Starmer makes 'take back control' pledge to voters

Keir Starmer - a man who voted Remain and campaigned for a second Brexit referendum - is cloaking himself in the language of Brexit.

His promise of what he calls a ‘Take Back Control Bill’, a planned new law pushing powers away from Westminster, is nothing if not unsubtle.

Labour needs to win back dozens and dozens of seats that voted Leave and Keir Starmer might as well be screaming "I get it" from every rooftop he can clamber on.

But it does mean critics will ask what he really believes: It might be savvy politics to court Brexit voters, but who is the real Keir Starmer?

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Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has hit out at Sir Keir Starmer's claim that the challenges Britain faces have been caused by "sticking plaster politics".

"What I saw, I think what the whole country saw from that speech, was a bit of vacuum," he said.

"He spoke a lot and didn't really say anything."

Cleverly said the government has had to deal with major crises over the past decade, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a global pandemic.

He said the government provided support during the pandemic that kept people employed, rolled out a successful vaccine programme and has made a strong commitment to Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

"That's what we've been doing. What I have yet to see is any Labour plans for the future," he added.

Keir Starmer has been setting out his case for how Labour would deliver a "decade of national renewal" if elected. Here's a recap of his plans:

• Take Back Control: Starmer said Labour would introduce a new Take Back Control Bill to spread power from Westminster and give local councils the right to request new powers. He said the idea was "part of the Brexit moment"
• Anti-strike legislation: When asked if Labour would repeal the government's proposed anti-strike legislation, Starmer said he thinks the law would make a bad situation worse. If the legislation comprises further restrictions Labour would repeal it, he said
• NHS: Starmer said he will not allow the NHS to be destroyed - and has a fully costed training plan that would provide more healthcare staff. He also pledged to broker a fair pay deal that would improve pay and conditions for carers
• Sticking plaster politics: Starmer promised to end an era of short term "sticking plaster politics", which he said has caused the multiple crises impacting Britain
• Labour's manifesto: Labour's next election manifesto will be driven by "clear, measurable objectives" and "national missions", Starmer pledged. He said central government would be dynamic, strong and focused under Labour's watch
• Energy: Sir Keir spoke about how Britain could get to 100% clean power generation under Labour by using a publicly-owned company called Great British Energy
• Debt: The government can't spend its way out of the mess the country is in, Starmer insisted. He said Labour will reduce debt as a share of the economy and only borrow to invest

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said his party would repeal the government's proposed anti-strike legislation if he was elected as prime minister.

Starmer said the government was "all over the show", giving multiple and varied briefings on what legislation it would bring forward and when.

"I think there's a reason for that - and that's because I don't think this legislation is going to work," he told reporters.

"I do not think that legislation is the way we bring an end to industrial dispute."

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We haven't seen any reaction to Sir Keir Starmer's speech from the Conservative Party just yet, but prior to his address, the Tories accused him of "yet another desperate relaunch attempt".

Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi said last night that Starmer should "stop giving cliche-laden speeches and, instead, finally unveil a plan for people's priorities".

"Every week he changes his position depending on what he thinks is popular - from supporting free movement to supporting the unions, he'll say anything if the politics suits him," Zahawi said.

"He's got nothing to say on how to cut crime, get immigration down, and reduce borrowing - that's what the nation wants to see.

"Once again, Labour are failing to set out a positive, detailed, long-term plan to secure the future prosperity of Britain. They should stop playing politics and back our plan for a better future that delivers for all."

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One of the most notable things to come out of Starmer's speech was the 'Take Back Control' bill, which borrows the slogan that became synonymous with the Brexit Leave campaign.

So, what did Starmer say exactly?

Quote Message: It’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what Take Back Control meant. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.

It’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what Take Back Control meant. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.

Quote Message: So we will embrace the Take Back Control message. But we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change. We will spread control out of Westminster. Devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and how councils run their finances.

So we will embrace the Take Back Control message. But we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change. We will spread control out of Westminster. Devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and how councils run their finances.

Quote Message: And we’ll give communities a new right to request powers which go beyond this. All this will be in a new “Take Back Control” bill - a centrepiece of our first King’s Speech. A bill that will deliver on the demand for a new Britain. A new approach to politics and democracy. A new approach to growth and our economy.

And we’ll give communities a new right to request powers which go beyond this. All this will be in a new “Take Back Control” bill - a centrepiece of our first King’s Speech. A bill that will deliver on the demand for a new Britain. A new approach to politics and democracy. A new approach to growth and our economy.

