Sir Keir Starmer has learned and listened to the electorate after backing a laundry list of promises under Jeremy Corbyn in 2019, a top ally said on Wednesday as she promised a “radical but credible” manifesto from Labour.
Ahead of Thursday’s manifesto launch from Labour, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh defended Sir Keir’s claim that the Conservatives had built a “Jeremy Corbyn-style manifesto” that will “load everything into the wheelbarrow” without explaining how they would pay for it.
Pressed on why the Labour leader was disowning a document that he campaigned to implement under his predecessor at the last election, Ms Haigh said: “I think what it demonstrates is that the 2019 general election manifesto that we stood on was roundly rejected by the electorate.
“That was the worst election defeat we'd suffered in our history. And we've learned from those lessons. Keir has changed the Labour Party from top to bottom. We have listened to the electorate,” she said on Times Radio.
“We've changed, and we've put forward a radical but credible manifesto that will be published tomorrow, and he's comparing it to the Conservative manifesto that was published yesterday, because they have not learned their lessons from less than two years ago when Liz Truss attempted her disastrous mini budget, which nearly crashed the economy, and people are still paying the price for those actions that she took.”
Ms Haigh insisted that the Conservatives’ own manifesto unveiled by Rishi Sunak on Tuesday would pile an extra £4,800 on people’s mortgages via £17 billion in “unfunded” tax cuts.
The figure was hotly disputed by the Tories, who in turn have been accusing Labour of planning a tax grab of more than £2,000 on the average household - which the opposition says is a “lie”.
The Labour frontbencher said her party’s analysis was based on the Conservatives’ own published manifesto, while the Tories’ claims were based on dubious or even “fabricated” claims about Labour policies.
The exchanges came as the Prime Minister and Sir Keir prepared for a Sky News event in Grimsby on Wednesday evening where they will face questions from journalist Beth Rigby and a studio audience.
