Starmer: Do not forgive Tories for crashing the economy

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer used his conference speech to condemn the Tories for the economic turmoil facing the country.

Party leader Sir Keir Starmer arriving with his wife Victoria to deliver his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference (PA) (PA Wire)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said the public should never forgive the Tories for the economic turmoil unleashed since Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget.

In his keynote speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, he told activists that Liz Truss’s Government had crashed the economy to offer tax cuts for the richest 1% in society.

He said they had left a “Britain all at sea, where a cloud of anxiety hangs over working people”.

The Labour leader said: “At moments of uncertainty like this we must provide clear leadership.

“We must stand with working people. Meet their ambitions for real change. Walk towards a better future and bTuild a new Britain, together.”

He said “we can’t go on like this” after the developments since Friday’s financial statement by the Chancellor.

“The Government has lost control of the British economy – and for what? They’ve crashed the pound – and for what?

“Higher interest rates. Higher inflation. Higher borrowing. And for what?

“Not for you. Not for working people. For tax cuts for the richest 1% in our society.

“Don’t forget. Don’t forgive.”

The Labour leader said the Tories “haven’t just failed to fix the roof, they’ve ripped out the foundations, smashed through the windows and now they’ve blown the doors off for good measure”.

He promised a Labour government would “get us out of this endless cycle of crisis” with a “fresh start, a new set of priorities and a new way of governing”.