Starmer seeks to win back Labour support during Scotland visit

Sir Keir Starmer has said that Labour are winning back support by seeking to bring people together, rather than dividing them.

The Labour leader, speaking on a visit to Scotland, pledged to continue working closely with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar to regain support ahead of the next general election.

And Starmer ruled out the prospect of any pacts being agreed between Labour and the SNP.

“If you want a Labour government, you’ve got to vote Labour.”
Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader

“We’re winning back support by building the alternative and by making the argument that we should bring people together, rather than dividing them,” he said.

“Anas and I have been working very closely together, we’ll continue to do that through to the next general election.

“But we’re building that alternative, we’re making the arguments, but most of all, we’re saying focus on the pandemic and the recovery.

“That was one of the first things Anas said going into that election and then the other parties followed.

“And building the credibility, closing the gap between the Labour party and those that we want to vote for us.

“That’s why I’m here, to have conversations and to use my ears, as well as my mouth.”

Sir Keir also ruled out any suggestions that Labour could agree a pact with the SNP.

He said: “We’re not going to be in a coalition going into the next general election, not going to be in a coalition going through and after the next general election.

“So, I can rule that out. At the next general election, those key issues will be, ‘have we built that better future coming out of the pandemic’, not go back to the broken system that we had going into the pandemic, and how do we meet the crisis that is the climate crisis.

“We’ll be focusing on that and my message to everybody is only a Labour government can deliver on those two central challenges and if you want a Labour government, you’ve got to vote Labour.

“You can’t vote for another party if you want a Labour government.”