Sir Keir Starmer unable to explain how Labour would stop strikes if they were in power

Sir Keir Starmer has told ITV News his Party would repeal the law if they are voted into power. But as Political Correspondent Harry Horton reports, Sir Keir was less clear on how Labour would deal with the UK's immediate problems

If Sir Keir Starmer wanted to set himself apart from Rishi Sunak he could hardly have picked a worse location.

The Labour leader delivered his New Year speech in the same venue the prime minister spoke at less than 24 hours earlier (for what it’s worth- Labour insist they booked it first).

In an attempt to find some contrast between the two men, I pressed Sir Keir on how his approach to strikes by health workers would differ from that of the prime minister.

Sir Keir Starmer struggles to clarify how he would negotiate with the healthcare unions

“You have to go in the room, you have to look at the issues and compromise on both sides,” said Sir Keir.

So how would Labour compromise?

“We’re in opposition, we’re not in the room. But in government we would go into the room, we would talk to the nurses,” he replied.

Would Labour offer a pay increase above that of the NHS pay review body?

“You’ve got to get in the room and negotiate. It’s just just about pay, because sitting behind this is the workforce crisis,” Sir Keir said.

His reluctance to give any hint he’d offer nurses any more money comes from a desire to shake off any lingering concerns the public might have about Labour’s ability to control public spending.

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In his speech, Sir Keir said Labour wouldn’t be getting “its big government chequebook out”.

He continued: “Of course investment is required – I can see the damage the Tories have done to our public services as plainly as anyone.

“But we won’t be able to spend our way out of their mess - it’s not as simple as that.”

Sir Keir was also unafraid to borrow popular Conservative ideas for himself. In his one major policy announcement, Sir Keir made an audacious bid to adopt the language of Brexit and combine it with the policy of levelling up - promising to introduce a ‘take back control’ bill if Labour were in government.

“We will embrace the Take Back Control message. But we’ll turn it from a slogan to a solution. From a catchphrase into change," he said.

"We will spread control out of Westminster. Devolve new powers over employment support, transport, energy, climate change, housing, culture, childcare provision and how councils run their finances.”

Finally - I made the point to Keir Starmer that it’s fairly easy to be in opposition when the party in government has had three prime ministers in the space of a year.

But much of the public are still unclear about what Labour actually stands for. So what does Labour stand for?

Sir Keir attempts to set Labour apart from the Conservatives

Here’s Sir Keir’s answer: “We've set out this morning and at our conference last year our case for hope and change.

"And I think the biggest change we need to bring about is to make our economy work for working people across the whole of the country.

“This is the single biggest failure and what I want is not just to grow our economy but to grow it in every part of the United Kingdom.

"And that's why I don’t want growth that's just in London and the south east, I want growth in every part of the United Kingdom.

"We can only do that if we have the courage to push power out of Westminster and recognise that those in their communities - those businesses, those communities, those individuals - they have ambition, they have aspiration, they just want a government that matches it and we will match it.”