Starmer: time to end Tory ‘psychodrama’ and put politics back in the service of the British people

In a speech marking the four-year anniversary of the 2019 general election, Keir Starmer will today [Tuesday 12 December] say that his changed Labour Party will bring an end to ‘self-important’ Tory ‘psychodrama’ and put politics back in the service of the British people.

The Labour leader will say that the change he has driven through Labour has been to “restore [the party] to the service of working people.” He will focus on careful management of taxpayer money, national security, public services and cleaning up politics: “in short … a Labour Party that is ready to fight for your values, serve our country and get our future back.”

The speech comes as the Tory Party concerns itself with its latest bout of infighting, this time over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda gimmick. Starmer will accuse the Tories of failing to govern the country while they – once again – focus on themselves, saying: “while they’re all swanning around self-importantly with their factions and their ‘star chambers’, fighting like rats in a sack, there’s a country out here that isn’t being governed, a country that needs leadership … we cannot let the Tories take this country down with them, we cannot let them kick the hope out of our future.”

He will say that the next election is about “something deeper … than the usual competing visions”, that, “if you want a government committed to economic stability, the rule of law, good public services, restoring Britain’s standing, making family life more secure and putting the country first … this is what a changed Labour Party will deliver. You will not get it from a Tory fifth term. Only a change of government can bring change to our country.”

On the change in the Labour Party since 2019, Starmer is expected to say:

“The driving project of my time as Labour leader has always been to restore my party to the service of working people. Cast your mind back to the last election, four years ago today.

“Working people up and down our country looked at my party, looked at the journey we’d been on – not just under Jeremy Corbyn, but for a while. And they said ‘no’. We’d taken a leave of absence from our job description. Reneged on an old partnership: the Labour bargain that we serve working people, as they drive our country forward.

“Everything I’ve done as leader, every fight I’ve had, has been to reconnect us to that purpose. To make sure we never put working people in that position again.

“This party that sees our country through your eyes. You know that we have changed fundamentally. Not just a paint job. A total overhaul. A different Labour Party. Driven by your values. Relentless in earning your vote.

“It’s a Labour Party that understands the first duty of Government is always to protect its people. That every pound of money we collect must be spent wisely because it’s yours. That you can’t have good public services, without strong public finances. In short, a Labour Party that is ready to fight for your values. Serve our country. And get our future back.

“Service. If there’s one word that captures everything I’ve fought for – it’s that. I’ve made the Labour Party once again a party of service, not protest.

“Focused on credible solutions to your challenges not empty gestures, or the moralising self-indulgence of those who think politics is a sermon about themselves.

“It’s been vital work – the job of my life. And it’s crucial for the future of Britain, as well. Because the way I see it, service is the essence of national renewal. The lifeblood of collective mission. A bond of respect that must exist between politics and people if we are going to change our country.”

Starmer will contrast this with the Tories and the national decline they have inflicted on Britain:

“With every step we have taken towards a politics that puts the country first, they have moved in the opposite direction.

“An entitlement to power totally unchecked by any sense of service or responsibility. That’s the cultural stain that runs through the modern Conservative Party.

“We’re all stuck in their psychodrama. All being dragged down to their level. While they’re all swanning around self-importantly with their factions and their ‘star chambers’, fighting like rats in a sack, there’s a country out here that isn’t being governed. A country that needs leadership.”

Starmer will also appeal directly to those who have voted Tory in the past, saying Labour will deliver the change they are crying out for, through a decade of national renewal:

“If you voted for the Conservatives four years ago, you’re still waiting for the change you demanded. If you want a government committed to economic stability, the rule of law, good public services, restoring Britain’s standing, making family life more secure and putting the country first: this is what a changed Labour Party will deliver. You will not get it from a Tory fifth term. Only a change of government can bring change to our country.

“I believe in this country. I believe in its spirit. I believe in its people, in its businesses, in its communities. But most of all I believe that if the British people see respect and service in their politics, then they will commit to the mission of national renewal. Because they believe in this country, as well. 

“If we are privileged enough to win the next election, if we earn your trust, we will set the direction. We will give Britain hope. We will walk towards national renewal with a new mission: to get Britain building again, take back our streets, switch on Great British Energy, get the NHS back on its feet, and tear down the barriers to opportunity.

“It is time to come together, lift the weight off our shoulders, turn the page on this miserable chapter of decline, and walk towards a decade of national renewal.”

And the Labour leader will take aim directly at the Tories’ latest crisis, saying they are putting internal party squabbles over the priorities of working people:

“The Rwanda deal is the perfect example. A policy that they knew would never happen. Yet the charade continues. £290 million of taxpayers’ money spent on a failed exercise in Conservative party management.

“Not a single person has been sent. And even if we did send people, we would pay for their hotels and upkeep. And we’d have to resettle refugees from Rwanda in exchange. That’s the ‘deal’ they are voting on today.

“Britain is a practical nation – always has been. People can’t afford Christmas. If they call an ambulance this winter – they don’t know if it will come. 6,000 crimes go unpunished - every day. Common sense is rolling your sleeves up and solving these problems practically, not indulging in some kind of political performance art.

“This goes for stopping the boats as well. It’s not about wave machines, or armoured jet skis, or schemes like Rwanda you know will never work.

“It’s about doing the basics better. The mundane stuff. The bureaucratic stuff. Busting the backlogs. Rebuilding a functioning asylum system. Removing people more quickly so you don’t have to run-up hotel bills. And cross-border police force that can smash the smuggler gangs at source.

“I’ve done this before as Director of Public Prosecutions when we took on the terrorists and the people-smugglers. We can do the same here. Stopping the boats means stopping the gimmicks.

“If they can’t find a way to do that, if they can’t find a way to focus on the job, fix our problems without breaking international law like every government before them, then it’s time to stand aside and let the Labour Party do it for them.”