Keir Starmer to promise ‘total crackdown on cronyism’

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Sir Keir Starmer is promising a “total crackdown on cronyism” if he becomes prime minister, with jail sentences of more than a decade for those who defraud the government.

In a pledge to restore standards in public life, the Labour leader will also double down on a promise to crack down on former ministers from taking lobbying jobs after leaving office.

But Sir Keir is reportedly considering scaling back a pledge to impose a five-year ban on the practice.

He will use a speech on Thursday to set the tone for what is expected to be a year-long bid to win power just five years after Labour’s worst election defeat since 1935.

Extracts seen by The Guardian show Sir Keir is to say: “Trust in politics is now so low, so degraded, that nobody believes anyone can make a difference any more.

“After the sex scandals, the expenses scandals, the waste scandals, the contracts for friends – even in a crisis like the pandemic – people think we’re all just in it for ourselves.”

He will add: “To change Britain, we must change ourselves – we need to clean up politics. No more VIP fast lanes, no more kickbacks for colleagues, no more revolving doors between government and the companies they regulate.

“I will restore standards in public life with a total crackdown on cronyism.”

His promised crackdown comes amid the growing fallout over PPE contracts awarded during the pandemic, including £200 million awarded to Michelle Mone’s PPE Medpro through a so-called VIP lane.

Sir Keir has said Baroness Mone should be expelled from the House of Lords and called the situation a “shocking disgrace from top to bottom”.

The law currently allows prison sentences of up to a decade for serious fraud cases, but Sir Keir’s team are drawing up proposals to introduce tougher punishments for defrauding the government.

Elsewhere in the speech, Sir Keir will say that politics is not a “sermon from on high” or a “self-regarding lecture” but is about how to make “a practical difference” to people’s lives.

And he will lash out at former Tory prime ministers Boris Johnson and Lord Cameron, saying politics is not a “hobby” for people who “enjoy the feeling of power”, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Rishi Sunak has confirmed an election will take place this year, though he is expected to delay a contest until the autumn. Tory chairman Richard Holden has said there is just a “one third” chance Mr Sunak calls an earlier contest in May.

Labour commands an 18-point lead over the Conservatives in the polls, and Sir Keir’s speech is a bid to maintain momentum in the new year.