Keir Starmer bids to draw line under hard-Left Corbyn era saying Labour would run an economic 'tight ship' in Government - and distances himself from his Remainer past by ruling out a 're-match' of the Brexit referendum
- Opposition leader addressing the CBI conference in Birmingham this afternoon
- Expected to vow that any Government he leads will run economic 'tight ship'
- Due to unveil a new Office for Value For Money if Labour wins next election
Sir Keir Starmer will attempt to steer Labour even further away from Jeremy Corbyn's failed era in charge today as he woos business leaders.
The Opposition leader is expected to vow that any Government he leads will run a 'tight ship' economically as he distances the party from the had-left spending promises of his predecessor.
Sir Keir is expected to outline his party's commitment to 'chase down every penny we spend', with a new Office for Value For Money, as well as fleshing out his Make Brexit Work policy.
Sir Kier will also address his own past when he gives a speech to the CBI annual conference this afternoon.
Once a leading proponent of a second Brexit referendum, he will tell the event in Birmingham that Labour has no plans for a 'rematch' of the 2016 vote now.
But he will use his address to launch an attack on the Government's handling of Brexit, accusing it of holding the nation back.
The Opposition leader is expected to vow that any Government he leads will run a 'tight ship' economically as he distances the party from the had-left spending promises of his predecessor.
Once a leading proponent of a second Brexit referendum, he will tell the event in Birmingham that Labour has no plans for a 'rematch' of the 2016 vote now
On the Government's spending during the pandemic, the Labour leader will say: 'A company which employed a sitting Conservative MP received £133 million for test kits which had to be recalled because they didn't work.
'This isn't magic money the Tories are wasting. It's your money.
'There is no industrial strategy, no business plan. The Budget was an opportunity to remake Britain and it was an opportunity missed.'
Promising 'a stable government and a tight ship', Sir Keir will say: 'Labour will establish an Office for Value For Money to chase down every penny we spend.
'Just as every one of you scrutinises the cost side of your business, constantly asking yourself if investments are paying off, we will do the same on behalf of the tax-paying public.'
Mr Corbyn led Labour to disaster in 2019 with a manifesto that contained promises requiring large increases in state spending.
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They included the creation of a National Care service, stopping a raising of the state pension age and bring forward net zero environmental plans to the 2030s from 2050.
But perhaps the largest spending pledge was to take the 'big six' energy firms, the National Grid, the water utilities, Royal Mail, railways and the broadband arm of BT into public ownership.
He stepped down after Labour gave Boris Johnson an 80-seta majority in the election and has since lost the party whip following an anti-Semitism investigation.
Sir Keir is also expected to give more details of his commitment to 'make Brexit work', saying: 'The Government thinks that all it has to do is say the words 'Get Brexit Done'.
'It has absolutely no plan to make Brexit work. Just to be clear, Labour is not planning a re-match, but it is obvious that a poorly thought-through Brexit is holding Britain back.'
He will add: 'We all have a duty to make Brexit work. We would seek regulatory equivalence for financial services, and mutual recognition of professional qualifications, because we absolutely recognise the importance of looking after our world-class financial and professional service businesses.
'We would seek to maintain Britain's data adequacy status, making our data protection rules equivalent to those in the EU, to secure UK digital services companies' competitiveness.
'We'd also seek a better long-term deal for UK hauliers to ease the supply chain problems we are seeing.'
Other figures set to speak at the conference include CBI president Lord Bilimoria, founder of Cobra beer, and chief medical officer Chris Whitty.
