Starmer savaged over ‘vacuum at heart of Labour’ as contrasting pledges exposed

Labour MPs have warned of a “vacuum at the heart of the party” after Sir Keir Starmer published six pledges which contrast sharply with Left-wing promises he issued just four years ago.

One shadow minister said: “You need a set of guiding principles in government but there’s no sign of them. The question is, what does Keir actually believe in?”

The Labour leader set out plans to increase income tax for the top five per cent of earners when he stood for the party’s top job in 2020, and promised to re-nationalise water, energy, rail and water firms.

In a document entitled “my pledges to you” Sir Keir also vowed to defend freedom of movement after Brexit, which would mean people from any EU country retained the right to live and work in the UK with almost no restrictions, and to abolish the Trade Union Act.

This would mean unions could hold strikes even if fewer than 50 per cent of members took part in a ballot. But most of these policies were ditched when he announced his six “first steps” last week. Instead, he promised to keep taxes “as low as possible”, although he stopped short of ruling out tax increases.

There was no mention of freedom of movement, and Sir Keir announced plans for a state-owned energy company but said nothing about other utilities.

One Labour frontbencher said their leader lacked ideas of his own and is following the lead of “Blairites” such as former civil servant Sue Gray, his chief of staff, and Labour national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden.

The MP said: “It is deeply concerning that there is a vacuum at the heart of Starmer’s Labour Party. Originally it was people on the Left who filled this hole for him. Now it’s Blairites like Sue Gray and Pat McFadden who are coming in and hoping to fill the vacuum.”
Another Labour MP said: “It’s like a 1990s tribute band: you buy a ticket for Oasis and find that Noel and Liam aren’t in the band.
“What we have is New Labour without Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.”

And an MP on the Left of the party said: “These six first steps are baby steps at best. It’s an interesting contrast when you look at what he said in 2020.

“When he stood on those pledges to get elected by the party membership in the first place, and now he has gone down the route he has gone, it comes across as a little hypocritical and disingenuous to say the least.”

It follows criticism from some Labour MPs of Sir Keir’s decision to welcome Brexiteer former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke into the party.
He approved calls for Labour to back a second referendum on EU membership in the 2019 general election, when he was Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet.

Ms Elphicke, on the other hand, is a member of the pro-Brexit European Research Group.

Richard Holden, the chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “All we found from Sir Keir’s 16th relaunch is that he is a man without principles and without a plan for hard-working people. It has been more than four years since he became Labour leader but instead of making any clear promises he has flip-flopped or reneged on every single one. While we have a plan to build a brighter future for British families, all spineless Starmer and the Labour Party would do is take us back to square one.”