Red Knight: The Unauthorised Biography of Sir Keir Starmer

Product Information

Scotland can lead the way to a Labour government. But be under no illusions. We must earn every vote. And we must understand that the Scottish people are not just looking at us. They’re also looking at Britain. Training lab workers in Derbyshire. Automotive Engineers in Wolverhampton. Computer Scientists in Manchester. Nuclear Technicians in Somerset. Builders in Staffordshire. Toolmakers in Hull. My dad would have loved that. And for me, that’s the biggest frustration. Not just the pitiful reward this government gave for that service. But also the countless missed opportunities to deepen that bond. Use it to change our country. Because I believe this country respects itself. I believe the British people respect each other. And I believe that if people see that respect. See that service in their politics. Then they will commit to the mission of national renewal. ‘A Britain strong enough for you to invest your hope and your future’ But honestly, how has it come to this? Working people paying for their own healthcare – in a cost-of-living crisis. Pensioners waiting weeks, months, sometimes waiting years just to get the care that they need.

Mental health treatment when you need it. We’ll guarantee that. The 8am scramble for a GP appointment. We will end it. Dangerous waits for a cancer diagnosis. We will consign them to history.You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. But here’s the bigger lesson. Because what is true of our NHS is true right across the board. We’re not here to manage the shop. We’re here to make government more dynamic. More joined-up. More strategic. Focused at all times and without exception on long-term national renewal. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. But it’s not just about that. It’s also about respect. Working people never let each other down. And in the pandemic, the British people didn’t let them down. The bond of respect was there. That’s why we clapped. Britain knew exactly who was serving it, in its time of need.

Now, before I get going – I know what you’re thinking: please, please, please – no more Arsenal jokes. But conference – I do want to offer my sympathies to Manchester… Not because of that, but because I really do feel for any city that had to host that circus last week.The non-dom tax status is a legal loophole that allows some of the richest people in the world to avoid paying tax in Britain. That’s money we could invest in our NHS – that’s always been our priority. And right now, the biggest challenge is cutting waiting lists. Some people say to me: “It’s about honesty, isn’t it? We were lied to. These politicians are liars.” But do you know, that’s not it. Well – maybe it is for one of them… But for people like Rishi Sunak it’s more that they cannot see the country before them. The walls of Westminster are so high. The view that your lives, your services, your future – are just pieces on their board. That is so deeply ingrained in their mindset. They have no way to understand what you’ve been through. Coupled with Starmer’s campaign promises that the 2017 Labour manifesto was the party’s “foundational document” and the warning, “ don’t trash the last four years”, anyone who claims there is no dishonesty if the pledge is indeed dropped is being deceitful themselves. But conference – it also has to be something more. A deeper bond. A partnership between people and politics that in our age, after these 13 years of decline, will be hard to renew.

If you think our job in 1997 was to rebuild a crumbling public realm. That in 1964 it was to modernise an economy left behind by the pace of technology. In 1945 to build a new Britain out of the trauma of collective sacrifice. Then in 2024 it will have to be all three. The challenge of change remains. But nonetheless, for the first time in a long time we can see a tide that is turning. Four nations that are renewing. Old wounds of division exploited by the Tories and the SNP beginning to heal. So let the message from Rutherglen ring out across Britain. Labour serves working people in Scotland because Labour serves working people across all these islands. There’s nothing more important, no distractions, no higher cause. That’s who we stand for. What we stand for. Our argument for Britain.I grew up working class. I’ve been fighting all my life. And I won’t stop now. I’ve felt the anxiety of a cost-of-living crisis before. And until your family can see the way out, I will fight for you. That’s my mission and we will do it. But I believe in this country. I believe in its spirit. In its people, in its businesses, in its communities. I don’t just see the sewage in our streams and our seas. I see the volunteers – people who love their community – standing up to fight for clean water. I don’t just see the crumbling concrete in our schools. I see the teachers, in the temporary classrooms, still giving our children the education they deserve. I don’t just see the boards going up in our high streets. I see the businesses – the pubs, the cafes, the retailers still trading. Still finding a way through the chaos. Still serving their community.