The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, a former Remain supporter, stated in his opening remarks for 2023 that he wants to make the Brexit campaign slogan “into a solution.” If Labour wins the next general election, Sir Keir predicted that the legislation would serve as “a centrepiece” of its policies.
He promised to grant new authority over childcare, housing, transportation, energy, and employment help. Sir Keir stated that he was “under no illusions about the nature of the issues we confront” in light of the nation’s struggles with a cost-of-living crisis, a wave of strike action, and severe pressure on the NHS.
He vowed “hope” for the future and a “decade of national renewal” under Labour in his speech in east London. Giving communities “the chance to control their economic destiny” was one of Sir Keir’s top concerns for a future Labour government.
He said that, “the decisions which create wealth in our communities should be taken by local people with skin in the game, and a huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy.”
Sir Keir stated that he “couldn’t disagree with the basic case so many Leave voters made to me” during the 2016 Brexit campaign.
He stated that, “It’s not unreasonable for us to recognise the desire for communities to stand on their own feet. It’s what ‘take back control’ meant.
“So we will embrace the ‘take back control’ message but we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change.”
Keir Starmer, a Remain voter who advocated for a second referendum, is disguising himself in Brexiteer jargon.
His pledge of a “take back control bill,” a proposed new law that would transfer authority away from Westminster, is anything but subtle. Appropriating the Brexit campaign’s winning slogan and claiming it as his own.
Sir Keir should be shouting “I get it” from every rooftop he can climb on if Labour is to win back the dozens and dozens of seats that voted in favour of Brexit.
It does imply that his detractors will inquire as to his true beliefs: courting Brexit voters may be shrewd political manoeuvring, but who is the real Keir Starmer?
Between 2016 through 2020, Sir Keir served as Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary under Jeremy Corbyn and unsuccessfully advocated for a second EU referendum.
Sir Keir responded when asked by reporters if he now regretted backing a new vote: “Even in those turbulent years, 2016 to 2019, I was always making the argument that there was always something very vital resting behind that leave vote.
“That phrase ‘take back control’ was really powerful, it was like a Heineken phrasing, got into people.
“And the more they ask themselves, do I have enough control, the more they answer that question, no.”
According to Labour, the bill would equip English towns and cities with the resources to create long-term strategies for economic growth that would generate high-skilled jobs in their communities.
Local leaders would be eligible to compete for any powers that have already been devolved elsewhere, according to the party, and there would be “a presumption towards moving authority out of Westminster.”
Discussion about this post