Keir Starmer to promise ‘total crackdown on cronyism’

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Sir Keir Starmer is promising a “total crackdown on cronyism” if he turns into prime minister, with jail sentences of greater than a decade for individuals who defraud the government.

In a pledge to restore requirements in public life, the Labour chief may also double down on a promise to crack down on former ministers from taking lobbying jobs after leaving workplace.

But Sir Keir is reportedly contemplating scaling again a pledge to impose a five-year ban on the observe.

He will use a speech on Thursday to set the tone for what is anticipated to be a year-long bid to win energy simply 5 years after Labour’s worst election defeat since 1935.

Extracts seen by The Guardian present Sir Keir is to say: “Trust in politics is now so low, so degraded, that nobody believes anyone can make a difference any more.

“After the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends – even in a crisis like the pandemic – people think we’re all just in it for ourselves.”

He will add: “To change Britain, we must change ourselves – we need to clean up politics. No more VIP fast lanes, no more kickbacks for colleagues, no more revolving doors between government and the companies they regulate.

“I will restore standards in public life with a total crackdown on cronyism.”

His promised crackdown comes amid the rising fallout over PPE contracts awarded throughout the pandemic, together with £200 million awarded to Michelle Mone’s PPE Medpro by way of a so-called VIP lane.

Sir Keir has mentioned Baroness Mone must be expelled from the House of Lords and known as the scenario a “shocking disgrace from top to bottom”.

The legislation at present permits jail sentences of up to a decade for critical fraud instances, however Sir Keir’s workforce are drawing up proposals to introduce more durable punishments for defrauding the federal government.

Elsewhere within the speech, Sir Keir will say that politics shouldn’t be a “sermon from on high” or a “self-regarding lecture” however is about how to make “a practical difference” to folks’s lives.

And he’ll lash out at former Tory prime ministers Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron, saying politics shouldn’t be a “hobby” for individuals who “enjoy the feeling of power”, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Rishi Sunak has confirmed an election will happen this 12 months, although he’s anticipated to delay a contest till the autumn. Tory chairman Richard Holden has mentioned there may be only a “one third” likelihood Mr Sunak calls an earlier contest in May.

Labour instructions an 18-point lead over the Conservatives within the polls, and Sir Keir’s speech is a bid to keep momentum within the new 12 months.