Starmer wants Government to be compared with Labour’s post-war administration

David Hughes, PA Political Editor

Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted his Government to be compared with Clement Attlee’s transformational post-war administration.

The 1945 Labour government set up the NHS and helped rebuild the UK after the devastation of the Second World War.

The Prime Minister told Labour activists he wanted his plans for the country to be viewed with the same sense of pride.

He also joked that since entering No 10 he had bonded with Larry the cat because they both had experience “chasing pests out of Downing Street”.

Sir Keir Starmer, left, and Sadiq Khan standing in front of a banner that says 'change begins'
Sir Keir Starmer, left, and Sadiq Khan at a reception on the eve of the Labour Party conference (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

At a reception at the Labour conference in Liverpool he said: “In less than 14 weeks, we’ve achieved more than the Tories did in 14 years. We’ve ended the strikes in the NHS so our doctors are back in the surgeries, carrying out operations, getting waiting lists down.

“We’ve set up a national wealth fund to get the investment we need into our country. We have launched GB Energy, that publicly owned company.

“We talked about this for years, now we are doing it, to generate the next generation of clean power.

“We have begun to end no-fault evictions.

“We’ve reformed planning, we’ve got rid of the ban on onshore wind, we are moving ahead with solar.

“Buses across the country will be better regulated, with fares and routes regulated by local people and railways are coming back into public ownership.”

Dawn Butler taking a selfie alongside Sir Keir Starmer, Sadiq Khan and a room of Labour supporters
Dawn Butler taking a selfie alongside Sir Keir Starmer, Sadiq Khan and a room of Labour supporters (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

He added that Labour had a “10-year plan for the NHS so we get it back on its feet and fit for the future so that people will, in years to come, look back with the same pride at the 2024 Labour Government as they do the 1945 Labour government”.

The Government was also carrying out “the biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights in a generation”.

Sir Keir told the reception: “I’ve been getting to know Larry the cat and bonding with him. We’ve realised we’ve both spent 14 years chasing pests out of Downing Street.”

And in a reference to the protester who disrupted his conference speech last year he added: “A little warning: stay off the glitter. It is now treason to throw glitter on me.

“I know we are short of prison places, we do have one or two in the Tower.”

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