Starmer blasts ‘pathetic Tory squabbles’ and calls for general election now

The Labour leader was delivering a speech to the TUC Congress this morning (Picture: Getty Images)

The Labour leader has called for a ‘general election now’ while blasting the chaos at the heart of Liz Truss’ government.

Sir Keir Starmer took aim at ‘pathetic Tory squabbles’ and told the TUC Congress this morning: ‘this cannot continue’.

He said Britain can never take seriously Tory claims to be a ‘party of aspiration or sound money’ and said all the failures of past 12 years are now coming to the boil.

Sir Keir – who many experts now believe is nailed on to become prime minister -was speaking the day after pandemonium engulfed Westminster after the Home Secretary departed.

Tory MPs are now openly calling for the PM to go after another chaotic day in Parliament – but many fear it would be unable for another leader without a mandate from the general public to lead the country without first going to the people.

Addressing the cost-of-living crisis, Sir Keir added that his sister, a care worker, struggles to make ends meet every week.

He said the Tories had wrecked national and household finances, adding: ‘Britain deserves better, Britain cannot afford the chaos of the Conservatives any more, we need a general election now.’

He told TUC members in Brighton: ‘Never again can Britain take seriously their claim to be a party of aspiration or sound money.

‘Last night in Parliament, even by their standards, a new chaotic low.

‘All the failures of the past 12 years have now come to the boil. The victims of crime who can’t get justice. People dying because ambulances can’t get there on time.

‘Millions going without food or heating.

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‘And none of it can drum into the Tories the idea that our country must come first. They lack the basic patriotic duty to keep the British people out of their own pathetic squabbles.’

Sir Keir Starmer said the political choice facing the country ‘is now as stark as it gets’.

In a light-hearted opening to his speech, he began: ‘With everything going on, I’m a bit nervous to turn my phone off for half an hour or 45 minutes.

‘We really don’t know will have happened by the time we turn it back on.’

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‘This cannot continue’.