29 June 2024 , 20:02
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Vote or the Tories will destroy UK
Britain deserves change after 14 years of chaotic Tory rule but only by voting on Thursday will we get it. Rishi Sunak got one thing right in an otherwise dismal Tory campaign – on Friday morning, either he or Keir Starmer will be prime minister. This newspaper is in no doubt who that PM must be.
It is Mr Starmer who has proved himself the more prime ministerial and statesmanlike of the two. Mr Sunak, by contrast, plays the role of upstart challenger, ever more shrill as he becomes even more desperate. But whatever opinion polls say, the result of this election is not a done deal. It’s the Tories who want you to stay at home. But Thursday is no time for a duvet day.
Landmark
This is a pivotal moment and voters need to be on the right side of history. A Labour victory is as crucial now as it was in 1945, which created the NHS. This election is about saving it. It’s as much a landmark as Tony Blair’s 1997 triumph, which replaced almost two decades of Tory neglect and mismanagement. The Conservatives must be stopped from ruling for nearly 20 years again.
Mr Starmer may not have the flourish of Mr Blair but we are now in choppier waters and the ship of state needs a sensible hand on the tiller to steer us through. Sound administration will be the watchwords, not flash oratory. Change means throwing off the despair of the past and putting hope in the future. It means 650,000 more jobs in green industries opening the door to overseas contracts worth £1trillion to British business. That will not just ensure we meet our 2050 net zero target but also create a growing economy.
Blueprint
It means 40,000 extra NHS treatments a week and double the number of hospital scanners to cut waiting lists. It means 700,000 more dentist appointments. It means 13,000 more police and support officers to make neighbourhoods safer, 6,500 more teachers and building 300,000 affordable homes a year.
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This is a government blueprint for grown-ups. The Greens talk unaffordable fantasies, Reform is led by a Putin apologist who attracts racists and Lib Dems campaign as if on an adventure holiday. Mr Sunak’s Project Fear claim that Labour will cost us dear uses figures which could be written on the back of one of Nigel Farage’s fag packets. It is not just a politician massaging dodgy statistics. It is not true.
Mr Starmer is not making promises he cannot keep and only tax cheats, wealthy non-doms, oil and gas giants and parents able to afford private school fees will pay more. Mr Starmer changed Labour so that he could change Britain for the better. He needs your vote for the mandate to do it. It really is time for change. It’s time for Labour.