Keir Starmer promises change as Rishi Sunak is haunted by the ghosts of prime ministers past in New Year speeches | Beth Rigby
When the Labour leader was up against the flamboyant Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer, at times, struggled to have impact.
But the fall of Mr Johnson, the ensuing Tory chaos, and Labour’s 20-point lead in the polls, has changed the race and seems to have given Mr Starmer a new gear.
His New Year’s speech in east London was, in many ways, straight from the Tony Blair playbook. Mr Starmer was the candidate of change, Labour the party of change and his government the deliverer of political change that would bring about a “decade of renewal”.
Against the backdrop of soaring inflation and recession, a cost of living crisis, crippling strikes and an NHS at breaking point, Mr Starmer has the far easier job: lob rocks at the government and promise a thoroughly fed up public that Labour will do it better.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What will Starmer do to help people?
The rolling No 10 turmoil during the reign of Mr Johnson and Liz Truss has made it easier still as Mr Starmer used this speech to criticise the “sticking plaster politics” of Westminster which might patch up problems in the immediate moment but doesn’t offer the solutions the country needs.
The Labour leader said: “You saw it yesterday from the prime minister. Commentary without solutions, more promises, more platitudes. No ambition to take us forward, no sense of what the country needs. Thirteen years of nothing but sticking plasters.”
Pitching himself as the candidate of change, Mr Starmer went on to argue that a Labour government would bring in the change, as he promised the public a “Take Back Control Bill” in the first year of a new Labour government to devolve power away from Westminster to local communities.
After being obliterated by Mr Johnson with that slogan in the 2019 general election, Mr Starmer turned it to his own advantage to goad his political rivals. “We will embrace the Take Back Control message, but we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution, from a catchphrase to change.”
The promise of devolution was made by Mr Stamer last month in a keynote speech, but in his New Year one he again used it as a way of using it to argue that Labour offered a different vision of Britain and said he would outline his “missions” in the coming weeks.
Labour then using 2023 to begin sketching out the policies that will form the basis of its next manifesto.
It was unquestionably a more visionary speech than Mr Sunak’s but Mr Starmer carries none of the baggage of prime ministerial predecessors or the responsibility of being in office weighing Mr Sunak down.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘How are you different to previous PMs?’
For if Mr Starmer’s speech was one that sketched an idealised vision of Britain under a new Labour administration doing things differently, Mr Sunak’s was one very much grounded in realism.
Far from a fresh beginning, the Conservative prime minister was haunted by ghosts of PMs past in his New Year speech.
In a nod to the empty promises of Boris Johnson and the recklessness of Liz Truss, Mr Sunak’s pitch was to rebuild trust with the public, only promise what he could deliver and try to quietly get on with the job of working on “the people’s priorities”.
Mr Sunak is dealing with the fallout of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. He’s contending with a recession and soaring inflation, and the legacy of his two predecessors which damaged the reputation of his party and government in the eyes of his voters. His then, is a much harder pitch.
But the big question for both these men is whether their respective visions for the UK will win over the voters.
Mr Sunak knows, after the promises of Mr Johnson and Ms Truss, that voters want delivery from the government and has chosen targets – cutting NHS waiting lists and stopping illegal migration – that he hopes will return disgruntled voters to the Tory fold at the next general election.
Read more:
Starmer promises ‘take back control’ bill aimed at devolving power out of Westminster
Sunak makes five promises on economy, health and immigration in keynote speech
Is Sunak’s five-point plan enough to turn the tide for the Tories?
Mr Starmer has positioned himself as the change candidate – that word uttered 17 times in his speech on Thursday – with the promise of doing politics differently.
But in reality, he doesn’t need much to change this year in order to win the next general election, given Labour is 20 points ahead in the polls.
The candidate that needs change this year is Mr Sunak who made the economy the centrepiece of his five-point plan.
Mr Sunak hopes that falling inflation and economic growth into 2024 will give the Conservatives a shot for the next general election.
