Big difference between Labour and Tories, says Sir Keir Starmer

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted there are real dividing lines between Labour and the Conservatives ahead of the looming general election.

The Labour leader dismissed criticism his policies are not different enough to PM Rishi Sunak's.

He told the BBC his plans to decarbonise electricity by 2030 and build more homes were among "huge" areas of disagreement.

And he said the election would enable voters to "test this in practice".

Sir Keir was speaking after a new year speech in which he vowed to defeat the Tories with "project hope" and fight the election on the economy.

Rishi Sunak has said his "working assumption" was that the next election - which must take place by January 2025 - would take place in the second half of this year.

• Would Labour spend £28bn a year on green projects?

• Sunak suggests election in second half of year

• General election talk will dominate 2024

The prime minster's comments will be seen as an attempt to dampen speculation in recent weeks he might call a general election on 2 May, when local elections are being held.

But it will also shape the political year ahead, as the parties seek to differentiate themselves in the minds of voters as polling day approaches.

The Labour leader has recently faced criticism his blueprint for power is not specific enough - with Labour MP Jon Cruddas, the party's former policy chief, saying he was "elusive".

In an interview with BBC political editor Chris Mason, Sir Keir rejected this, adding he did not think there was "anything elusive" about his party's plans to halve violence against women and girls.

Speaking to about his commitment to net zero energy by 2030, he added: "the [Conservative] government isn't going anywhere near that".

He added: "I can't see that there's any ambiguity there, or lack of clarity there.

"And for anybody who thinks there is, then I say just bring the election on. Let's test this in practice."

He also dismissed recent reports he was set to further water down his party's plan to eventually spend £28bn on green energy projects, adding he was "absolutely committed to that mission".

The Labour leader has announced he would "bulldoze" restrictive planning rules and overrule objecting local MPs to boost housebuilding in England.

Labour has set a target to build 1.5m homes in England in five years if elected. The government's own ambition is broadly similar, pledging 300,000 new units a year from the mid-2020s.

'Fire with fire'

In an interview with Sky News, Sir Keir said he wanted to make a "positive case" to voters and predicted the Tories would "go low" with personal attacks during the campaign.

Suggesting his party would not hesitate to respond in kind, he added: "if they want to go with fire into this election, we will meet their fire with fire".

In his new year speech in Bristol, Sir Keir said Labour was offering "national renewal" as an alternative to the "miserabilist Tory project", vowing to "crush their politics of divide and decline with a new project hope".

But he added: "Not a grandiose utopian hope. Not the hope of the easy answer, the quick fix, or the miracle cure. People have had their fill of that from politicians over the past 14 years.

"No - they need credible hope, a frank hope, a hope that levels with you about the hard road ahead, but which shows you a way through, a light at the end of the tunnel. The hope of a certain destination."

'Crackdown on cronyism'

Quizzed afterwards by reporters, Sir Keir said that "in principle" he wanted to see lower taxes on working people but that "before we get to the question of tax we've got to grow the economy".

He also said he was "fundamentally opposed" to the idea of scrapping or reducing inheritance tax - something some Conservative MPs have called for.

Asked if Labour would overturn any cut to inheritance tax if the party wins power, Sir Keir said: "I don't believe in tax breaks for those who are already well-off when there's nothing on offer for working people."

In his speech Sir Keir pledged to "clean up politics" with a "crackdown on cronyism", saying the public were "right to be anti-Westminster" and "angry about what politics has become".

"After the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends, even in a crisis like the pandemic, some people have looked at us and concluded we're all just in it for ourselves," he said.

He also criticised Liz Truss - who served as prime minister for just 49 days - for nominating her allies for honours after "crashing the economy".

Sir Keir said a Labour government would "restore standards in public life" and show "zero tolerance towards the darker side of Westminster".