Keir Starmer keynote speech on the Sunday of Scottish Labour’s annual conference

“The change Scotland needs” - at the conclusion of a seismic week in Scottish politics, Keir Starmer will give the keynote speech on the Sunday of Scottish Labour’s annual conference.

His second speech to Scottish Labour’s conference as UK Leader, Keir Starmer will ask Scottish voters to ‘take another look at Labour’ in what he will assert is a ‘new era for Scotland and Britain.’

A direct address to ‘those who had given up on Labour’ and ‘those who had given up on Britain’, Keir Starmer will talk about how his background has informed his personal political mission. For the first time, he will outline how that applies directly to Scotland, and how it will be the foundation for his premiership.

Paying tribute to ‘the leadership and energy’ of Anas Sarwar for ‘giving Labour it’s confidence back in Scotland’ Starmer’s speech will be centred on the ‘hope, pride and future’ he says his Party can deliver for Scotland, in the wake of what he will define as ‘the tide turning on the Tories and the SNP.’ 

Keir Starmer will reflect on the ‘change with purpose’ he and Anas have made to the Labour Party through their leadership. On Labour’s united determination to earn every vote on the merits of its offer, Keir Starmer will say:

“We won’t change any hearts or minds by sitting back and watching a battle for power within the SNP. We have to go out there and earn it. Prove that Labour can be the change that Scotland needs.

“It’s not about change at the top of other parties, it’s about the changes we’ve made – from top to bottom - to our own, and the change we can now offer the Scottish people.

“That’s the value of the steps we’ve already taken, together. Change with a purpose, to make our Labour Party fit to serve our country. That’s why we had to show our support for NATO is non-negotiable; that we understand the importance of sound money; and that we will rip anti-Semitism out by its roots.

“Country first, party second. The job now is to set out what it means for Scotland, and Britain.”

Starmer will pledge a ‘bold, reforming Labour government’ to answer what he will call the ‘growing impatience for change.’ He is expected to say:

“For too long we’ve been stuck in a brace position, buffeted from crisis to crisis. People want decisive leadership. They want a bold reforming government and change that is a credible response to the challenges they face.

“Amidst all the chaos of Tory and SNP rule, there is a growing impatience for change, and for national renewal.

“Working people are tired of an economy that only works for those at the top. They want public services that can provide security and a springboard for opportunity. They despair of a broken politics, which can’t provide their community with the tools to control its destiny.

“This is the change Scotland needs, that Britain needs, and Labour will rise to the moment and provide it.”

The UK Labour leader will take head on the reasons people look to independence as a ‘way out of Tory Britain’. Addressing those who had given up on Labour, he is expected to say:

“I don’t believe in our union just because of our history, I believe in it because of our future. Look at the great challenges we face, the cost-of-living crisis, climate change, standing up to Putin, they’re common across our nations.

“Sticking up a border doesn’t solve any of them.

“But we must accept that many Scots look at Tory Britain and conclude the way out is the way forward. 

“I want to address those who had given up on Labour directly. And, yes, those who had given up on Britain. I know the people of Scotland want change and hope. Not a showy, grandiose hope. What I mean is the basic, ordinary hope, we used to take for granted. The sort of hope you can build your future around. That aspirations are made of. That was shared by working people across our four nations in good times and bad. The hope that people in Scotland are once again looking to see if Labour can offer.”

Keir Starmer will reflect on his own childhood and assert that ‘the story of our union’ is the ‘shared hope that our children will be better off than us'. Revealing what drives him, he will make a promise that the next Labour government will provide that hope once again.

“I grew up working class in the 1970s and know what a cost of living crisis feels like. The anxiety and shame of not being able to pay bills which only months ago were affordable.

“But although we had our ups and downs, one thing my parents never doubted was that things would get better. There was always that deeper hope invested in us, in the future, in Britain, that felt secure. Stable. Dependable. 

“It’s more than a British value, it’s what we tell our children: “Work hard and you can achieve anything”.  “Work hard and you will get a fair chance in Britain”.

“My parents didn’t just believe this, it comforted them. But is it still true? I don’t think so. I think many Scots have stopped believing.

“This is what drives me. That’s not just words for me – it’s the story of my life, the journey I’ve been on. It’s also the story of our union. Because the case for the union rests on the solidarity of working people, pushing Britain forward, in search of that ordinary hope….

“That’s what we’re fighting for in our country. We need to meet the forces of division with renewed hope."

The Labour leader will say that if successful, he will be the Prime Minister “for the UK, not just Prime Minister of the UK". Driven by his commitment to the ‘politics of ordinary hope over division’, Keir Starmer will restate what has been and will remain a clear position on the SNP. He will say:

“Whatever happens in the coming months my message is the same: no deal under any circumstances. The phony offers of support can end now.  The blame game can end now. The unspoken political bond between the SNP and the Tories, the shared investment in division, that ends now.

“The hope Scotland needs is coming. The change Scotland needs is coming.  A Labour Government is coming.”

The Labour leader will speak to his record of reforming organisations and institutions, and his motivations for coming into politics. He will share why he believes “that economic reform and political change must go hand-in-hand”, asserting that it “harms the prospect of bringing Britain together, and of “renewing the hope Scotland can move forward in Britain.”

On his commitment to move power out of Westminster, he will say:

“Britain has an economy that hoards potential and a politics which hoards power, and these two problems feed off each other…

“Only Labour can fix this. Only Labour can unlock the pride and purpose of all our communities. We don’t just need more devolution in Scotland, we need it right across the UK. 

“The decisions which create wealth in our communities should be taken by people with skin in the game. A huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy. It’s the change Scotland and Britain needs.”

On economic growth, Keir Starmer will share how fatherhood fuels his commitment to tackling climate change ‘head on’ and how he is ‘spurred on by the voices of our children.’

He will accuse the SNP of ‘inertia’ while outlining how Labour’s ambitious Green Prosperity Plan will ‘create the jobs, the industries, the opportunities of the future’ for Scotland. He is expected to say:

“Our Green Prosperity Plan is all about turning the UK into a green growth superpower. Investing in wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, green steel and carbon capture, insulation for 19 million homes, and GB Energy, a new company that will take advantage of the opportunities in clean British power, and turn them into good, secure, well-paid jobs.

“Let’s be crystal clear about the benefits which flow to the Scottish people from this plan. Let’s show how Scottish businesses and families will get cheaper bills – forever. How Scotland can get real energy independence from tyrants like Putin – forever. How we can give every community – from highlands to lowlands, Islands to the central belt - a fair shot at the jobs and prosperity of the future.