Responding to Sir Keir Starmer’s speech this morning…
Kemi Badenoch:
“Keir Starmer is taking the British public for fools, but his dishonest analysis won’t wash. He campaigned on promises he couldn’t deliver and now he is being found out.
“At the election Starmer and his Energy Secretary told us energy bills would go down under Labour – six weeks later they are going up. To make matters worse, he is removing the winter fuel payment many pensioners rely on to pay those bills.
“Of course we made some mistakes in government. But remarkably, Labour are doubling down on those mistakes – from immigration to Net Zero policy. Worse still, they are prioritising the demands of their trade union paymasters over investment in public services.
“The truth is that Keir Starmer is managing voters’ expectations for a decade of decline. A Conservative Party led by me will not let him get away with it. We will be ready to take on Labour with a renewed vision for a better country in 2030.”
James Cleverly:
“More meaningless drivel from Keir Starmer today as he tries to distract from his latest cronyism row.
“He says he wants to serve people; all he is serving them are tax rises. The Conservatives left Labour with low inflation, falling migration, and the highest growth in the G7. Yet the Labour government have waged war on pensioners, caved to their union paymasters and splurged millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on unaffordable pay rises for strikers.
“Keir Starmer was elected on a manifesto that he won’t stick to, and he is now rolling out a series of dishonest policies for which he has no democratic mandate.”
Robert Jenrick:
“Sir Keir is shamelessly attempting to rewrite history. He was handed the fastest growing G7 economy, inflation under control and reformed schools spreading opportunity.
“In the last 50 days he’s capitulated to the Unions, jeopardised our energy and border security, and laid the groundwork for huge tax rises.
“This isn’t the kind of change the public were promised.”
Mel Stride:
“Keir Starmer’s speech today is an attempt to justify all his broken promises. This was always Labour’s plan – say what they needed to to get elected, then go back on their words and blame the previous government. Raising taxes and slashing pensioner benefits while handing out inflation-busting pay rises to the Unions – this is not the Conservative legacy, these are his choices and he should own them.
“It is especially disappointing to see the Prime Minister trying to use the recent riots to score political points. He has no solutions to the societal problems he claims to have identified. He seems more interested in giving jobs and access to Labour donors.”
Tom Tugendhat:
“Sir Keir Starmer’s hollow words and pessimism are a council of despair, not hope. Labour have learned nothing and forgotten nothing: they still think you can tax your way to growth, and that the unions deserve more of your wages.
“They’ve made their choice and they’re making pensioners and taxpayers pay for it.
“Now he’s putting his donors in government and asking his mates to hold him to account. He’s looking after those who backed him, not the British people he’s meant to serve.
“This isn’t the leadership we need. He has fallen at the first hurdle.”
On Sunday, Priti Patel said:
“This nasty Labour Government have taken the winter fuel payment from pensioners and are taxing families and businesses more. They can’t hide their deceitful practices from the British people.
“The British people know what bad inheritance looks like. In 2010, the Conservatives inherited an economy where the former Chief Secretary to The Treasury said ‘there’s no money left’.
“This Labour government have taken on a growing economy and falling unemployment thanks to the hard work of the previous Government, despite having to battle through the pandemic and war in Ukraine.
“Things are only going to get worse under Labour as they increase your taxes, bring us back into the EU’s orbit and hand people smugglers a blank cheque to increase illegal migration.”