Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the Tories’ “McCarthyite” anti-woke attacks on British institutions as he promised to end years of “divisive” culture wars should he win the next election.
The Labour leader attacked Rishi Sunak’s party for “waging war” on organisations such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the National Trust and the Trussell Trust, saying “their rhetoric has helped demonise them”.
Sir Keir said the Tories “seem set on sabotaging civil society to save their own skins”. In a rare foray into the issue of so-called culture wars, he called for a “reset” of the government’s relationship with the charity sector.
It came as culture secretary Lucy Frazer took to the airwaves to launch a fresh attack on the BBC, which she accused of being biased “on occasion”.
In the speech setting out his plans to work with the sector if Labour wins power later this year, Sir Keir told the Civil Society Summit that charities will be essential to his vision for the country. “We will work with you on our mission for a decade of national renewal.”
Starmer said the Tories’ have embarked on a ‘McCarthyite’ anti-woke purge of UK institutions
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Taking aim at Mr Sunak’s party, he added: “They’ve got themselves so tangled up in culture wars of their own making, that instead of working with the RNLI, an organisation the late Queen was patron of for 70 years, to find real solutions to stop the small boats, their rhetoric has helped demonise them.”
“Instead of working with the National Trust so more people can learn about – and celebrate – our culture and our history, they’ve managed to demean their work.”
He went on: “In its desperation to cling onto power at all costs, the Tory Party is undertaking a kind of weird McCarthyism, trying to find woke agendas in the very civic institutions they once regarded with respect.
“Let me tell you. Waging a war on the proud spirit of service in this country isn’t leadership. It’s desperate. It’s divisive. It’s damaging.”
The term McCarthyism originates from the anti-Communist witch-hunt against the left led by senator Joseph R McCarthy in 1950’s America and is now shorthand all the world over for political purge.
Senior Tories have accused the National Trust of going “woke” for looking at how its properties have links to slavery and colonialism. Sir Keir said the Tories going to war with the National Trust was “what happens when politics of self-preservation prevail over commitment to service”.
The Queen was patron of the RNLI
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In 2019, the RNLI came in for criticism from Tory MPs and other right-wing figures for its funding of overseas projects to help save people from drowning. The press coverage led to a huge rise in donations to the volunteer organisation.
Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage previously dubbed the RNLI a “migrant taxi service” for its role in helping asylum seekers in small boats in the English Channel to safety.
Sir Keir’s speech is the first time a party leader had set out a vision for the charity sector since David Cameron’s “big society” plan. The idea was meant to see communities become less dependent on the state for solutions to their problems.
Sir Keir said it was a “great idea in principle”, but said “when austerity kicked in, we ended up with the poor society”. He added: “Now we need a new vision for a new era.”
Mr Sunak claimed Sir Keir’s speech was an attempt to “distract” from his record as Labour leader. Richard Holden MP, Tory chairman, said attacked Sir Keir’s “vacuous” speech and said it showed “he hasn’t got a plan and continues to snipe from the sidelines”.
No 10 backed the work of the National Trust and RNLI, but stressed that charities needed to operate within the rules. The PM’s official spokesman said the government “pays tribute to the tireless work of the RNLI and its volunteers who save lives at sea”.
It came as the culture secretary said she believed the BBC had been biased “on occasion”, as she defended plans media regulator Ofcom to have more powers over the BBC News website.
Culture secretary says BBC has been ‘biased’ in TV clash over Ofcom crackdown
In an awkward exchange on Sky News, Ms Frazer struggled to give examples. She then pointed to BBC coverage of the bombing of a hospital in Gaza, when an on-air correspondent speculated that the explosion might be caused by an Israeli airstrike.
The BBC later apologised for that speculation Pushed on the example of the hospital attack, Sky News present Kay Burley said to Ms Frazer: “There’s a difference between mistake and bias, surely?” No 10 was later forced to deny that the Conservative government was pursuing an “agenda” against the BBC.
Meanwhile, Labour’s shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire backed the idea of teaching children about white privilege – saying it was a “god idea”.
Asked whether she supported the guide for parents by children’s charity Barnado’s, the frontbencher told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “We need education that allows children the opportunity to question, to ask difficult questions sometimes of our nation’s history.”
