Keir Starmer Vows To Clean Up Downing Street After Tory Scandals

The prime minister says No.10 will serve the public rather than hosting illegal parties.
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Keir Starmer insists it will not be "business as usual" when parliament returns next week.
via Associated Press

Keir Starmer will vow to put 10 Downing Street “back in the service” of voters after years of Tory scandal.

The prime minister will say his official residence will be dedicated to improving the country rather than hosting “lockdown-breaking parties”.

That is a reference to the partygate scandal, which saw former PMs Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak fined for attending No10 gatherings during the Covid pandemic.

Starmer will make his comments in a speech to 50 ordinary members of the public in Downing Street’s rose garden on Tuesday.

He will say: “This government won’t always be perfect, but I promise this: you will be at the heart of our government and in the forefront of our minds, at the centre of everything we do. 

“That’s why I wanted to invite you here today. To show that the decent, hard-working people who make up the backbone of this country belong here and that this government is for you.

“A garden and a building that were once used for lockdown breaking parties, are now back in your service.”

His comments come despite the new government has become embroiled in a cronyism row which has seen Labour accused of giving civil service jobs and privileged access to No.10 to party donors.

Ministers are also coming under increasing pressure to reverse the decision to means test the winter fuel payment, which will see 10 million pensioners miss out on up to £300 of help towards their energy bills.

However, the PM will insist that the new government is already doing more for voters than the Tories did during their 14 years in charge.

He will say: “Next week, parliament will return. The business of politics will resume, but it will not be business as usual.

“Because we can’t go on like this anymore. No more politics of performance, papering over the cracks, or division and distraction. Things are being done differently now.

“When I stood on the steps of Downing Street two months ago, I promised this government would serve people like you: apprentices, teachers, nurses, small business owners, firefighters - those serving the community and the country every day.

“I promised that we would get a grip on the problems we face, and that we would be judged by our actions, not by our words.”

Starmer will also say that the public’s response to the recent riots demonstrated why living in the UK will get better on his watch.

“The riots didn’t just betray the sickness, they revealed the cure, found not in the cynical conflict of populism but in the coming together of a country the morning after and cleared up their community,” he will say.

“Because that is who we are, that is what we stand for. People who cared for their neighbour. Communities who stood fast against hatred and division. Emergency services who did their duty - even when they were in danger. And a government that put the people of this country first.”