Economic recovery will enable the Tories to promise tax cuts whilst also giving them an angle to attack Labour by questioning their economic competence: “Keir Starmer has to set out plans bedded in economic reality too”, is how one No 10 insider put it (there’s a reason Mr Starmer made a point about not getting out the spending chequebook in his speech).
Hints of battles to come. These two leaders this week setting out their stall for 2023 in a year which both parties know will be critical in deciding who will win in 2024.
For now, it’s clear Mr Starmer and Labour are still very much in the driving seat.
On Friday, Paola Paiva waited in a hotel near Caracas airport, nervous but giddy with excitement to be reunited with her brother, finally.
For five months, Arturo Suarez has been detained in a notorious prison in El Salvador.
“I am going to wait for my brother to call me,” she told Sky News, “and after giving him a hug, I want to just listen to him, listen to his voice. Let him talk and tell us his story.”
Suarez was one of the more than 250 Venezuelan migrants who had been living in America but were arrested in immigration raids by the Trump administration and sent to El Salvador, a showpiece act in the president’s promise to deport millions of migrants.
Paola Paiva holds a vigil for brother Arturo Suarez. Pic: Reuters
Most of the men had never even been to El Salvador before. Their detention has been controversial because the White House claims the men are all part of the dangerous Tren de Aragua gang but has provided little evidence to support this assertion.
The only evidence Paola had that Suarez was still alive was a picture of him published on a news website showing the inside of the maximum security CECOT jail.
He is one of dozens of men with their hands and feet cuffed, heads shaved and bodies shackled together.
Now he is returning to his home country, one of the bargaining chips in a deal that saw the release of ten Americans and US permanent residents who had been seized by the Venezuelan authorities.
Venezuelans arrive back in home country after being detained in El Salvador
Paola had tried to go to the airport to greet her brother as he disembarked a charter plane bringing the men back from El Salvador but authorities told her to wait at a nearby hotel.
“They told us they are taking them all to a hotel to rest,” she said.
“But I managed to get someone to give my phone number on a piece of paper to my brother, so I am expecting his call tomorrow, as soon as he can access a phone.
“We heard they are going to perform some medical exams on them and check their criminal records,” she added. “I’m not afraid; I’m not worried since my brother has a clean record.
“I am so happy. I knew this day would happen, and that it would be unexpected, that no one was going to notify us. I knew it was going to be a total surprise.”
US citizens released from Venezuela. Pic: Reuters
The Trump administration had paid the El Salvador government, led by President Nayib Bukele, millions of dollars to imprison the men.
Homeland security secretary Kristi Noem visited CECOT last month, posing in front of prisoners for a photo opportunity.
Read more from Sky News:
Trump suing Wall Street Journal for $10bn after Epstein letter report
Tech company investigating viral footage of Coldplay concert couple
But Cristosal, an international human rights group based in El Salvador, says it has “documented systematic physical beatings, torture, intentional denial of access to food, water, clothing, health care,” inside the prison.
A video which was seemingly filmed aboard the charter flight bringing the Venezuelan migrants back to Caracas shows Arturo briefly talking about his experience inside.
He looks physically well but speaks into the camera and says: “We were four months with no communication, no phone calls, kidnapped, we didn’t know what (the) day was, not even the time.
“We were beat up at breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he continues.
Sky News interviewed Arturo Suarez‘s brother Nelson near his home in the US in April, weeks after Arturo – an aspiring singer – had been arrested by immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) agents while filming a music video inside a house.
Nelson said he believed Arturo’s only crime was “being Venezuelan and having tattoos.” He showed me documents that indicate Arturo has no criminal record in Venezuela, Chile, Colombia or the United States, the four countries he has lived in.
Now Nelson is delighted Arturo is being released – but worries for his future.
“The only thing that casts a shadow in such a moment of joy is that bit of anger when I think that all the governments involved are going to use my brother’s story, and the others on that flight, as political gain,” he said.
“Each of them will tell a different story, making themselves the heroes, when the reality is that many innocent people suffered unfairly and unnecessarily, and many families will remain separated after this incident due to politics, immigration and fear.”
