Sir Keir Starmer visits the West Country to kick off likely election year
The leader of the Labour Party has been in the West Country, whilst Rishi Sunak has been in the East Midlands ahead of what's expected to be the year of the next General Election
Sir Keir Starmer has been urging voters to reject "pointless populist gestures" as he kicks off the likely election year in the West Country this morning.
He's been making a speech at the Bristol and Bath Science Park - hoping to draw dividing lines with the Tories, which comes as the next election here in the UK is widely expected to take place in the Autumn.
During the speech, he urged voters to reject 'pointless populist gestures' in his bid, as the country sees its 14th year of the Conservatives in Government.
Rishi Sunak has also taken to the road today, with a rival new year stump planned in the East Midlands, where he all but ruled out a general election in the first half of 2024.
In his pitch to voters, Sir Keir said he understands why people have turned against politicians, amid various Westminster scandals and a ramping up of political attacks between the parties ahead of the next nationwide poll.
The Labour leader said: "You can reject the pointless populist gestures and the low-road cynicism that the Tories believe is all you deserve.
"That's all they have left now. After 14 years, with nothing good to show, no practical achievements to point towards, no purpose beyond the fight to save their own skins.
"They can't change Britain, so they try to undermine the possibility of change itself."
He promised to "clean up politics" of sleaze, adding: "No more VIP fast lanes, no more kickbacks for colleagues, no more revolving doors between Government and the companies they regulate.
"I will restore standards in public life with a total crackdown on cronyism: this ends now."
Sir Keir pointed to his legal career as a record of his anti-sleaze zeal, claiming he helped send both Labour and Tory "expense cheat politicians" to jail in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal, while serving as the director of public prosecutions.
He also mentioned having worked with "people living on death row", a reference to his legal work on Caribbean death row cases in the early 2000s.
The Labour leader drew a dividing line with his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn, while seeking to demonstrate to voters he will offer a fresh start from the Conservatives.
He described the UK as a nation "exhausted" by "the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends".
Sir Keir added: "So, whether you're thinking of voting Labour for the first time, whether you always vote Labour, or whether you have no intention of voting Labour whatsoever: my party will serve you.
"That's who we are now, a changed Labour Party. No longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest, but a party of service."
Ahead of the speech, the Conservatives meanwhile sought to suggest Sir Keir was prone to reversing previously-made decisions.
Chairman of the Conservative Party Richard Holden said: "Nothing is more cynical and populist than a weathervane Labour leader who has a consistent track record of telling people whatever he thinks they want to hear on any given day.
"He was for a second Brexit referendum, then he wasn't. He told Labour members when he was running to be leader he would nationalise industry and scrap tuition fees, but then dropped these policies as soon as the contest was over. And he says he opposes Jeremy Corbyn now despite campaigning twice to make him prime minister and calling him his 'friend'.
"The only thing we know for certain about Keir Starmer is that he has a £28 billion black hole in his spending promises which will mean thousands of pounds of tax rises every year for families."
With Sir Keir drawing the dividing line, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today said the financial troubles of the Labour-run Nottingham City Council also illustrate the differences between the parties.
He said: "The contrast between that and the Conservative-run Nottinghamshire County Council is clear. No-one is saying anything.
"You have to make difficult decisions to run things responsibly, but that's what Nottinghamshire County Council are doing led by Conservatives and, more generally, it just illustrates the contrast between Conservatives and Labour when we're in power.
"You can trust me, the Conservatives, you can trust (Nottinghamshire County Council leader) Ben (Bradley) and his colleagues to run things responsibly. That's why this Saturday, for example, we're going to be able to cut taxes for everyone in these Midlands and across the country, so an average person in work is getting a tax cut worth £450.
"Why are we able to do that? Because we managed the economy responsibly last year, we halved inflation, we reduced borrowing.
"Those practical things that we have done, that aren't easy, that require discipline, require responsible decision-making, are now enabling us to cut taxes for millions of working people in the East Midlands and across the country.
"As a contrast is the Labour Party who wants to spend £28 billion a year on this green investment spree. All that's going to do is push up people's mortgage rates, push up inflation, and push up their taxes, and I don't want to see that happen, and what's happening at the council is a good illustration of what you'd get nationally."