Keir Starmer takes aim at Reform as political battle lines shift
The Prime Minister yesterday launched a series of attacks on Reform leader Nigel Farage, saying he had pledged “billions upon billions” of pounds of unfunded spending akin to Liz Truss.
He said he didn’t need ‘lessons’ on what life is like for working people as he took aim at the man now widely seen as his primary political opponent.
Sir Keir Starmer’s comments come after Reform UK unveiled a raft of policy plans, including reversing the two-child benefit cap and winter fuel payments, and increasing benefits for married couples.
Further, Mr Farage pledged to increase the income tax personal allowance to £20,000 a year, which the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said would cost between £50 billion and £80 billion a year.
Mr Farage had pitched Reform UK as the “the party of working people” rather than Labour, and accused Sir Keir of having no connection to the working class.
Sir Keir rejected this, saying: “I know what it means to work 10 hours a day in a factory five days a week, and I know that because that is what my dad did every single working day of his life, and that’s what I grew up with.
“So I don’t need lessons from Nigel Farage about the issues that matter most to working people in this country.”
Sir Keir dodged questions about whether he would like to get rid of the two-child benefit cap, saying he was looking at “all options” to drive down child poverty.
Asked why he was focusing so much on Reform UK, the Prime Minister said the Conservative Party has “run out of road”.
He said the choice for voters was now between Labour and Reform UK as he sought to draw comparisons between Mr Farage’s economic proposals and the mini-budget from short-lived Tory prime minister Ms Truss that spooked the financial markets in 2022 and led to a spike in mortgage rates.
Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf said Sir Keir’s speech showed it was “panic stations at Labour”.
“Look, Keir Starmer is panicking because his awful Government is now trailing Reform by a staggering eight points in the latest YouGov poll,” he told Sky News.
Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow local government secretary, said the Prime Minister has “problems wherever he looks”.
He told Sky News: “The public’s lost interest in Labour. I mean, I don’t think they were ever popular at the despatch box – we were just unpopular, and we’ve got a big job to do on that particular score, but I believe we can do it.
“But also Reform, the ‘red wall’ as we call it, the working class voters, have completely lost faith in Keir Starmer and (Chancellor) Rachel Reeves and others, not least because of the disgraceful stripping away of the winter fuel allowance.”
Sir Keir is also facing danger from dissatisfied backbenchers, he said.
“So I can understand, he’s trying to basically aim his fire all around him. It’ll end up in a circular firing squad, I think, and it looks very bad for the Prime Minister right now.”