LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer failed to mention Scotland, devolution, Brexit or the Union at all in this morning’s speech titled “A New Chapter for Britain”.
In his speech Starmer argued the pandemic has shown the need for a bigger government and put forward plans for a new savings scheme to give people a “stake in our national recovery”.
The British Recovery Bond, he argued, could raise millions and offer financial security. He proposed it as part of Labour’s alternative to the March 3 UK Budget.
Starmer also announced plans to create 100,000 small businesses over five years by boosting funding for start-up loans.
“If we’re honest, for too long Labour has failed to realise that the only way to deliver social justice and equality is through a strong partnership with business – under my leadership, that mind-set will change,” he explained.
“A new partnership with business – one where we have high expectations of business and where business can have high expectations of Labour – is pivotal to my leadership and to my vision of the future.
“That’s why, if I was prime minister, I’d back a new generation of British entrepreneurs by providing start-up loans for 100,000 new businesses across every region of the UK.
“For too long, businesses have been concentrated in too few parts of our country – this doesn’t reflect where our talent lies and it stifles potential.”
READ MORE: Monica Lennon at odds with Keir Starmer as she condemns PM’s Scotland visit
Discussing the pandemic, the Labour leader said the response to the Covid crisis had seen the “best of Britain” but also exposed the country’s “fragilities”.
In the virtual speech he said: “I believe there is a mood in the air that we don’t detect often in Britain.
“It was there in 1945 after the sacrifice of war and it is there again now – it is there in the determination that our collective sacrifice must lead to a better future.”
He said next month’s Budget presented a “fork in the road” and offered the potential to “seize the moment” and create a future that looks “utterly unlike the past”.
READ MORE: Ed Miliband backs Union flag strategy to win back voters for Labour
Starmer added: “We can’t return to business as usual, certainly not to an economy rooted in insecurity and inequality.”
He argued there is a “moral and political choice about how the UK moves on from Covid-19”.
Taking questions at the end of the address, Starmer was asked by reporters whether his British recovery bond policy would only make the wealthiest richer.
The Labour leader said: “No, on the contrary, one of the problems of the past has been the short-termism of our economy, coupled with austerity.
“I’ve given the bond as an example of a longer-term, secure way of investing.
READ MORE: Labour to focus on Union flag to win back voters, leaked strategy plan reveals
“Many people have, I think, saved for the first time during this pandemic and, as the Bank of England says, they are unlikely to spend it in a hurry and this gives them the security of a bond going forward, and also helps the country secure that economy.”
Overall Starmer mentioned business 21 times during the speech. “Workers” were mentioned three times and trade unions were mentioned once. Brexit, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the Union were not mentioned at all.
Last month Starmer accepted he has a “lot of work to do” in Scotland. The party has one MP remaining in the country and its Scottish leader recently resigned following a series of poor polling results.
Either Anas Sarwar or Monica Lennon will be elected leader on February 27.
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