British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (AP Photo)
LONDON: Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Monday to prove “skeptics” in his party and among voters as a whole wrong as he tries to resist calls for him to stand down after Labour’s devastating local election results.Starmer said he would “take on the big challenges” and restore hope to the country, partly by forging closer ties with the European Union, six years after the UK left the bloc. “I know I have doubters and I know I need to prove them wrong, and I will do that,” Starmer said during a speech in London. He said the Labor Party was waging a “battle for the soul of our nation” and warned that Britain would go down a “dark path” if Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration British Reform Party came to power. Labor MP Katherine West, who has vowed to mount a leadership challenge if the speech does not mark a major turning point, said she would postpone for now, although she urged Starmer to resign by September. Dozens of other lawmakers also urged him to announce a departure date. Starmer is hoping to regain momentum with a speech on Monday and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out in a speech by King Charles III on Wednesday at the state opening of Parliament. He announced plans to nationalize what was left of the once-powerful British Steel, a move that could save some industrial jobs in an area where working-class voters have deserted Labor for reform in the UK. Starmer also pledged to put Britain “at the heart of Europe” and establish closer ties with the 27-nation European Union.
Farage, who led the Brexit campaign, opposes any move to move closer to EU.ap
