Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to deliver a major speech today as polls suggest the Prime Minister’s popularity has fallen so far that Labour would lose its majority if a General Election was held today.
The Prime Minister’s critics claim Starmer’s speech is an “emergency relaunch” ahead of the New Year, with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp labelling the move “desperate” and “panicky”.
In a move similar to Rishi Sunak’s ill-thought “five key priorities”, Starmer will detail ambitious “milestones” for achieving the five missions laid out in Labour’s manifesto.
He will say: “My Government was elected to deliver change, and today marks the next step.
“People are tired of being promised the world, but short-term sticking plaster politics letting them down.”
However, Starmer’s speech comes as the last five opinion polls hand Labour an average support level of just 27.6 per cent, down 33.7 per cent on July 4.
Tory support is marginally up compared to the 2024 General Election at 27.2 per cent, with Reform UK making major inroads at 19.8 per cent.
Support for both the Liberal Democrats and Green Party remains effectively unchanged.
Such a situation would likely result in Starmer’s thumping super-majority being whittled down from 411 MPs to just 311.
FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
‘It doesn’t mean anything!’ Reform UK MP slams Starmer ahead of ‘reset’ speech
Rupert Lowe
GB NEWS
Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe has slammed Sir Keir Starmer ahead of the Prime Minister’s “reset” speech later today.
He said: “None of this means anything – it’s just buzz words strung together. Speak like an actual human, and people might start listening.”
Badenoch jets off to Washington to strengthen Trump ties
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has jetted off to Washington DC to strengthen ties with Republicans ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Badenoch’s trip comes just months after Sir Keir Starmer met with Trump in New York.
However, relations have been frosty between Labour and the incoming US President after a number of top MPs made controversial comments about Trump, including Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
WW2 veteran ‘stripped of all dignity’ as Starmer declines meeting on frozen state pensions: ‘Bitter disappointment’
World War Two veteran Anne Puckridge has shared her “bitter disappointment” after having a request to meet Sir Keir Starmer denied.
Puckridge, 99, wanted to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the Government’s policy of freezing the state pensions of some British citizens who live overseas.
She is one of just over 453,000 British pensioners living abroad who do not get any annual rise in their state pension.
After travelling from her home in Canada to lobby the government, Starmer spurned her advances due to “pressures on his diary” – but she was granted a meeting with Pensions Minister Emma Reynolds.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Cooper denies Starmer’s speech is attempted relaunch – ‘It’s a practical plan!’
Yvette Cooper
PA
Sir Keir Starmer is not carrying out a relaunch by setting out his milestones later today, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has claimed.
Speaking to Sky News, Cooper rejected any suggestion that the Prime Minister is hoping for a reset.
She said: “It is setting out a practical plan for change.
“Before the election we had established these big missions, things we want to do to change the country, including in my area that was about safer streets, reducing serious violence and restoring confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.
“But what today’s about is what are the practical milestones that make a difference for communities.”
Top Tory accuses Starmer of ‘panicky’ relaunch after bumpy few months in No10
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has accused Sir Keir Starmer of attempting a “panicky” relaunch after a bumpy few months since entering No10.
He told GB News: “What we are going to see today is essentially a desperate, panicky, attempted relaunch by Keir Starmer of his Government after only five months because they are failing so desperately.
“We have seen the winter fuel payment being stripped from pensioners including pensioners in poverty.
“We have seen these massive, massive tax rises which Labour lied about during the election campaign… and all the while Keir Starmer was loading up on freebies from Lord Alli and handing out bumper inflation-busting pay rises to his trade union bosses.
“That is why his approval rating has plummeted.”
Ex-No10 aide suggests Starmer’s engine ‘isn’t even running properly’ given number of ‘restarts’
‘If the government was a car, the amount of restarts it’s had to put that car through, at some point you have to question whether the engine is running properly.’
Oscar Reddrop looks ahead to Keir Starmer’s ‘plan for change’ which he is expected to announce today. pic.twitter.com/RR9d92HcYm
— GB News (@GBNEWS) December 5, 2024
Sir Keir Starmer’s Government is going through so many “restarts” you need to question whether the “engine is running properly”, a former No10 aide has claimed.
Oscar Reddrop, who served as an aide to Boris Johnson during his 2022 reset, also warned Starmer that the public could punish the Prime Minister over his missions in the long term.
He told GB News: “If the Government was a car, the amount of restarts it’s had to put that car through, at some point you have to question whether the engine is running properly.”