Keir Starmer has finished taking questions and this Labour event is now over.

Stick with us for reaction and analysis to what the Labour leader had to say as he set out his party's pitch to the country for this year.

The Daily Mail asks why Starmer didn't mention the arrival of migrants in small boats. Is it because Labour doesn't have a plan?

Starmer responds: "We do have a plan. We need to tackle the criminal gangs involved in the trafficking of people across borders. That's the first priority. Second is to get on top of delays in processing asylum applications."

Starmer says that the country is in a mess after 13 years of low growth and public services being pushed to their knees.

He criticised the prime minister for behaving as if the Conservatives have not been in power for 13 years, but said that would not wash with the British public.

Referring to Rishi Sunak's speech on Wednesday, he said: "The prime minister yesterday, it was almost as if he had suddenly arrived from the moon, and was looking around saying 'everything's busted, nothing's working'."

Labour needs to be ready for the government to fall at any time, Starmer says in response to another question.

He says his job was to change the party after the last election and he has done that - the party is now ready for the next election.

When that will be is up in the air but he thinks it should happen straight away.

Next, Starmer is asked by a journalist from the Sun whether - given he appears to be using his New Year message to champion Brexit voters - he regrets in the past having advocated for a second Brexit referendum.

"Should vote leave voters now believe you?", he is asked.

Starmer says that even in the turbulent years from 2016 to 2019 he was "making the argument that there was always something very important sitting behind the Leave vote".

He says the Leave campaign's slogan - take back control - was "really powerful", it "got into people".

"The more they asked themselves 'do I have enough control?' the more they answered themselves 'no'," he says.

"If you can't make ends meet in your family, you don't have control, if you don't have a secure job, you don't have control, if you feel you can't go out after dark because of anti-social behaviour, you don't have control - I've always accepted that argument," he says.

He says that we're now "many years on" from the referendum and it's time to embrace the argument.

"We intend to turn that slogan into a solution," he says, and again mentions Labour's proposed Take Back Control bill to spread power out of Westminster, which he says will "deliver it in action".

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Sir Keir refuses to make a pledge to abolish university tuition fees, despite saying that they are not working well and burden young people.

He says that economic conditions mean Labour will have to cost everything as it goes into the next election.

Every commitment the party makes will be fully funded, he pledges.

Next up is a question from The Guardian's Kiran Stacey.

He asks whether, if a 19% pay rise for nurses is too much, would Starmer at least say 2% is too little if that is the offer the government ends up putting forward.

Starmer says let's wait and see what the goverment proposes, but he expects them to compromise and talk to nurses.

They need to get in the room with nurses, he says.

The next question comes from ITV's Harry Horton.

He asks if Starmer would offer more than a 5% pay increase to striking nurses, and what he would do differently in dealing with the unions.

Starmer says it's "very important to understand how much people are struggling to make ends meet", underlining that this is the first national strike taken by nurses.

Unlike the government, he says, Labour would "get in the room" and "reach a compromise".

He adds that the government "has no strategy whatsoever" and could have reached an agreement with the nursing profession before the strikes happened.

In advance of Keir Starmer’s speech, reporters were told he would say a Labour government led by him wouldn’t be "getting its big chequebook out again".

That word ‘again’ was striking - implying that perhaps previous Labour governments had spent too much.

But, curiously, that word "again" didn’t pass Sir Keir’s lips in the speech itself.

When I asked him if his promise meant he would match Conservative spending limits, he didn’t answer either way.

Labour want to be seen to be economically competent in the eyes of people who voted Tory last time but might be persuadable to vote Labour next time.

And expect Sir Keir to bang on again and again that he is very different from Jeremy Corbyn - the man he sat alongside in the shadow cabinet three years ago.

The next question is whether there is more scope for the private sector to deliver public services.

Sir Keir says that delivering it all through the state does not work, but neither does leaving it entirely to private companies.

Instead he wants a partnership model, where the state works with private businesses, he says.

Keir Starmer’s promise of a "Take Back Control Bill" to spread power out of Westminster pinches the slogan of the Vote Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum.

He says he’ll turn it from a "catchphrase into change" by giving more decision-making powers to communities, saying this idea was "part of the Brexit moment".

Answering a question after the speech, he acknowledged it was a very powerful phrase that really got into people – he said it was time for Labour to embrace it.

It’s a way for Keir Starmer to lean into the Brexit vote, after years of it being a somewhat tricky topic for the party.