Sir Keir Starmer insists he is ‘credible’ – as voters’ new offer weighs against abandoned leadership promises | Politics News

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he can be trusted to deliver on his six promises to voters – despite abandoning many of the pledges that saw him elected Labor leader.

In an interview with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, Sir Keir repeatedly defended his decision to “tweak” some of the 10 promises he made to party members when trying to succeed Jeremy Corbyn following the disastrous result of the 2019 Labor general election.

The Labor leader said: “When the facts change, circumstances change. Good leaders know that they need to adapt and change with it.”

The Labor leader was speaking after a major pre-election event in Essex, where he outlined the “first steps” of a Labor government before the public heads to the polls.

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The six targets, which have been compared with the pledge card that Sir Tony Blair presented to voters before the 1997 general election, aim to provide economic stability, reduce NHS waiting lists, crack down on anti-social behaviour, recruit 6,500 new teachers, launch a new border security command and created publicly owned Great British Energy.

Sir Keir said the program “will be difficult” to achieve, adding that the public can expect to see the promises materialize within two terms of a Labor government.

The promises were also compared to the 10 promises Sir Keir made when he sought to become leader – many of which have now been watered down or abandoned.

Among the promises he made in the 2020 leadership election, which have since been scaled back, are the return of free tuition and the nationalization of key public services.

‘I gathered practically all the promises’

Asked if he was “trustworthy”, given that he had “rejected virtually every promise on which you were elected Labor leader,” Sir Keir replied: “You will know that for every one of the 10 promises, there are about two or three under them.

“There are around 30 commitments, some of which have been adjusted. The vast majority are in force, but I accept that some of them have been adjusted.”

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He drew comparisons to Liz Truss – who survived just 44 days as prime minister after his economic strategy was unveiled – saying: “I think the public may be less confident than they suggest in someone who says, ‘Well, I said I would do this, the economy has now been damaged, but I’m going to do it anyway , even if we can’t pay’.

“I honestly don’t think it builds trust because the public knows circumstances have changed.”

‘There are no clear and measurable goals’

While the pledges were seen as an expansion of the five “missions” Sir Keir set out last year, he nevertheless faced concerns that his new set of pledges lacked the specificity of those promised by Sir Tony nearly three decades ago. .

Rigby highlighted to Sir Keir how the former Labor prime minister promised to reduce class sizes to 30 or less and reduce NHS waiting lists by 100,000.

“When I look at yours, it’s economic stability, new border security, creation of GB Energy,” she said.

“There are no clear, measurable goals. Just a number, just one with the teachers. It’s vague enough that you can’t be seen breaking promises.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?”

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‘I’m not going to make a promise I don’t think I can keep’

The Labor leader pointed to the fact that he was promising 40,000 new appointments and recruiting 6,500 teachers and denied that he was “unpromising”.

“I’m not going to make a promise before an election that I don’t think I can keep after the election,” he said.

“I think the public over the last 14 years has had a lot of people who say before an election that they’re going to deliver everything, and then they don’t. We have to break this pattern.

“So that means I have to be clear now and say there are some things I can do, there are some things I can’t do. I want to say that before the election so I can be honest with the public.”