PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer said the government was taking its first steps along the path to “renew Britain” as he called for supporters to join forces to “fight for the soul of our country” at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday (30)
Amid rising support for Reform UK, Starmer criticised its leader Nigel Farage of being only interested in fomenting division and called on voters to be patient.
It has been a tough first year for the prime minister since Labour’s landslide victory in the 2024 July general election.
At the conference on Tuesday, Starmer defended a multicultural Britain and committed to raising living standards and putting money in the pockets of voters.
He said, “We can all see our country faces a choice, a defining choice. Britain stands at a fork in the road. We can choose decency, or we can choose division. Renewal or decline.
“No matter how many people tell me it can’t be done, I believe Britain can come together.”
The prime minister warned that the “politics of grievance” is the biggest threat facing Britain, greater than any global danger.
Starmer said there are “limits to what the state can do on its own” and stressed that renewal would only be possible if “everyone is in it together”.
According to him, the challenges ahead would be as big as “rebuilding Britain after the war”.
He argued the path to renewal would be “long” and “difficult”, but said Labour could deliver a “fairer country” where people felt “seen” and “valued”.
“These are decisions that are not cost free or easy,” Starmer said, noting that some choices could create divisions within Labour. But he insisted they were necessary to build a “new and fairer” Britain.
build a “new and fairer” Britain. He stressed renewal would require patience and unity, adding: “We cannot shy away from the hard road. But if we take it together, we can shape a country where opportunity is shared and no one is left behind.”
Starmer appealed directly to working class voters, calling on Labour’s traditional supporters to reject the “snake oil” peddled by the Reform party and back his vision of “a Britain built for all”.
There have been anti-immigrant protests in London in recent weeks as well as controversy over displaying the England flag. Starmer asserted on Tuesday that Labour was a patriotic party, as officials handed out flags to wave during several standing ovations.
“For me, patriotism is about love and pride, about serving an interest that is more than yourself, a common good,” the prime minister said.
“And the question I ask seriously of Farage and Reform is, do they love our country ... or do they just want to stir the pot of division, because that’s worked in their interests.”
He reiterated that the government will tackle the high rates of illegal immigration into the country, but said Labour will fight racism and those who “say or imply the people cannot be English or British because of the colour of their skin”.
tank British Future, said Starmer’s speech “set out a balanced vision: defending the principle of asylum as well as secure borders, challenging racism while addressing those concerns that are legitimate.
lance, Starmer is able to speak from his own sense of patriotism, bridging values and audiences in a way that this government has often struggled to do this summer and in its white paper.”
Labour, beset by missteps and U-turns since it returned to power in July last year for the first time since 2010, lags 12 points behind Reform, according to the Ipsos poll published last weekend.
The survey found Starmer had the lowest net approval rating for a prime minister since Ipsos started asking the question in 1977. It found that he was even more unpopular than former prime minister Rishi Sunak just before he led the Conservatives to their worst defeat in history at the 2024 vote. The next election is not expected until 2029, but speculation is growing that a bad result in local elections next May, including in Scotland and Wales, could trigger a leadership challenge.
Responding to Starmer’s speech, Farage said the accusations of racism had put Reform supporters in danger.
“To accuse countless millions of being racist is a very, very low blow,” he said. “It directly threatens the safety of our elected officials and our campaigners.”
Starmer faces some difficult decisions. After saying that last year’s tax rises - the biggest in more than 30 years – were a one-off in terms of scale, the government might be forced to again raise tens of billions of pounds in taxes to cover a forecast fiscal shortfall.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her speech on Monday (29) at conference to warn those in the party who want her to ease her fiscal rules to spend more on the nation’s ailing economy that they were “wrong, dangerously so”, keeping the door open to tax rises.
Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch MP said, “Keir Starmer has all but confirmed that tax rises are coming. The prime minister could have used his speech to own up to the mistakes he’s made on the economy, admit the country was living beyond its means, and set out a plan to avoid further punishing tax hikes this autumn, but he did not.
“In Labour’s first year, inflation has doubled, economic growth has halved and unemployment has risen almost every single month. Everyone in Britain will now pay the price for Starmer’s weakness with a smaller economy and higher taxes.
Mark Easton
And , Sue Baker OBE
