Tory MPs today hit back at Sir Keir Starmer’s ‘KGB tactics’ after he accused the Conservatives of ‘sabotaging’ charities such as the RNLI and National Trust.
In a speech in central London, the Labour leader said the Government was engaged in ‘weird McCarthyism’ by trying to find ‘woke agendas’ in British civic institutions.
He sniped the Tories’ had become ‘tangled up in culture wars of their own making’ due to a ‘desperation to cling onto power at all costs’.
But Sir Keir faced a swift backlash from Conservatives who said they were ‘speaking up for traditional values’ in an effort by the Left itself to ‘undermine these institutions’.
The row came as Labour frontbencher Thangam Debbonaire, the shadow culture secretary, suggested her party would not be opposed to children being taught about white privilege.
Sir Keir Starmer attacked Margaret Thatcher’s ‘no such thing as society’ refrain today as he accused ministers of ‘sabotaging’ charities
In a speech at a civil society summit in central London, Sir Keir said the Government was engaged in ‘McCarthyism’ by trying to find ‘woke agendas’ in British civic institutions
Sir Keir said the voice of charities had been ‘ignored’ and he wanted to create a ‘Society of Service’
Tory MP Bob Seely compared Sir Keir’s speech at a civil society summit to an ‘old KGB tactic to accuse your opponents of the thing that you’re doing yourselves’
Labour frontbencher suggests Labour would not be opposed to children being taught about white privilege
Thangam Debbonaire
Shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire today suggested Labour was not opposed to children being taught about white privilege.
Ms Debbonaire said encouraging pupils to be questioning ‘is a good idea’.
Asked whether Labour would avoid criticising arguments that children should be taught about white privilege in order to help future generations be actively anti-racist, she told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: ‘We need education that allows children the opportunity to question, to ask difficult questions sometimes of our nation’s history.
‘That’s a strong country that’s able to look at itself and its history and say ‘are there things we could have done differently? Are there things we regret? Are there even things that we’re sorry about? But also are there things we can learn so that we make a stronger, better country for the future?”
She said ‘questioning our symbols’ and thinking about what they mean ‘doesn’t mean that you’re undermining them, it means that you’re looking at them and thinking how can I appreciate these symbols and what their meaning is?’
Bob Seely, the Isle of Wight MP, compared Sir Keir’s speech at a civil society summit to an ‘old KGB tactic to accuse your opponents of the thing that you’re doing yourselves’.
‘The Left are relentlessly politicising a lot of areas of our life that they shouldn’t be doing,’ he told TalkTV.
‘Let’s get our facts right here, the culture wars have started with an unrelenting attack on our institutions by people who don’t believe in biological sex, or who hate our history, or who wish to impose a world view on us.
‘Then conservatives… ‘small c’ conservatives or ‘big C’ Conservatives like me say ‘hold on a second’, and then lefty lawyers like Keir Starmer say ‘you’re attacking these institutions’.
‘No, Keir Starmer and the Left are trying to undermine these institutions.
‘We’re speaking up for the traditional values that are shared by millions of people – including millions of Labour voters – up and down the country against those who don’t.’
Former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has previously dubbed the RNLI a ‘migrant taxi service’ for its role in helping asylum seekers in small boats in the English Channel to safety.
The National Trust has also been accused of being ‘woke’ for reviewing the influence of slavery on its properties.
In his speech this morning, Sir Keir said the Government had ‘got themselves so tangled up in culture wars of their own making’ that it had ‘demonised’ the RNLI rather than working with it to solve the Channel migrants crisis.
He continued: ‘Instead of working with the National Trust so more people can learn about – and celebrate – our culture and our history, they’ve managed to demean their work.
‘In its desperation to cling on to power at all costs, the Tory Party is undertaking a kind of weird McCarthyism, trying to find woke agendas in the very civic institutions they once regarded with respect.’
Turning to Margaret Thatcher, Sir Keir said: ‘One Conservative prime minister said there was ‘no such thing as society.’ And then we watched individualism run rampant.
‘Cameron talked about the Big Society. A great idea, in principle. But when austerity kicked in, we ended up with the Poor Society.
‘Now we need a new vision for a new era. A renewed social contract. A new focus on those who build the bonds that connect us, the communities that nurture us, and the local institutions that support us.’
Last month Sir Keir was roasted by Labour activists after he hailed Baroness Thatcher for acting to ‘drag Britain out of its stupor by setting loose our natural entrepreneurialism’.
The comments were the latest effort to distance himself from the Corbyn era, as both parties push towards an election this year.
But critics pointed out that Sir Keir once represented striking miners for free as a lawyer, and backed the nationalisation of key infrastructure.
And the Corbynite Momentum group said that Sir Keir had ‘brought shame on the party’ with the remarks.
In his speech at the Civil Society Summit this morning, the Labour leader said the Conservatives were waging a war on ‘the proud spirit of service in this country’.
Sir Keir said: ‘It’s desperate, it’s divisive, it’s damaging.’
However, Rishi Sunak claimed Sir Keir’s speech was an attempt to ‘distract’ from his lack of policies.
The PM told broadcasters Sir Keir ‘can’t actually say what he would do differently to run this country’.
Rishi Sunak claimed Sir Keir’s speech was an attempt to ‘distract’ from his lack of policies
‘That’s because he doesn’t have a plan – can’t say how he’d bring the number of small boat arrivals down, can’t say how he would fund his £28 billion green spending spree which just means higher taxes,’ Mr Sunak said.
‘And the contrast is clear. Our plan is working. The boat numbers are coming down, the longest waits in the NHS have been virtually eliminated and this month we’re cutting people’s taxes.
‘So if we stick with the plan, we can build a brighter future. The alternative is just to go back to square one with Keir Starmer, he doesn’t have a plan and he can’t tell you what he would do differently.’
Ms Debbonaire this afternoon suggested Labour was not opposed to children being taught about white privilege and said encouraging pupils to be questioning ‘is a good idea’.
Asked whether Labour would avoid criticising arguments that children should be taught about white privilege in order to help future generations be actively anti-racist, she told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: ‘We need education that allows children the opportunity to question, to ask difficult questions sometimes of our nation’s history.
‘That’s a strong country that’s able to look at itself and its history and say ‘are there things we could have done differently? Are there things we regret? Are there even things that we’re sorry about? But also are there things we can learn so that we make a stronger, better country for the future?”
She said ‘questioning our symbols’ and thinking about what they mean ‘doesn’t mean that you’re undermining them, it means that you’re looking at them and thinking how can I appreciate these symbols and what their meaning is?’