Sir Keir Starmer accuses Boris Johnson of 'costing lives' through 'indecision and delays'

Sir Keir Starmer has accused Boris Johnson of “costing lives” through “indecision and delays”.

The Labour leader has accused the Prime Minister and his Government of being “unworthy” of the people of Britain.

In a scathing speech delivered on Monday morning, Sir Keir also demanded improvements to the vaccine rollout and more protection to family incomes.

He said: “We’ve seen the best of the British people in the most difficult times.

“If only the British people had a government that was worthy of them.

“But I’m afraid the Prime Minister and the Government have been found wanting at every turn.

“Even in the best of times, you can’t be indecisive in government.

“In the worst of times, indecision can be fatal.

“Every time there’s a big decision to make, Boris Johnson gets there too late.”

The former head of prosecutions pointed to the PM’s record throughout the crisis and accused him of repeatedly being “too slow”.

He explained: “In December there was the debacle about household mixing over Christmas.

“And then, when he was told by his scientists on December 22 that a national lockdown was needed, he delayed again for nearly two weeks.

“The indecision and delays of the Prime Minister cost lives and they cost people’s jobs.

“The British people will forgive many things, they know the pandemic is difficult.

“But they also know serial incompetence when they see it – and they know when a Prime Minister simply isn’t up to the job.”

In his first speech of the year, Sir Keir demanded teachers, the armed forces and care workers were left out of the public sector pay freeze.

He also called on ministers to extend the temporary £20-a-week boost to Universal Credit.

The Labour leader said: “We’re in the worst recession for 300 years. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor want to hike council tax – a £1.9 billion bombshell that lands a bill of around £90 on every family.

“They plan to cut Universal Credit, taking £1,000 a year from millions of families and pulling another 200,000 children into poverty.

“And on top of that, they want to freeze pay for millions of key workers who have got us through this crisis, including our armed forces, our care workers, our teachers, our firefighters and police officers.

“This shows that the Government isn’t just incompetent, but also that it has the wrong priorities.

“This is the government that gave Dominic Cummings a £40,000 pay rise, but won’t pay our carers a decent wage.”

Sir Keir also warned against council tax rises in England, currently set to rise 5 per cent in April.

Conservative Party co-chairman Amanda Milling accused Sir Keir of "calling for actions the Conservatives are already taking in government".

She said: "We have delivered an unprecedented £280bn package of support to protect jobs, livelihoods and public services through this pandemic.

"The Conservatives will continue to put families and communities at the heart of every decision we take as we deliver on our promises to the British people”.

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