Sir Keir Starmer has said his top priority is “wealth creation” as he looks to capture the middle ground voters.
In an interview with The Times, the Labour leader issued a pitch to the middle class as he told the paper his “number one mission is wealth creation”.
“I think you win from the centre ground, the centre ground is where most people are,” he said.
“As a nation, broadly speaking we’re a pretty reasonable, tolerant bunch but we are in the centre ground of politics. People don’t like the extremes of the right or the left.
“They are reasonably tolerant. They want themselves, their families and the country to improve and make progress.”
Sir Keir is set to announce later today a number of proposed employment support and welfare benefits reforms aimed at increasing the employment rate from 75 per cent to 80 per cent.
This includes a new combined national jobs and careers service, local plans for work, health and skills support, and a guarantee of opportunities for young people.
Keir Starmer is already the ‘winner’ of next week’s TV election debate
Tom Watling1 June 2024 09:03
Is the Green Party a serious contender in the forthcoming election?
The Green Party of England and Wales (the Scottish Greens are separate but linked) was unlucky with the timing of its election campaign launch. Though joint leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are hardly household names even in their own kitchens, and their plans for a more sustainable future were never going to hog the front page of the Daily Mail, the party does increasingly matter. Indeed, it seems set for a record share of the vote at this general election, polling at some 6 per cent, and may win at least one more parliamentary constituency. Its prospects are brighter than ever.
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 07:00
Watch: Iain Dale drops campaign to become Tory MP after three days
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 06:00
Mystery as Tory MP becomes 79th to quit even after campaigning for six days
Watch: Tory MP says ‘excrement’ was put through office letterbox
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 04:00
Vallance becomes latest public servant who worked with Tory government to back Labour
The former chief scientific officer’s backing was unveiled as Sir Keir Starmer revealed that the publicly owned company which he argues will bring down energy costs will be based in Scotland.
But Sir Patrick is just the latest former senior Whitehall mandarin to support Labour in a move which has already angered the Tories.
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 03:00
Watch: Former Labour MP speaks out after suspension following complaint over behaviour
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 02:00
‘No way back into Labour Party’, Faiza Shaheen tells supporters at rally
Former Labour candidate Faiza Shaheen has said she does not think “there’s any way back” for her into the party as she addressed a rally in support of her General Election bid.
Ms Shaheen had hoped to contest the Chingford and Woodford Green constituency as a Labour candidate, running against Conservative Sir Iain Duncan Smith, but the party allegedly blocked her from standing over past posts on social media website X.
More than a hundred supporters gathered outside a supermarket in Highams Park, north-west London, on Friday evening.
Piers Mucklejohn reports:
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 01:00
Cameron says Hamas ‘accept’ new ceasefire deal outlined by Biden
Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron said Hamas “must accept” the new ceasefire deal outlined by President Joe Biden.
Lord Cameron wrote on X: “With a new hostage agreement on the table, Hamas must accept this deal so we can see a stop in the fighting, the hostages released and returned to their families and a flood of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“As we’ve long argued a stop in the fighting can be turned into a permanent peace if we are all prepared to take the right steps.
“Let’s seize this moment and bring this conflict to an end.”
Tara Cobham1 June 2024 00:00
Seats visited by party leaders so far in the election campaign
All three of the main party leaders have been on the road every day since the General Election was called – but how many events have they held, and what kind of constituencies have they visited?
Tara Cobham31 May 2024 23:00