Nicola Sturgeon tells Sir Keir Starmer to ‘find a backbone’ and describes Labour as ‘pale imitation of the Conservatives’
Nicola Sturgeon has branded Labour a “pale imitation” of the Tories and called on Sir Keir Starmer to “find a backbone” and stand for something.
The former Scottish first minister refused to accept it was a given the SNP will lose seats to Labour at the next general election, as current polling predicts.
Speaking to broadcaster Iain Dale at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she said there was “no point” in an opposition party that does not oppose the government.
Ms Sturgeon said: “I have spent my life opposing Tory governments who have never done anything good for Scotland. But what’s the point in a Labour Party that is just a pale imitation of the Conservatives?
“Every time you hear Keir Starmer open his mouth right now he seems to be at pains to agree with what the Tories are doing or to reduce the difference between them.
“You have to stand for something in politics or what’s the point of you. Find some backbone, that’s my advice to Keir.”
Labour sees taking back its former Scottish heartlands as crucial to winning the next general election.
A by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, triggered by the suspension of COVID rule-breaker Margaret Ferrier, has presented an opportunity for the party to re-establish its credentials north of the border.
But Labour has been on a charm offensive in Scotland ever since the sudden resignation of Ms Sturgeon in February and the ensuing turmoil in the SNP, which is facing a police probe into its finances.
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Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly maintained that her decision to stand down had nothing to do with subsequent developments in the investigation.
SNP police probe ‘traumatic experience’
Asked by Dale when she first realised the search of her home was happening, she said: “When it happened.”
Asked if that was “literally the knock on the door” she replied: “Yes. I’m not going to go any further into that, maybe one day I will be able to.”
Ms Sturgeon’s home, which she shares with her husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, was searched in April with Mr Murrell arrested and questioned by police before being released without charge.
Ms Sturgeon was arrested, and also released without charge, in June.
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Sturgeon maintains her innocence in police probe
She said if she’d had “any idea about what was going to unfold” she would “not have been able to function” in the period between announcing her departure in February and leaving office at the end of March.
She added that it has “obviously been a really difficult, traumatic experience” but she had “faith” in the process.
“My touchstone I guess in all of it, all along, is I am confident in my own position. I am absolutely certain I have done nothing wrong.
“Therefore I need to and do trust in the process.
“The police are doing a job and therefore I have to have faith that everything they are doing in the process of that is justified.”
Reconciliation with Salmond not on the cards
Ms Sturgeon told the audience that her closest group of friends have been “utterly indispensable” in helping her get through the scandal.
But she said former SNP leader Alex Salmond was firmly not in that category as she ruled out a chance of reconciliation with her predecessor.
The pair had a well-publicised fall-out after Mr Salmond faced sexual harassment allegations but he said this week “never say never” when asked about the prospect of repairing their relationship.
However Ms Sturgeon said: “It doesn’t come from a place of anger any more, I have gone through the whole spectrum of emotions with Alex over the last few years and I am now at a place where there are other people I would rather spend time with.”
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Politics
Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.
The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.
Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.
Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”
He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.
“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.
And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.
‘PM should have addressed the protesters’
Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.
He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.
He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.
“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.
“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”
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Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.
But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.
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The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.
The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.
To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.
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