Stop being so timid, Keir! Starmer comes under attack from Unite boss Sharon Graham and ex-minister Peter Mandelson for not being bold enough – as poll finds voters are still not sure what Labour leaders stands for
Sir Keir came under attack from the left and the right of Labour today for his safety first approach to the leadership.
Sir Keir faced accusations of being too ‘timid’ from Blair-era minister Peter Mandelson and Sharon Graham, the leader of the Unite union.
Ms Graham told Sky News today that while she wanted Labour to win the next election there was ‘a difference between limping into Number 10 and being carried in’, and demanded a ‘better offer’ for workers.
In an interview on the first day of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Lord Mandelson agreed with the Hard Left union leader. He told Sky’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday: ‘I agree that we need more than policy tweaks and we need more than small twists in the policy dial. Yes, I’m happy to be bold, but not bold and stupid.’
It came as a poll on Sir Keir found that voters are still unsure what he stands for, with a year or less until the next election.
However, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting played down the idea that Sir Keir was too boring, telling Times Radio: ‘If you want clowns, go to a circus.’
Sir Keir faced accusations of being too ‘timid’ from Blair-era minister Peter Mandelson and Sharon Graham, the leader of the Unite union.
Itcame on the first day of the Labour Party Conference in Linverpool.
It came as a poll on Sir Keir found that voters are still unsure what he stands for, with a year or less until the next election.
Lord Mandelson said he would be campaigning for a Labour party ‘that’s going to invest in home insulation, that will create energy, security and efficiency in people’s homes.’
He went on: ‘I’m going to be campaigning for a Labour government that’s going to get British workers building electric vehicles.
‘I’m going to be campaigning for a Labour government that’s going to get steel workers making green steel, not passing £96 billion worth of public funds to the shareholders in BP and other energy companies.’
It came after Ms Graham, the leader of Labour’s biggest union backer, said she would keep Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘feet to the fire’.
With a general election expected next year, Ms Graham – who has frequently criticised the Labour leadership – said ‘we’re at the business end now’ as she highlighted what she expected in return for support.
She told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips: ‘I want them to win.
‘But there’s a difference between limping into Number 10 and being carried in – actually carried in – there to say, look, actually this person is going to come in and they’re going to bat for us.’
She added that she was not ’embarrassed’ to make it uncomfortable for Labour by ‘raising issues like the renationalisation of energy, investment in steel, oil and gas’ because ‘that’s my job’.
‘So I’m going to keep Labour’s feet to the fire,’ she said.
‘I absolutely want a Labour government, of course, but I want a Labour government that is going to make real change to people’s lives. And I think at the moment Labour have been too timid.’
She said that after 13 years of ‘Tories batting for big business and batting for the rich’, it was ‘time for Labour to come in and bat for our side, bat for workers and bat for communities’.
With the prospect of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – who has lost the party whip in Parliament – standing as an independent at the next election, Ms Graham said Unite could not support him.
‘The support is for the Labour Party because that’s what our rule book says that we do,’ she said.
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