Rishi Sunak has said his ‘working assumption’ is that he will hold a ‘general election in the second half of this year’ (PA)

And he indicated would consider processing asylum claims offshore, as he took questions from reporters.

He said: "There’s a difference, obviously, between processing offshore and deporting people to places like Rwanda. And that does happen in some cases already.

"The Ukraine scheme has an element of processing offshore before people arrive in this country. It can be done.

"I’m open to sensible suggestions and credible solutions to what is very obviously a problem.”

And he took aim at Liz Truss’s resignation honours list, which awarded allies of the short-serving former PM.

Ms Truss, who was forced to resign after plunging the economy into turmoil, nominated Matthew Elliott, the former chief executive of Vote Leave, and pro-Brexit Tory donor Jon Moynihan to sit in the House of Lords.

Sir Keir said: “I will never let a Labour government do what Liz Truss has done to working people.

“What on earth are people supposed to thin when they are paying more money every month for their mortgage, sometimes hundreds of pounds each and every month, and they look at their televisions and see the architects of their misfortune swanning around the House of Lords?

“You will never get that from a Labour government.”

Declining to promise tax cuts if Labour wins power, Sir Keir said he wanted to see the burden on working people come down, but said “before we even get to the question of tax, we’ve got to deal with the economy”.

A general election is expected this autumn after Mr Sunak confirmed the contest would take place in 2024.

Labour has maintained a commanding lead over the Conservatives in the polls for two years, which currently sits at 18 points, putting Sir Keir on course to win power.

Responding to the speech, chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “Sir Keir Starmer today recommitted to his 2030 plans which Labour say would cost £28 billion a year.

“Given his claim to be committed to fiscal responsibility, such large sums can only be funded through tax rises which means more pressure on working families and lower economic growth - just at the time the Conservative government is starting to cut taxes.”