Starmer: People backed independence to take 'control over their lives'

Speaking in his first major speech of 2023, Sir Keir said Labour would bring forward a “Take Back Control Bill” that would devolve power from London to communities across the country, granting new control over employment support, transport, energy, housing and a host of other areas.

Labour, which has promised to abolish and replace the House of Lords, would see that councils will have a greater say over their own finances while also giving communities a right to request more powers, he said.

“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 told an audience in Stratford, east London.

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He warned that “the Westminster system is part of the problem”, adding that “hoarding” power in London was holding back the UK.

The Labour leader also stressed that people voted for Scottish independence because they wanted “control over their lives and their community” as he compared it to the reason many turned to Brexit.

He said: "A huge power shift out of Westminster can transform our economy, our politics and our democracy.

"I go back to Brexit. Yes, a whole host of issues were on that ballot paper. But as I went around the country, campaigning for Remain, I couldn’t disagree with the basic case so many Leave voters made to me.

"People who wanted public services they could rely on. High streets they could be proud of. Opportunities for the next generation. And all of this in their town or city.”

He added: "It was the same in the Scottish referendum in 2014 - many of those who voted ‘yes’ did so for similar reasons. And it’s not an unreasonable demand.

"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. The control people want is control over their lives and their community.

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"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. We will spread control out of Westminster. Devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and how councils run their finances.

"And we’ll give communities a new right to request powers which go beyond this."

But the SNP accused Sir Keir of promising "another decade of crippling austerity for Scotland from Westminster".

SNP deputy leader Keith Brown added: "The leader of the official opposition doesn’t only embrace the wrecking ball that is Brexit - he’s now stealing their campaign slogans. 

"Labour are now carbon-copy Tories on Brexit, the co-conspirators to hush up the true cost of Brexit. Today's speech only confirms that the next general election is a choice between two Tory Prime Ministers.

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"Keir Starmer did finally acknowledge why people in Scotland voted Yes in 2014, yet he and his party continue to deny the democratic mandate for a fresh vote on independence.

Sir Keir accused Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of offering the country only “more promises, more platitudes” in his speech yesterday, as he hit out at “sticking plaster politics”, but warned that Labour would not be able to spend its way out of the current challenges facing the country.

He added: “None of this should be taken as code for Labour getting its big government chequebook out. Of course investment is required – I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone.

“But we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess – it’s not as simple as that.”

“There is no substitute for a robust, private sector, creating wealth in every community,” he told the audience.

His first speech of 2023 comes as the UK Government grapples with severe pressures in the NHS and ongoing strike action, as households continue to struggle with cost-of-living challenges.

The Labour leader, who described his party as “competent and compassionate”, said the country needs a drastically changed politics.

Sir Keir said: “This year, let’s imagine instead what we can achieve if we match the ambition of the British people.

“You can’t overstate how much a short-term mindset dominates Westminster, and, from there, how it infects all the institutions which try, and fail, to run Britain from the centre.”

“I call it sticking plaster politics,” he said.

“The long-term cure, that always eludes us.”