KEIR Starmer has hit out at critics accusing Labour of lacking detailed policies, as the party prepares for a General Election campaign this year.
Speaking in Bristol on Thursday, the UK Labour leader hit out at both the SNP and the Tories accusing them of fuelling the politics of “populism” and “nationalism” as a “distraction”.
Responding, SNP MP Stephen Flynn accused Starmer of comparing the views of "50% of Scots to the sort of populism promoted by Donald Trump", saying the comments would go down like a "bag of sick".
Starmer and his shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, continue to face questions about how Labour will reverse low growth, with criticism that the party’s pre-election platform remains light on major policies.
The party have made a number of policy U-turns in 2023, from scrapping the two-child benefit cap and abolishing tuition fees to ending Universal Credit.
Speaking to listeners on LBC on Friday, Starmer said: “You can’t really say, ‘We don’t know what you stand for, we haven’t set anything out’. Unless you’ve just really not paid very much attention to what’s been said over the last year or so.”
He pointed to “five big mission launches, big speeches, backing documents” to argue that his party’s offering to voters was clear.
However in October, public opinion researchers at More in Common asked respondents what they felt the leader of the opposition stood for.
The results, which were broadcast on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, centred on Starmer's lack of policy stances.
The largest word in the cloud – which means it was the most commonly expressed word used to describe Starmer in the survey – was “nothing”. "Don't know" also featured prominently, as did "not sure".
And at the centre of Labour’s campaign is a £28 billion-a-year green energy investment which reports suggest could be also due a U-turn.
Labour had promised in 2021 to invest £28bn a year until 2030 in green projects if it came to power, but last year Reeves said the figure would instead be a target to work towards in the second half of a first parliament.
An insider told the Guardian at the end of December: “There will be a pivot in the new year and the £28bn price tag as it exists now is unlikely to survive that.
“Whatever ultimately happens will be a further watering down of the position.
“This will be the Tories’ number one area of attack so they need to deal with it.”
On LBC, Starmer called the pledge a “confident ambition”.
