Sir Keir Starmer tells Robert Peston mistrust in Labour 'made Boris Johnson look good' in 2019 election
Sir Keir Starmer has told ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston it was never Boris Johnson's personality that got Labour into trouble in the 2019 Election.
Speaking on ITV's Peston show, Sir Keir, the current frontrunner in the Labour leadership contest, told Peston: "We made him look good."
He continued: "I think I went to 44 constituencies with campaign teams in the UK, no one reported back to me saying Boris Johnson is great, he's just what we want."
"What they were saying is we want change, desperately want change, but we don't trust your [Labour] party."
When asked by the Peston audience via Twitter who he is being funded by, said: "Well Robert as you know there are very strict rules, the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary rules require you to register all your funding and then to publish it, and that’s what we’ve been doing.
"My first tranche went up on the Parliamentary website a few weeks ago, the next tranche [Peston - 'Which is presumably the big tranche?']...
"Well the next tranche is with the Parliamentary, we’ve given it to the Parliamentary authorities, they need to now.
"I’ve got a compliance team, the Parliamentary authorities are looking at it, they check it’s all in order, and I think it’s going up as soon as they give it the green light, which will probably be on Monday of next week."
As coronavirus continues to spread across Europe, Transport Secretary Grant Schapps said the UK has better ways of tracking those infected with the covid-19 compared to Italy and has praised the NHS for its preparations.
When asked how serious the coronavirus outbreak could be and having to contain it, Mr Schapps said: "The Chief Medical Officer would say the risks still sits at low at the moment."
"The UK has been exceptionally well prepared, particularly the NHS."
However former Conservative cabinet member Justine Greening told Peston that there needed to be much earlier intervention as covid-19, the coronavirus which initiated from Wuhan, continues to spread.
She said: "Clearly there needed to be much earlier public information, I think the public should be trusted to understand the details of how coronavirus spreads, the risks but also how to stay safe."
"I would have hoped that there would have been a more coordinated effort across Europe in response, such as how airports are working and routes that were being monitored," Ms Greening added.
She continued: "We've seen this virus make more progress both in Europe but then unfortunately potentially I worry in the UK than it might have done."
ITV's Peston show also discussed Harvey Weinstein, once one of Hollywood's most powerful producers, who is facing up to 29 years in prison after a New York City jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting two women.
Former Assistant to Weinstein, Zelda Perkins, said she did not blow the whistle on the disgraced film mogul but rather "the legal sector enabling the powerful".
She said: "We have a system where justice can be bought and that's why this conviction is important."