Starmer promises to get ‘tough’ with MPs who block new homes plans
Keir Starmer said he would get “tough” with Labour MPs who stand in the way of his plans to rip through planning red tape to build homes and modern infrastructure.
The Labour leader, who has promised to “bulldoze” his way to a new Britain, said he would stand up to his own party in order to achieve his goal.
After his keynote conference speech was interrupted by a glitter-throwing protester, Starmer said he would not let an “idiot” derail his efforts to reach No. 10 and begin 10 years of reform.
Promising that he would overcome objections from “nimby” MPs to build 1.5m homes, he said: “We are going to have to be tough with anybody who stands in the way of that and that will include any Labour MPs who say: ‘Well, I’m signed up to the project but just not here.’”
He told Times Radio he was confident he could hit his house-building target, which would include plans for the next generation of new towns.
The Labour leader said he had been “bomb-proofing” the party’s policies in the past year.
He added: “In five years’ time, if we’re lucky enough to get elected next time to serve, the electorate will have their chance to judge whether we are delivering on what we’ve said. I’m confident we will. But of course the electorate will have to judge.
“But what I don’t want to do and didn’t want to do yesterday was to pretend that all of this can be done in one five-year term – the damage that’s been done to our country is huge. And that’s why I talked in terms of a 10-year project of national renewal.”
The start of Starmer’s address — one of the main chances to set out his vision ahead of an election expected next year — was disrupted by a protester calling for proportional voting.
But Sir Keir said he would not let an “idiot” disrupt his efforts to get Labour into power.
He told Times Radio that when he saw the protester mount the Liverpool stage, “my overwhelming feeling was: ‘I am not going to let you ruin four years of hard work in this party.’”
Asked if he feared for his safety, he said: “I just wanted to get on with the speech and that’s why I rolled up my sleeves and got on with it. I didn’t want that idiot to interrupt that and I don’t want that idiot to dominate what I’ve got to say today.”
Labour’s conference wraps up today with a focus on public services, and speeches from shadow health secretary Wes Streeting and shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Press Association – David Hughes, Sam Blewett and Sophie Wingate