Starmer says Labour has had no contact with Trump, but is ‘close’ to Biden
For two years, Sir Keir Starmer has been as lucky as it comes – seeing Labour soar in the polls as the Conservatives tore themselves apart, even while voters admit they do not know what his party really stands for.
And he was just as lucky on his visit to Blackpool on Thursday to campaign for his candidate in the upcoming Blackpool South by-election, with vicious storms that had put the promenade underwater earlier this week replaced by blue skies and sunshine.
The Leader of the Opposition sought to paint Blackpool as a poster child for what he says are the failed promises of “levelling up” – locals often speak of their pride in the glories of the seafront, with its famous tower and piers, and their sadness that just a few minutes’ walk away the streets show signs of serious deprivation.
“We’re on the seafront here, very nice,” Sir Keir told i during his trip. “But go two streets back beyond here and you’ll see a real poverty.” In a challenge to Rishi Sunak, the Labour leader added: “At the last election, Boris Johnson and the Conservatives tapped into something which is really real for people. The tragedy is they didn’t deliver on that.”
Although he took the train most of the way to Blackpool, Sir Keir had to switch to a taxi for the final leg of his journey, given the unreliability of regional rail services in the North of England. He said: “Go anywhere around here and people will say to you, we don’t have the transport infrastructure and links that we need. That needs to be fixed.”
But Labour’s solution does not appear to include the resurrection of the High Speed 2 rail line, which was scaled back by the Prime Minister last year. Asked whether he would build the line in full, Sir Keir replied: “I’m afraid the Government has blown the budget and blown the project, and wasted billions of pounds along the way, made huge promises and like everything else didn’t deliver.
“So we’re going to have to pick that up – I can’t commit to simply going back to HS2, what I can commit to is working with local elected leaders and mayors to come up with a transport strategy that works for them. What they’re saying to me at the moment is Northern Powerhouse rail, the links between cities in the North, is vitally important.”
The Leader of the Opposition is also using his time in the North-West to look outwards – visiting the Barrow shipyard where nuclear submarines are made to emphasise his commitment to national security. The “more volatile” world that he warns of includes the potential for a White House comeback from Donald Trump, which would raise fresh questions about the future of Nato.
So what does Sir Keir think about the prospect of dealing with President Trump, given the intimate ties that have developed between the Labour leadership and Joe Biden’s inner circle? “We do have close links with the Biden administration and that is very important to us, particularly in terms of our history, our traditions and our values as a Labour party,” he said. “But ultimately, later this year it falls to the American people to decide who they want as their President. And we will respect that decision, whatever it turns out to be. And I will deal with whoever is the President of America.
“And you know, the special relationship, the longstanding relationship we’ve had not least on nuclear deterrence, a very special bilateral relationship, is far stronger than the identity of the next President of the US.” Pressed on whether he or anyone around him had made contact with any member of Mr Trump’s team, he said: “No.”
On the domestic front, Labour has been dogged by infighting over its position on the war in Gaza – and accusations that deputy leader Angela Rayner may have underpaid her taxes when she sold her ex-council house shortly before becoming an MP.
In an interview with local media, Sir Keir turned uncharacteristically snippy on the subject of Ms Rayner’s finances. He insisted: “She’s been very clear that if there are any further questions any authority wants to ask her, then she is available.” Pushed again on the issue, he told his questioner, “Don’t try and play a game on this”, adding: “I really think you should be asking questions about the state of the NHS.”
And on Gaza he sought to shore up his left flank, saying he supports a “ceasefire straight away” and adding: “I understand the strength of feeling, I have strong feelings myself.” While the internal row does not seem to have dented Labour’s poll position, it has highlighted the troubles he may have keeping a lid on discontent if he makes it to Downing Street.
Chris Webb, the Labour candidate who is hot favourite to win the Blackpool South by-election – triggered by the resignation of Conservative incumbent Scott Benton after he was caught offering to break lobbying rules in a newspaper sting – insisted he would make Sir Keir’s life difficult from the back benches, saying: “I will be in his ear every day as a member of Parliament, asking for real levelling up.” He added: “There will be many people in Blackpool who will be worried about the lack of funding for their council.”
Speaking to i, Sir Keir was unwilling to promise significant extra funding for public services – but did commit to overhauling the role of the water regulator, Ofwat, in light of the pervasive pollution of English waterways as revealed by our Save Britain’s Rivers campaign.
“I think that we need to change the focus,” he said. “I think we need to have better enforcement of regulations in place. I think we should look at further regulation where that would help. I also do believe in the principle of responsibility and liability going to the top of an organisation. Having run a public service with statutory obligations on me as the head of that service, I know what it feels like to bear personal responsibility. And if there was personal responsibility at the top of the water industry, then it would make a material difference.
“I also think and we’ve advocated that, obviously, bonuses should not be being paid within parts of the sector where the pollution is as bad as it is.” Gesturing at the Blackpool waterfront, he added: “This beach here, by the way, you couldn’t swim in last week because of the pollution.”
But there was one area at least where Sir Keir took a notably upbeat tone. He has had little to say about the global debate over artificial intelligence, even after Mr Sunak aligned himself with the those who see it as an existential threat on a par with climate change or nuclear war. Asked for his view, the Labour leader said: “People tend to fall into two camps with AI. They either look at the opportunities or look at the threat. I’m in the first camp – so I look at the opportunities. I think the opportunities are profound.”
He insisted he supported the Prime Minister’s initiatives to unite governments around a regulatory framework, saying it is important to ensure that AI “doesn’t develop in a way which is in the interest of all communities, and everybody within the UK”. But he concluded: “There’s no question now of putting the genie back in the bottle.”
