Sir Keir Starmer accused the Tories of falling far from Sir Winston Churchill’s politics and instead echoing those of Donald Trump as he vowed Labour would focus on the “mundane stuff” of getting things done.
The party leader sought to pitch the Opposition as the sensible alternative to a British government too stuck in an “indulgent vortex” of infighting and divisiveness to deliver policies.
In a direct appeal to Conservative voters, he promised Labour would put economic stability, “secure” borders and better management of taxpayer money at the heart of its agenda.
Delivering a speech in Buckinghamshire to mark the four-year anniversary of the 2019 election, Mr Starmer hit out at so-called “culture war” politics, saying: “These aren’t Churchill’s Tories anymore.
“If anything, they behave more and more like Donald Trump. They look at the politics of America and they want to bring that here.
“It’s all ‘woke, woke, woke. Wedge, wedge, wedge. Divide, divide, divide’.
“People can’t afford Christmas. If they call an ambulance this winter, they don’t know if it will come. Six thousand crimes go unpunished every day.
“Common sense is rolling your sleeves up and solving these problems practically, not indulging in some kind of political performance art.”
Mr Starmer also attempted to further distance himself from the left-leaning politics of Jeremy Corbyn, in whose shadow cabinet he previously served.
“Working people up and down our country looked at my party, looked at how we’d lost our way, not just under Jeremy Corbyn, but for a while, and they said: ‘No, not this time. You don’t listen to us anymore. You’re not in our corner”, Mr Starmer added.
He said the changes he has made as Labour leader have aimed to reverse the damage done by “reneg(ing) on” the party’s promise to serve working people.
“Not just a paint job, a total overhaul, a different Labour Party, driven by your values, relentless in earning your vote.”
Mr Starmer said the UK government’s Rwanda policy, which Labour will oppose in a crunch Commons vote later on Tuesday, is an example of its inability to deliver.
Labour would focus instead on “doing the basics better – the mundane stuff, the bureaucratic stuff,” he said.
The party leader has said his plan to tackle the crisis of small boats involves working with the EU to catch people-smuggling gangs and improving the asylum system in the UK to cut the backlog of claims.
He hit out at Rishi Sunak for suggesting that it is “only the concern for international law shown by the Rwandan Government” which is stopping him from ripping up the UK’s commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights.
MPs on the Tory right have been calling for the UK government to disapply the treaty if necessary to get flights to Kigali running as the £290 million scheme remains grounded after a series of legal setbacks.
Mr Starmer, who has a background in human rights law, described the ECHR as an achievement “not just of this nation but of Winston Churchill and the Conservative Party that brought peace and protection to the world, following our victory over fascism.”
Some have questioned whether Labour’s opposition to the Rwanda scheme is because it believes the policy is doomed to fail or because it against the moral values of the party’s leadership.
On Tuesday, Mr Starmer said it was both, telling the event: “It doesn’t work, it will cost a fortune… and it is against our values.”
