Tom Watson has one piece of advice for Labour leader Keir Starmer

09 October 2023 , 10:35

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Tom Watson has some election tips for Labour leader Keir Starmer

Labour peer Tom Watson has weighed in on criticism of Keir Starmer for not being "bold" enough with his plans for government.

Speaking to the Mirror's News Agenda podcast on the second day of the party conference, the party bigwig pushed back against suggestions that it was time for major announcements about how the next Labour government might run the country.

"At the start of conference, he said 'don't get giddy with this'. What he's really saying to our members and supporters is we still have to earn the votes and trust of the people, we still need to build our case, brick by brick, don't take it for granted," said Lord Watson.

"Keir is radical, but I don't think he's reckless. He's very cautious, he takes his time to work out his position, but once he's got a position he executes it with absolutely ruthless determination, and I think that's what people want to see in a Prime Minister, the ability to think, take a firm decision, but not be rash."

(Getty Images)

But the leader's caution has come under fire from the press and public, with polls showing voters are uncertain what Starmer stands for, and the Mirror's Kevin Maguire calling today for the leader to be bold and "spell out why he is that change" people are looking for.

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Watson disagreed, citing the party's 20-point poll rating as evidence that the careful approach has been working. He added: "The difficulty for Keir and his team now is, they're doing so well in the polls that they now look like a government in waiting, but that's not how he sees it..

"He sees it as an Opposition that needs to meticulously map out its policies over the next 12 months. I'm sure there'll be more announcements this week on that, but there's a very long way to go.."

He said "the only question the country is asking Labour to answer" was the solution to the cost of living crisis, and pointed out there were announcements being made on affordable housing, growing the economy, and cutting the NHS waiting lists. "There's more to come," said Watson. "But if I was advising Keir, I would say 'don't set out your whole stall this week, give yourself a bit of time before the nest election'."

Labour peer Tom Watson discusses press reform with the Mirror's Susie Boniface

Watson said "the foundations for the manifesto are in place" but would not be signed off until the next general election is announced - and stamped on suggestions it might be as early as next May.

"We don't even know who the Prime Minister will be then. Probably Rishi Sunak, but if you look at the past 12 months you'd be foolish to bank on that," said Watson. "Sunak has had a relaunch, he's reset the dial with a new team, but if his polling numbers don't move significantly I don't think it will be May. I think, sadly, and I'm sure your viewers and readers will be as appalled at this as I am, there's no reason why he won't go to January 2025. If you think that, since June of this year, their poll ratings have put them lower than Michael Foot in the 1983 general election, you'll see why they're very worried about their own position."

The Labour peer predicted House of Lords reform could come within a decade, and singled out the 26 bishops and retired bishops, as well as 96 hereditary peers, for eviction from the upper chamber. "You could definitely do work to reduce the numbers there," he said.

But he admitted that, despite calls by ex-PM Gordon Brown for an entirely-elected Lords of the nations and regions, Starmer would have to first stack it with his own appointees in order to get any legsialtion through - including the reform itself. What might happen sooner are changes to the Lords appointment panel, which at the moment is only advisory, and could instead be given the power to block peers nominated by the Prime Minister, curtailing corruption in the system.

"If they do that, that looks like reform, and it would be quite hard work to get to that, but I think that's where Labour can be," said Watson, who predicted "maybe even the Conservatives" would back it.

Finally, the seasoned campaigner for Press reform refused to back calls for the second part of the Leveson inquiry to be held, looking at relationships between journalists and politicians. "I think everyone knows the context in which Leveson came about has changed. Tabloid newspapers are under a lot of financial pressure," he said. "Politicians need to spend more time looking at the big tech companies who use a get-out clause to say they're not publishers. Facebook livestreaming a massacre is markedly worse than the extremes of tabloid newspapers."

Susie Boniface