Keir Starmer turned his fire on parts of his own party on Saturday as he sought to keep Labour on the path to No 10.
The Labour leader held up Friday’s bruising by-election loss in Boris Johnson’s old seat as a cautionary tale, warning the party it had to “face up to” and to “learn the lesson” of the defeat.
Addressing Labour’s national policy forum in Nottingham, which brings together members and affiliated groups to discuss the next manifesto, Sir Keir said: “We’ve got to ask ourselves seriously – are our priorities the priorities of working people or are they just baggage that shows them we don’t see the country through their eyes?”.
The Tories held Uxbridge in west London by focusing on Labour mayor Sadiq Khan’s much disliked plans to charge motorists with more polluting cars.
But Sir Keir warned his party that the result shows “policy matters” when it comes to elections.
“We are doing something very wrong” when a Labour party policy was on “each and every Tory leaflet,” he said.
Sources said Sir Keir was cautioning in his speech that the forum should reflect the needs of the public.
Sir Keir has blamed Mr Khan and his hated expansion of the ultra-low-emission zone (Ulez) for their shock defeat.
Labour’s defeated candidate in the Uxbridge by-election Danny Beales launched a vicious attack on the emissions scheme at the forum, saying the policy had “cut us off at the knees” and handed the seat to the Tories.
He also declared: “Ulez is bad policy. It must be rethought.”
On Friday Sir Keir said it was clear Ulez was the reason the Tories won and urging Mr Khan to “reflect” on the expansion. “We know that [was the reason for defeat]. We heard that on the doors. And we’ve all got to reflect on that – including the mayor,” he said.
Labour MPs have told The Independent Mr Khan and the party should now ditch the policy.
Siobhan McDonagh, the MP for outer London seat Mitcham and Morden, urged Mr Khan to “suspend” the expansion and find a way to make sure “those with the broadest shoulders” carry the burden for any changes.
“I think Sadiq should suspend the start date and have another look at it,” she said, adding that the £12.50 charge set to be imposed on outer London drivers from August was essentially a “regressive tax”.
Ms McDonagh said: “It’s a laudable aim to improve air quality, but the question is whether this is the right way to do it.”
Keir Starmer and London mayor Sadiq Khan
(PA)
But Mr Khan defended his controversial Ulez expansion, sticking to his guns on the rollout planned for August, which aims to cut emissions and improve air pollution, on Friday.
“Of course I am disappointed that this seat, which has never been Labour in my lifetime, didn’t go Labour last night,” he said.
He added: “The decision to expand the ultra-low emissions zone was a tough one, but it’s the right one. We do want to clean up the air in London. I think it’s a human right, not a privilege. Nobody puts up with dirty water. Why dirty air? … I’m hoping Ulez is expanded by the end of August.”
Despite Labour’s hopes of overturning a 7,000 majority and helping to deliver a humiliating triple by-election defeat for Rishi Sunak, the Tories’ Uxbridge candidate Steve Tuckwell managed to hold on by 495 votes.
Labour candidate Danny Beales had expressed his reservations about the Ulez policy midway through the campaign, arguing that August was not the right time to expand the daily charge on cars that do not meet emissions standards.
But Mr Tuckwell, who opposed the policy, effectively thanked Mr Khan for handing him victory. “It was his damaging and costly Ulez policy that lost them this election,” he said.