With Keir Starmer's leadership failing I have taken the liberty of writing a maiden speech for the next Labour leader, whoever that may be.
Labour leader's maiden speech
The Labour Party has broken trust with the British people twice this century. We broke trust with you over Iraq and we broke trust over Brexit.
The former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, apologised on behalf of the Party for Tony Blair leading the UK into an illegal war of aggression against Iraq, and I am here today to apologise to voters for Labour trying to stop Brexit.
Trying to overturn the decision to leave the EU was undemocratic and wrong. Labour promised to accept the referendum result and we broke our 2017 manifesto commitment. We broke our word, we broke trust with voters.
Labour is a democratic socialist party, democracy and socialism are the Party's two core principles. There is no excuse for Labour failing to accept the largest democratic mandate in the history of British democracy, so I cannot and will not make any excuses for it. It was the wrong thing to do.
Although Labour members were well intentioned, they simply wanted to avert an outcome they were convinced would cost jobs and harm the economy, there was no excuse for ignoring the referendum result. Refusing to accept ballot results is contrary to Labour's democratic and socialist values. Democracy is the most revolutionary thing in the world. To attempt to undermine or invalidate it in any way is the antithesis of the foundational principles and beliefs of the Labour Party. There is no excuse for undermining democracy. I believe in democracy and I will always respect voters and their decisions.
While Labour members meant well and acted in good faith, bad faith actors were also involved. It is time to speak frankly about what has happened in the Labour Party. It is time to directly address the issue of the sabotage of the party. It is no coincidence the people involved in the 2016 coup to topple Jeremy Corbyn led the second referendum campaign. Forcing the party to adopt a policy 65% of constituencies would never accept guaranteed victory for the Tories at the 2019 general election.
My first task today as Labour leader is to apologise to leave voters. Labour disrespected your vote. I am deeply sorry that happened and unreservedly apologise to every single leave voter for that grave breach of trust. All I ask is for an opportunity to make amends, if that is possible, and I wanted to start doing that today by apologising unreservedly to them on behalf of the Labour Party.
I also wish to apologise to remain voters. You were encouraged to support the People’s Vote by Labour MPs. They supported it for honourable and understandable reasons, they were afraid of the impact Brexit would have on their fellow citizens. But the harsh truth is that there was never a majority in the country or Parliament for a second referendum, it was being used to spearhead the campaign to topple Jeremy Corbyn, it was a continuation of the 2016 coup. Those people were misdirected and their good nature was taken advantage of by those MPs. On behalf of the Labour Party I want to apologise to you for their deception.
I hope it will be possible to rebuild trust with the public. It is up to me to prove to you that my word is my bond, but words alone are not enough. There have been too many words spoken by too many leaders which have amounted to far too little. Talk is cheap. My job is to try to rebuild the trust that has been broken and to give people a reason to vote Labour again.
Returning to internal party matters, the Forde Report will be published immediately and in full. Anyone who is found to have been involved in sabotaging the election of a Labour government will face disciplinary action. As leader I will have no involvement in that process.
I would now like to turn to what is perhaps my most important point today. We know from history that during times of economic downturn, rather than blaming the system which is causing the problems, groups start being targeted and blamed instead. We can see how the right wing press, which sets the news agenda for the rest of the UK media, is already busy using using those divisive and dangerous Tory tactics.
We must be constantly vigilant and quick to challenge these dangerous Tory misdirections. The Tories are trying to dodge responsibility for the consequences of their own failed neoliberal policies. The people responsible for the cost of living crisis are the Tories, not people who risk their lives traversing dangerous seas seeking sanctuary in the UK. The right wing press would have us believe those people are to blame for problems which happened before they even arrived, and they incite us to hate them. It is disgusting, gutter press of the worst kind. Let me speak frankly, it is vile, racist propaganda and Labour condemns the Tory press barons for publishing it.
The government should be ashamed to be supported by people who print this type of poison but of course it isn't. How could it be, the Tory party has no shame, and that's the problem. The the crux of the matter, and the reason poverty, racism and homelessness still exist in the UK today, is because the Tories don't care about us. They only care about protecting their own interests and the interests of the richest in society. The Tory party's main concern is self-preservation, not governing the UK.
The right wing would have us believe that racism, poverty, inequality and homelessness are natural states, that they are things that simply happen in life, they are inevitable and so must be accepted. Some on the right even argue that inequality is a good thing. If you remember nothing else of my speech today I want you to remember this. The existence of racism, poverty, inequality, debt, increasing mortality rates and decreasing life expectancy are political choices. They are choices made by a corrupt Tory government which has just one mission, to stay in power at all costs. The Tories care so little for the UK that they are willing to divide society and let poverty increase just to keep their party in power.
As you can probably tell by now, I know who the enemy is. I became Labour leader to fight that enemy. The enemy is the Tory party, a party which exists solely to represent the interests of the wealthiest in society at the expense of everyone else. A party like that shouldn't exist in the 21st century. The Tory party wants power to protect its interests and for no other reason. The last 12 year prove beyond the Tories don't care about governing. It is an afterthought for them and nothing more. Their first instinct of the Tories is what they can get out of it. The devil take the hindmost.
I intend to be the person who puts this obsolete and corrupt Tory party out of business. If you vote Labour you will give me the power to do exactly that.
Government is a matter of trust. If I become prime minister I will be open and frank with you. At times I may tell you harsh truths which you may not want to hear. Hopefully, I will bring more good news than bad. I am confident there will be lots of good news to share. But either good or bad, citizens are entitled to be provided with accurate and up to date information about the work my government is undertaking at all times.
My highest priority now is to win Labour enough votes to form the next government so we can kick the Tories out of power. I will begin by setting out my programme of government.
I apologise for the rather long speech. I wanted to take this opportunity to precisely set out my position on what I consider to be some of the key issues the UK faces. Hopefully it will make it harder for the Tory billionaires who have a monopoly over the UK press to misrepresent me, but I am sure they will still try their very best to do it anyway.
Finally, regarding the monopoly of the press in the UK. If elected prime minister, two of my first acts will be to implement the recommendations of the Leveson inquiry and to break up the Tory billionaires' monopoly of the UK press.
If I become prime minister, unlike the Tories, I will represent the interests of the many, not just the few. All I ask is for the opportunity to serve my country.
Thank you for your time today.