Keir Starmer has warned Labour the fight to win the next general election has “barely begun”, as he said Rishi Sunak was prepared to “scorch the earth” in order to stay in No.10.
The Labour leader delivered his speech to his party’s conference in Liverpool on Tuesday afternoon covered in glitter, after a protester evaded security to dump handfuls of it over his head.
In response - and to cheers from party members - Starmer said he was more interested in “power” than “protest”.
Targeting at least ten years in government, Starmer said the party had successfully “dragged” itself back into contention after its heavy defeat in 2019 when Jeremy Corbyn was leader.
But he warned despite its now comfortable and consistent poll lead, the Conservatives would not give up.
“I have to warn you, a party that has so completely severed its relationship with the future, that is prepared to scorch the earth just to get at us. They will be dangerous,” he said.
“Trust me. Wherever you think the line is, they’ve already got plans to cross it. They will be up for the fight. They’re always up for the fight to save their own skin.
“And this isn’t over. In fact, it’s barely begun. So we have to be disciplined. Focused. Ready to fight back.”
He also reached out to Conservative voters who look in “horror” at the “descent of your party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy” and encouraged them. to back Labour.
“Labour serves working people across all these islands. There’s nothing more important, no distractions, no higher cause. That’s who we stand for. What we stand for,” he said.
Sunak has to call the next election by January 2025 at the latest - but it is widely expected that he will go to the country in the Spring or Autumn of next year.