Keir Starmer: 'SNP, Reform and the Tories want Britain to fail'

Keir Starmer has said that the SNP, the “extreme left”, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, and the Tories want Britain to fail.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, the Prime Minister sought to unite his party and the country behind him against Reform UK.

He said the country faced a “defining choice” for its future, and implied that Labour is the only party working to “fix problems and renew Britain”.

“When push comes to shove, does [Reform UK] really want to fix problems and renew Britain? Or as we’ve seen time and again, whether it’s the SNP, the extremes of the left, Reform and the Tories, do they actually want Britain to fail?” Starmer asked.

“I think I know the answer to that question.”

The Prime Minister told the conference that there was a “fight for the soul of our country” which was as big a challenge as rebuilding the UK from the rubble after the Second World War.

“We can all see our country faces a choice, a defining choice,” he said.

“Britain stands at a fork in the road.

“We can choose decency or we can choose division.”

Labour trailing in polls

Starmer went into the party conference on Tuesday trailing Reform in the polls and with his leadership facing questions.

He attacked Farage and his party multiple times.

Starmer said Farage “doesn’t believe in Britain” and wants to create “a competition of victims”. He added that Farage “doesn’t like Britain” and “doesn’t believe in Britain”.

The Prime Minister said: “While we must come together to fight Reform with everything that this movement has, we must go into that battle armed – not just with words and condemnation, but with action.”

Starmer said that means “tackling all the problems [Farage] preys upon”, such as economic growth, immigration, border control, and more.

Immigration

On immigration, Starmer said his Labour Government will “continue to smash the gangs, crack down on illegal working, remove people with no right to be here, and secure Britain’s borders”.

The Prime Minister controlling migration is a “reasonable goal”, but emphasised that free speech does not allow people to “incite racist violence and hatred”.

Starmer said “this party is proud of our flags” but added that “if they are painted alongside graffiti telling a Chinese takeaway owner to ‘go home’, that’s not pride – that’s racism”.

He said anyone who argues that “people who have lived here for generations” should now be deported is “an enemy of national renewal”.

In an attempt to put education, including vocational qualifications, at the heart of his Government, he announced that Labour will scrap the target of seeing 50% of young people go to university and replace it with an aim of two-thirds doing either a degree or a “gold standard apprenticeship”.

Starmer acknowledged that his Government made “difficult” choices at the budget last autumn, but insisted it will pay off with national renewal in the long run.

However, he warned that “tough decisions will keep on coming”, but he did not specify what form those may take.

“No matter how many people tell me it can’t be done, I believe Britain can come together. We can pursue a shared destination. We can unite around a common good,” Starmer told the conference.

“That’s my ambition, of this Government: end decline, reform our public services, grow our economy from the grassroots and with resolve, with respect, with the flag in our hands, we will renew this country, until we can say, with total conviction, that Britain is built for all.”