Keir Starmer says 'Labour has changed' in charm offensive to business chiefs

Labour leader Keir Starmer has insisted the party “has changed” - as he sought to woo business chiefs.

Mr Starmer, who has already junked the party's 2019 manifesto, admitted that some "good Labour things" would have to be shelved if he enters No10 as he would have to repair the damage the Tories have done to the economy.

“We’ve turned the Labour Party inside out and that is particularly significant when it comes to working with business,” he told the CBI’s annual conference in Birmingham.

"This is a different Labour Party and there is no going back, we are ready for partnership."

He said Labour was “not just a pro-business party but a party that is proud of being pro-business.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves (PA)

Yet it came as Mr Starmer also called on firms to wean themselves off “cheap labour” from abroad and invest in training British workers instead.

He told business chiefs: "We have to address and run towards the challenge that is skills, run towards the challenge that is ensuring we have everybody back in the workforce, because there are hundreds of thousands of people who aren't working now who were working just a few years ago.

"This is, for me, an economic argument, not a push for political tactics."

The Labour leader set out the party’s stance on Brexit as Rishi Sunak scrambled to quell a Tory civil war over reports he was considering closer ties with the EU.

“We are not going back to the EU and that means not going back to the customs union,” he told the audience, “but we need to make Brexit work.”

Mr Starmer said the economic chaos under the Tories meant that if he won the next election some “good Labour things” he would like to do would have to be ditched.

“Of course we will be pragmatic,” he said. “Of course we understand that we need to act now so that we help business and drive growth.”

Mr Starmer, while backing a “partnership” with business, also highlighted the role of trade unions.

He explained: “I said at the TUC conference: my Labour Party is unashamedly pro-business and I say here today – that trade unions must be a crucial part of our partnership.”