Sir Keir Starmer accused the Green Party and Reform UK of making “promises they know they can’t keep” as he tried to fend off an unprecedented political squeeze on Labour.
The Prime Minister also sought to make housing a central issue for the London borough elections on May 7 as he accused Zack Polanski’s Greens of blocking desperately needed new homes in the capital.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with The Standard, Sir Keir also:
- Blamed Iran for “proxy” arson attacks on London’s Jewish communities.
- Stressed, after the Golders Green stabbings, that the whole of society needed to join the fight against antisemitism so Britain remains a “tolerant reasonable country”.
- Called for Transport for London and the militant RMT union to get back around the negotiating table to prevent further walkouts causing travel misery for Londoners.
- Told how workers in London needed to be protected from AI destroying jobs in the city.
- Urged voters to focus on the services delivered by Labour councils, amid the Government’s slump in popularity and as polls showed the Greens set to make major gains in Inner London.
On a campaign visit in Walworth, south London, Holborn and St Pancras MP Sir Keir said: “We as a Government are centrally focused on what matters to Londoners, in particular housing.
“I’m a London MP, I know what comes in the inbox, it’s housing, housing, housing, we don’t have enough housing.”
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has been criticised by political opponents for not doing enough to tackle the housing crisis, with homebuilding having almost ground to a halt last year in some parts of the city.
But Sir Keir said plans had now been put in place to increase housebuilding in London, including allowing fewer affordable homes for some schemes to kick start more home developments.
Seeking to draw a clear political dividing line with Mr Polanski’s party on housing, the Prime Minister added: “While we are putting those plans in place and getting those houses built, what are the Greens doing, they are blocking all of these houses being built.
“For Londoners, that is the wrong answer.”
He also stressed that the Government was acting to protect renters through the Renters Rights Act, which ends no-fault evictions, target unfair rent hikes, and stop bidding wars.
Pressed whether Labour was facing a massive political squeeze from Nigel Farage’s Reform and the Greens, Arsenal fan Sir Keir said: “Let’s do the post-match analysis after the game.
“But we are governing in difficult circumstances given the global context.
“It’s easy for other parties to put forward promises which they know they can’t keep.”
Trying to push the spotlight onto the home-building record of Southwark and other councils, he added: “If you look at Labour councils across London, you will see really well run local services, you will see houses being built.
“In this borough we have got more houses being built than in any borough across London. That is the thing that matters.
“Focusing on the things that actually make a difference to people’s lives,” he added, amid speculation that he could face a coup by Labour MPs to topple him if the party has disastrous election results.
After the Golders Green stabbings, Sir Keir hosted a roundtable in No10 on Tuesday to step up action against the surge in antisemitism, including it apparently becoming “fashionable” at London dinner parties.
Asked if the Government, as well as other institutions, businesses and civic leaders, had been too slow to respond, he said it had “done a lot”.
But he added: “We have to understand the fear, the anxiety and the lack of basic safety and security felt by our Jewish community.
“We often say, we stand with our Jewish community, we do and we will.
“But it actually has to be our fight as well. It has to be a whole society fight.”
Sir Keir explained further: “We need to see this as a fight that is not just alongside our Jewish community, of course it is that, but it is also a fight for what we believe in, a tolerant reasonable country.
“I want people to be able to express their identity, to be able to practise their faith and their religion, go to their synagogues, to their schools, to their streets, safe and secure, that is the country that we have to fight for and we will.”
He was also clear that the Tehran regime is behind some of the arson attacks on London’s Jewish community.
“We do need to face up to the fact that there are proxy attacks happening in London, that’s why I name-checked Iran,” he stressed.
“That’s why we have got to fast-track legislation to deal with malign powers so we can take more measures.”
Britain’s anti-terror laws chief Jonathan Hall KC has told how Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, may be carrying out the “dirty work” of the Tehran regime by recruiting people in London and other parts of the UK to commit crimes.
The shadowy group is suspected of being a proxy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The Prime Minister has vowed to fast-track legislation to proscribe state-linked terror organisations, such as the IRGC.
On other key issues facing Londoners, Sir Keir called for new talks between Transport for London and the RMT union to prevent further industrial action.
“We need to get everybody back around the table,” he said.
“We need to resolve this as quickly as possible because it’s really frustrating for Londoners going about their business, whether they are going to work, seeing family, going to hospital appointments, whatever it may be.”
On crime, the PM stressed that the murder rate was falling in the capital.
“Any homicide is a tragedy but the fact that the rate is coming down does show the work that the Mayor is doing with a Labour government,” he said.
“Of course we need to do more on things like knife crime,” he admitted, stressing action was being taken such as restricting online sale of knives and through work in schools.
“I know from my own constituency the devastating impact that knife crime can have and we are doing everything we can to reduce that, to mitigate that so other families don’t have to go through what some families have already been through,” the Prime Minister added.
With Sir Sadiq having warned that a million jobs in London are at risk from artificial intelligence, Sir Keir said: “With AI, as with all technology, we have to seize the opportunities and protect people from some of the risks.
“That is the balance that we need to get.”
He emphasised that AI could reduce some of the routine parts of jobs to free up employees, such as giving social workers more time to spend on helping individuals in need.
As for how bad the election results could be for Labour, with his job potentially under threat, he stuck to the line: “We will do the post-match analysis after the election.”
Urging Labour activists to continue knocking on doors making the positive case for Labour councils, he added: “We all know that in the last few days a lot of decisions are made, a lot of minds are made up, so we will continue in that spirit.”
