Sir Keir started a tour in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and Britain’s newly appointed prime minister promised to “reset the relations” between Westminster and UK’s nation.
In this week’s election, Labour secured a majority of seats in England, Scotland, and Wales. Starmer won 411 seats in total, a massive victory that brought his party back to power for first time since 2010.
Starmer began his tour in Scotland where the Scottish National Party is in power at the devolved Holyrood Assembly. The SNP now holds nine seats in the House of Commons after Thursday’s elections, which is a major blow to its independence push.
“The change that I promised Scotland begins now. That’s why I’m here at my first engagement. . . Starmer told an audience in Edinburgh that he would “make good on my commitment”.
Starmer, as he headed to the SNP leader, First Minister John Swinney for talks, stated that he was more interested in “delivering for Scotland” than “playing party politics”.
He said that his “very first step” would be to immediately begin discussions about the Grangemouth Refinery. The operator Petroineos has plans to shut down and convert it into a fuel-import terminal. This will result in 400 job losses.
He said: “This is a very serious issue for me, and I am concerned about what we can do to protect jobs and secure the future.”
Other “first steps” included setting up GB Energy, the Scotland-headquartered, state-owned energy company, which formed the centrepiece of Labour’s campaign offering to Scots.
Starmer will visit Belfast and Cardiff on Monday, where regional leaders are also grappling with job losses in industry as well as .
Starmer, the new premier, still has many middle and junior positions to fill. But on Saturday, he surprised many when he brought back Jacqui Smith as an Education Minister from New Labour’s era. Smith will receive a peerage.
Douglas Alexander, former cabinet minister of Gordon Brown, who had won Lothian East for the SNP, was also given an immediate return to Government by the new Prime Minister. He was appointed business minister.
During the 14 years of Conservative rule, the relationship between the UK’s Westminster government and the devolved governments was often strained.
Starmer stated that “people across the United Kingdom share common beliefs” before the tour. The fundamental values of respect and service, as well as community, define us.
The first step is to reset the approach of my government to working with first and deputy ministers. This will ensure that we can bring about change in our United Kingdom through meaningful cooperation based on respect.
Post Disclaimer