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EXCLUSIVE
Labour: Keir Starmer calls himself a 'progressive socialist'

27th May2024
By Xander Elliards@xanderescribe

Content Editor
THE NATIONAL, SCOTLAND

Labour leader Keir Starmer has claimed he is a socialist and a progressive (Image: PA)

KEIR Starmer has been slammed after describing himself as a “socialist” and a “progressive”.



The Labour leader was accused of trying to be “all things to all people” following the comments, which come after he repeatedly praised Margaret Thatcher and said he does not mind being called a conservative.

Starmer has also faced intense criticism from the left of his party after ditching the lion’s share of the “ten pledges” he made during his leadership campaign – the majority of which were seen as socialist policies.

READ MORE: Labour leader Keir Starmer: I don't care if I sound conservative

However, in an interview with the BBC on Monday, Starmer insisted he was both a “socialist” and a “progressive”, adding: “I’d describe myself as somebody who always puts the country first and party second.”

Putting the country first was a key theme of his speech on Monday, his first major one of the General Election campaign, in which he also claimed he had to choose between abolishing tuition fees and providing more funding for the NHS.


He said: “I have taken a political choice, which is to say at the moment we have got to prioritise the NHS.”

Abolition tuition fees was among Starmer’s “ten pledges”, as was ending “outsourcing in the NHS”, both of which he has reneged on.

SNP MP Tommy Sheppard criticised the Labour leader over the comments.

He said: “I really don't understand why Keir Starmer advisers think this is smart – because he just increasingly comes across as somebody who's trying to be all things to all people.

“He’s spent the last two years reassuring Conservative voters that they don't need to change their minds to vote for him because he's on their side and he shares their values.

“He's been silent on Brexit. He's been silent on the demonisation of migrants. He's been silent on war crimes in Gaza.”

Sheppard went on: “I mean, is there really anyone left in this country who really thinks Keir Starmer is a progressive socialist?

“I think if you started asking on progressive socialists, they would disagree with that in large numbers.”


Sheppard further pointed to comments from Starmer in which he has praised former Tory prime minister Margaret Thatcher (above).

In December, the Labour leader said she had brought “meaningful change” to the UK and applauded her for “setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism”.

Sheppard said: “I think it's sick, to be honest, and I don't mean that in the way young people mean it. I think it's really sick.

“Margaret Thatcher blighted my younger life, destroyed so many communities in Scotland. She was responsible for much of the irresponsible capitalism as the rich got richer and public services were cut to the bone.

“It beggars belief. Why anyone would want to take pride, never mind endorse that record, is beyond me.”

He added: “You cannot call yourself a socialist and all that and then praise Margaret Thatcher.

‘I’m a socialist’ says Starmer, as he defends rowing back on 2020 pledges

The Labour leader said he would not pretend he could deliver things he knew were not possible.


SIR KEIR STARMER SAID HE WOULD DESCRIBE HIMSELF AS A ‘SOCIALIST’ AND A ‘PROGRESSIVE’ (STEFAN ROUSSEAU/PA)

PA WIRE
CHRISTOPHER MCKEON

Sir Keir Starmer has described himself as a “socialist” after delivering his first major speech of the election campaign.

The Labour leader has faced criticism from some on the left of his party after rowing back on a number of promises he made when running for the party leadership in 2020.

But in an interview with the BBC on Monday, Sir Keir insisted he was both a “socialist” and a “progressive”, adding: “I’d describe myself as somebody who always puts the country first and party second.”

Putting the country first was a key theme of his speech on Monday, his first major intervention of the campaign, in which he also discussed how his working class upbringing informed his politics.

I have taken a political choice, which is to say at the moment we have got to prioritise the NHS

SIR KEIR STARMER

The experience of seeing his parents choose to cut off their telephone rather than go into debt to pay bills, he said, meant he appreciated the importance of the security and economic stability that have become staples of Labour messages

It is that focus on stability that Sir Keir said had made it necessary to row back on the promises of 2020, particularly on tuition fees, which he has previously said he wanted to abolish.

Asked if that was still the case, Sir Keir told the audience in Lancing, West Sussex, he thought there was “a powerful case for change”, with scrapping fees an option, but added the “huge damage to the economy done by Liz Truss and the Tories” meant he had to choose between abolishing tuition fees and providing more funding for the NHS.

He said: “I have taken a political choice, which is to say at the moment we have got to prioritise the NHS.”

Interviewed by Sky News later in the day, he said: “I think it’s important to stand in front of the electorate and say: ‘I’m sorry, I can’t now afford what I said before because of the damage being done to the economy.’”

He added: “Very many politicians pretend that they could do things when they know they can’t. I’m not going to do that.”