51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Labour Party conference: Sir Keir Starmer speech; ENGLAND: East Sussex: Brighton:INTSir Keir Starmer MP (Labour Party Leader) speech SOT (1 of 19)- Thank you so much conference. I’ve waited 17 months, 25 days and two hours to appear in front of you in this hall, as leader of our great party. And Doreen, thank you for your kind words. Thank you for everything you’ve done for criminal justice. Thank you for everything you’ve done for our party. I’m so proud to call you my friend. Thank you, Doreen. And conference, let me take this first opportunity to thank my brilliant shadow cabinet and shadow Lords team for everything that they have done in the last 18 months. Thank you so much, colleagues.- And Louise Ellman, welcome home. This hasn’t always been an easy conference. Sunday was particularly nerve-wracking, but then the results started coming through, Arsenal three, Tottenham one.- Conference, before I start, let me tackle the issue of the day head on. If you go outside and walk along the seafront, it won’t be long before you get to a petrol station that’s got no fuel. Level up? You can’t even fill up.- And conference, doesn’t that just tell you everything you need to know about this government? Ignoring the problem, blaming someone else, then coming up with a half baked solution. Why do we suddenly have a short of HGV drivers? Why is there no plan in place?- A tank of fuel already costs 10 pounds more than it did at the start of the year, gas and electricity bills up, gaps in the supermarket shelves, rent up, especially for those on the lowest income. Yet, this is the very moment the government is putting up tax on working people, putting up tax on small business and shamefully slashing Universal Credit, the lifeline for six million families.- We have a fuel crisis, a pay crisis, a goods crisis, and a cost of living crisis all at the same time. Conference, let me quote to you what the prime minister said at the United Nations last week, “We belie...