Boris Johnson should not be given an honour by the Queen, Keir Starmer has said, as he accused the prime minister of treating voters like fools and promised a new “contract with the British people” to uphold trust in a future Labour government. In a speech designed to kick off a new phase in Labour’s preparation for the next general election, Starmer said reports of Downing Street parties in defiance of Covid rules had not just exposed problems with Johnson’s own behaviour, but “the flaws of a whole style of government”. Starmer said Labour had given ministers “the benefit of the doubt” on Covid restrictions to support the country through a national crisis but warned that the government had lost “the moral right to set those rules” because of the alleged rule-breaking. He signalled an intent to move beyond just criticising the government and to present optimistic alternative policies, vowing: “I came into politics to make things happen, not just to talk about them. I don’t think politics is a branch of the entertainment industry. I think it’s the serious business of getting things done.”
During a speech in Birmingham, the Labour leader said his new contract would give people the assurance that Labour was ready for power by focusing on security, prosperity and respect. Name-checking the three Labour leaders who have won elections – Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair – Starmer said he would lead a “patriotic” party. “It’s normally the job of the opposition to criticise and oppose, but it can make us sound pretty miserable,” he conceded. “It can sound as if we don’t realise our own historical good fortune to have been born into a peaceful, creative, liberal democracy.” Starmer said the Conservatives’ recent plummet in the polls did not automatically mean voters would switch to Labour, and promised he had a strategy to show people over the next 12 months why his party was “worthy” of their support. “Trust has to be earned,” he added. “I am confident but not complacent about the task ahead.” Starmer said the number of Covid cases, which is almost double what it was during the third lockdown last year, was “cause for concern” but was hopeful that no extra restrictions would be needed. He criticised ministers over the rollout of jabs to children over the age of 12, and said better ventilation and mass testing was needed in schools to avoid them having to close again. The possibility of a more-transmissible variant or one resistant to vaccines was a “known threat”, Starmer said, adding that he would support cutting isolation from seven to five days if the government’s scientific advisers recommended it. He also said ministers should study “all available evidence” about whether a fourth vaccine may be needed to top up protection from Covid further, after Andrew Pollard, the chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said it was “not sustainable” to keep topping up people’s immunity while millions around the world were still unvaccinated. Starmer also defended the awarding of a knighthood to Blair in the new year honours list, after a petition against the move surpassed 500,000 signatures. Asked if Johnson was worthy of an honour, he told the audience in Birmingham: “No. I’m sorry, I do not think the prime minister has earned the right to have an honour. I do think Tony Blair has.” Pressed by the Guardian on what policies Labour would use to woo back voters who had deserted the party since 2010, Starmer pointed to announcements made since he became leader nearly two years ago. He said the party’s stances on housing, employment rights and tackling climate change were “very strong, very Labour” and vowed that his contract would “build on that and take those ideas to the country”. Senior Labour figures are preparing for the possibility of a general election next spring. They said Starmer had reformed the party’s internal procedures, presented a strong case against the Conservative government and would during the course of 2022 move to outlining more positive policies to put it on an election-ready footing.