Keir Starmer to promise ‘completely new way of governing’ in major speech – UK politics live | Politics

Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, which represents train drivers, told the Today programme this morning that he did not think the anti-strike legislation proposed by the government (see 8.48am) would make life harder for his union.

He suggested the law would lead to unions like his having to organise strikes across more localised units, instead of nationally.

If we’ve got to sit down in 15, 20 or 30 different undertakings and agree different levels of [minimum service], all it means is that we put more strikes on to pick up the shortfall, create greater strife, the connectivity of the railway falls apart, the logistically it’s impossible.

He went on:

There have been minimum [service] levels in European countries for several years. They have never been enacted because they don’t work.

He also said that employers could already sack workers who go on strike, if they are on strike for more than six weeks. The government was just “posturing”, he said.

Almost no trains are running in most parts of England today as train drivers at 15 operating companies go on strike, my colleague Gwyn Topham reports.

The Twitter account of the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, has been hacked days after the Twitter profile of another cabinet minister was altered, PA Media reports. PA says:

Heaton-Harris’s account posted a spate of tweets, suggesting security had been compromised.

Some of the tweets included swear words and one a racial slur.

The Northern Ireland secretary deleted the tweets and wrote on his account: “My Twitter account was hacked this morning, messages not posted by me have been deleted.”

However, the tweet disappeared shortly afterwards and his account posted a string of further tweets, which suggested security had once again been compromised.

In one, the account said: “We are passing a new law soon, all transgenders and homosexuals will now serve 10 years behind bars.”

Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, had her Twitter account hacked on Monday.

This is from my colleague Aubrey Allegretti.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, has been doing a broadcast interview round this morning before Keir Starmer’s speech. On the Today programme, asked about the government’s anti-strike bill that may be announced today (see 8.48am), she said Labour would not support it. She said:

The NHS relies on the goodwill of doctors and nurses and other people who work in our health service.

If you say that people can’t take industrial action, to say that we’re going from clapping our nurses to sacking them for taking industrial action – which is what the government is now threatening – the idea that that’s going to produce outcomes and reduce delays for patients, that’s just for the birds.

And that’s why Labour would oppose it if the government go down that route.

Good morning. Less than 24 hours after Rishi Sunak delivered a major ‘vision for Britain’ speech, Keir Starmer this morning will respond with his own. Labour has issued some extracts overnight and, in the preview, there are two dominant messages.

Let me be clear – none of this should be taken as code for Labour getting its big government chequebook out again.

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 easy as that. There is no substitute for a robust private sector, creating wealth in every community.

My colleague Pippa Crerar has more details in her preview here.

This new year, let us imagine what we could achieve if we match the ambition of the British people, unlock their pride and their purpose, give them an economy and a politics they deserve.

That’s why I say Britain needs a completely new way of governing. You can’t overstate how much a short-term mindset dominates Westminster. And from there, how it infects all the institutions which try and fail to run Britain from the centre …

I call it ‘sticking plaster politics’. This year, we’re going to show how real change comes from unlocking the pride and purpose of Britain’s communities.

Labour gave more details of how it would stop the UK being run from the centre in the report from Gordon Brown’s Commission on the UK’s Future, published last month.

The Starmer speech will be important, but it may be overshadowed by the publication of the government’s plan to limit the right of public sector workers to go on strike. In the Times Steven Swinford says details of this legislation will be announced “as soon as today”. He says the law would make it easier for workers to be sacked. He says:

Rishi Sunak is poised to announce legislation to enforce “minimum service levels” in six sectors, including the health service, rail, education, fire and border security.

The laws, which will be announced as soon as today, will require a proportion of union members to continue working to retain a “minimum level” of service.

A government source involved in the discussions said that strikes would be deemed illegal if unions refused to provide the minimum level.

Employers would be able to sue unions, and union members who were told to work under the minimum service requirement but refused to do so could be dismissed.

I will post more on this shortly.

Here is the agenda for the day.

10am: Keir Starmer delivers his speech, which Labour says will set out his plans for a “different way of governing”.

Morning: Mark Spencer, the farming minister, speaks at the Oxford Farming Conference.

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