Senior leaders of the Green Party and Reform UK have hit back at the prime minister after he attacked both parties at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused Sir Keir Starmer of deploying “cheap political smears”, while Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, described him as a “laughable joke of a prime minister”.
In his keynote speech at the conference, Sir Keir said: “In the 1930s, leaders were too slow to level with the public about the fundamental shift in mindset that was required. So we must work harder today to build consent for the decisions we must take to keep us safe.
“Because if we don’t, the peddlers of easy answers are ready on the extremes of left and right, and they will offer their solutions instead.”
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He went on: “It’s striking that the different ends of the spectrum share so much. Soft on Russia. Weak on NATO. If not outright opposed. And determined to sacrifice the relationship we need on the altar of their ideology.
“The future they offer is one of division and then capitulation. The lamps would go out across Europe once again. But we will not let that happen.”
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In response, Mr Polanski told Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show: “I think people are pretty bored of Keir Starmer making cheap political smears at other parties.
“People’s wages are stuck in 2008. We know rents are going up, bills are going up. There’s real problems both in this country and internationally, and the Green Party are offering solutions to that.
“And what I think Keir Starmer should be doing is actually focusing on the issues people face every single day, rather than making cheap attacks in terms of the lights going out.”
Specifically on the national security point, the Green Party leader said he takes it “really seriously”, and accused the government of risking national security by bringing Peter Mandelson back as US ambassador, as well as not putting enough money into cybersecurity, pandemic resilience, and addressing the climate crisis.
Mr Polanski also said that if he were prime minister, he would commit to all the NATO articles, including article five, which says: “An armed attack against one or more of [the allies] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.”
‘We need a leader who will put British interests first’
The prime minister also took questions at the Munich Security Conference, and in response to one about his own political position, he attacked Reform UK, describing the party as “pro-Putin”, and said if they were in government, “the coalition of the willing could not exist with UK participation in it”.
Mr Yusuf hit back at Sir Keir, saying: “It’d be quite the opposite”.
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He told Sky’s Trevor Phillips: “This is a laughable joke of a prime minister who, now, because he is so unpopular, frankly, it’s actually a very dangerous thing to do, Trevor, because this is a dangerous time in the world. And we need a leader who is actually going to put the interests of British people first.”
Pushed on if his party is pro-Putin, Mr Yusuf said: “That’s obviously not true. Nigel [Farage] is the only political leader in this country who has confirmed on air that he would indeed shoot down Russian aircraft if they encroach into NATO airspace. Not a single other political leader said that, nor has Keir Starmer.”
Starmer insists he is in a strong political position
Sir Keir Starmer also insisted that he has weathered the political storm at home, and his government is pressing on.
“I ended the week much stronger than I started it, and that’s a very good place to be,” he told the Munich Security Conference.
However, his foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, did concede that errors have been made, but said the government is rectifying them.
Asked about the appointment of Matthew Doyle to the House of Lords, despite the prime minister knowing that he had campaigned for a convicted sex offender, and if the government is certain there are no other issues set to emerge, she told Sky’s Trevor Phillips: “I think there’s clearly been some significant process failures in this appointment. There is still a review under way on that.”
She insisted the government takes this “extremely seriously”, and pointed to Labour’s commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
“We have to always be focusing on the voices of victims and survivors, and that should be at the heart of what we do,” she added.
Trevor noted that was not a commitment that more government failures, like in the cases of Doyle and Peter Mandelson, are yet to emerge.
Cooper replied: “Well, what I can say is that we have strengthened the processes.”
She added: “There can always be real concerns about people, unknown cases, where people have committed crimes in different areas. There always has to be a robust response, but you also have to make sure that you’ve got proper processes in advance as well.”
Lord Doyle has previously said his contact with Sean Morton was “extremely limited” after his conviction, and apologised for the mistakes he has made. Lord Mandelson has denied any wrongdoing, and has previously apologised for maintaining his relationship with Epstein, which he admitted went on for too long.