At least 34 people have died after a tourist boat capsized in Vietnam, according to state media reports.
The Wonder Sea boat was reportedly carrying 53 people, including five crew members, when it capsized due to strong winds in Ha Long Bay on Saturday.
It happened at roughly 2pm local time (7am GMT). Rescue teams have found 11 survivors and recovered 34 bodies, eight of them children, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said, citing local authorities.
Rescuer in Ha Long Bay are searching for survivors. Pic: QDND via AP
The People’s Army Newspaper, which cited local border guards, said authorities have not yet confirmed details about the tourists, including their nationalities, as the rescue operation continues.
Most of the passengers were tourists, including about 20 children, from the country’s capital city, Hanoi, the newspaper said.
The incident comes shortly after the arrival of Storm Wipha in the South China Sea, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and lightning to the area.
A body being carried on stretcher after a tourist boat capsized in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Pic: QDND via AP
The named storm is the third typhoon to hit the South China Sea this year, and is expected to make landfall along the northern coast of Vietnam early next week.
Disruptions linked to the storm have also had an impact on air travel, according to Noi Bai Airport.
The airport reported that nine incoming flights were diverted to other airports, while three outgoing flights were temporarily grounded due to adverse weather conditions.
Tourist boats cruise in Halong Bay. File pic: Reuters
The winds brought by Storm Wipha reached up to 63mph (101kmph) and gusts of up to 68mph (126kmph) as it passed south of Taiwan on Saturday, according to the island’s Central News Agency.
Read more from Sky News:
‘Evil serial killer’ might have more victims
Tech firm boss on leave after Coldplay concert footage
Ha Long Bay is around 125mi (200km) north east of Hanoi and attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Of those who visit Ha Long Bay, many choose to take overnight boat tours to further explore the area.
World
Gaza: More than 30 people killed ‘as Israeli troops open fire towards Palestinians waiting for aid’
More than 30 people have been killed after Israeli troops opened fire towards crowds of Palestinians waiting for aid, according to witnesses and hospital officials.
The deaths occurred near distribution hubs operated by the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the territory.
At least 32 people were killed on Saturday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, while a further 100 people were injured, according to local reports.
Most of the deaths came as Palestinians massed in the Teina area, around 3km (2 miles) away from a GHF aid distribution centre east of the city of Khan Younis.
More than 30 people killed near aid distribution centres. Pic: Mariam Dagga/AP
Mahmoud Mokeimar said he was walking with crowds of people – mostly young men – towards the food hub when troops fired warning shots as the crowd advanced, before opening fire towards the marching people.
“It was a massacre… the occupation opened fire at us indiscriminately,” he said.
Injured Palestinians are brought to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Pic: Mariam Dagga/AP
Akram Aker said troops fired machine guns mounted on tanks and drones.
“They encircled us and started firing directly at us,” he said.
The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said it received 25 bodies, along with dozens of wounded.
Seven other people, including one woman, were killed in the Shakoush area, hundreds of yards north of another GHF hub in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the hospital said.
The army and GHF did not immediately comment on Saturday’s violence.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The GFH, which has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip, says it has distributed millions of meals to hungry Palestinians.
But local health officials and witnesses say hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli army fire as they try to reach the distribution hubs.
The GHF, which employs private armed guards, says there have been no deadly shootings at its sites, though this week, 20 people were killed at one of its locations, most of them in a stampede.
Read more from Sky News:
The Syrian city engulfed in tribal violence
Migrants freed from notorious El Salvador jail in Venezuela-US prisoner swap
The group accused Hamas agitators of causing a panic, but gave no evidence to back the claim.
The army, which is not at the sites but secures them from a distance, says it only fires warning shots if crowds get too close to its forces.
The 21-month war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.
An Israeli military offensive has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while Gaza’s more than two million Palestinians are living through a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar in recent weeks, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs.
US President Donald Trump said another 10 hostages will be released from Gaza shortly, without providing details.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike