Keir Starmer at AFC Rushden & Diamonds

Northants Telegraph

Sir Keir Starmer leader of the Labour Party and Gen Kitchen Labour candidate for the Wellingborough constituency in the by-election

Transcript

00:00 [Indistinct chatter]

00:06 So I used to play for Northampton, QPR, so I know that bit.

00:10 I support one of the best teams in the world as well, if you can guess.

00:13 Arsenal.

00:14 [Laughter]

00:15 Yeah, but...

00:16 Do you go?

00:17 I don't go often, because my Saturdays are full.

00:19 Dale was a big, big part of this club. In fact, he was just one of us.

00:26 He was a huge fan of the club.

00:31 Big, big Dale. Really, really appreciate it.

00:34 He's incredibly all out support.

00:36 And what you'll get is when you manage to bring in the right, such a champion footballer,

00:40 you know, that really powerful attitude.

00:43 Every player's got that.

00:45 Can you tell me a little more about why you're here?

00:47 We're here because we've got a very important by-election coming up on Thursday.

00:52 Jen Kitchen is a brilliant Labour candidate, and I've come here to see her support,

00:57 not only for Russian Diamonds, the club here, but also local businesses and local people.

01:04 And so very, very important to see that as we go into what will be a really important by-election.

01:10 I remember specifically it has a vacancy rate of, I think, 17%, which is very high.

01:15 Can you talk more about this trend, why it matters, and what kind of impact it has?

01:20 I think it hugely matters because people have great pride in their high street, in their place,

01:26 and therefore they want to see it thriving, and that hasn't happened.

01:32 And I think the context here is quite important because you've obviously had a Labour MP,

01:36 you've had a Conservative MP, you've had a Conservative council,

01:41 and yet most people don't feel that they're in a better place now than they were when this government started.

01:48 So we've got to have change. In order to bring about that change, we need to deal with the cost of living crisis,

01:53 which will be made ten times worse by this government.

01:56 Local businesses, particularly in hospitality, are telling me that their big concern is,

02:01 the first thing people cut out if they haven't got enough money is going for a meal, going for a drink, doing something sociable.

02:08 Once that happens, you get even more of those vacancies, so we need to turn that around with a plan for the high street.

02:14 - Which gets to Rushton. Rushton's town centre has primarily a problem with antisocial behaviour,

02:19 specifically with knife crime, alcohol use, things like that.

02:23 How important is that for the Labour Party to tackle it, and what would be your strategy to do it in this constituency?

02:29 - It's hugely important to deal with crime and antisocial behaviour, and it blights too many lives.

02:35 And so far as knife crime is concerned, we would roll up our sleeves,

02:39 we would ban online sale of zombie knives and other similar knives,

02:44 we would reach in with absolute clarity and take out of the system those young people getting involved in knife crime,

02:54 give them the support they need to make sure that they do not go down the wrong road,

02:58 but also be very, very clear that if you carry a knife, you carry the consequences.

03:03 On antisocial behaviour, we have to be clear it matters.

03:07 Many people say it's low level. I do not think it's low level.

03:11 It affects lives, and therefore what we need is a strategy to deal with it.

03:16 We want respect orders. They will have real teeth to deal with antisocial behaviour

03:21 and make sure that we don't have any no-go zones and that we actually are able to tackle this

03:27 and so it doesn't blight the lives of too many people.

03:31 And tell me more about left behind areas. How are you planning on representing left behind areas?

03:37 I think two things. Firstly, we have to be clear that after 14 years of a Conservative government

03:48 with a Conservative MP, this ought to be something the Conservatives are championing.

03:54 They ought to be able to say, here with a Conservative MP, things have got so much better after 14 years.

03:58 The trouble is, all the evidence on the ground points the other way, that things have got much, much worse.

04:04 So we need to change the MP. I'm a Labour MP. We'll make a real difference.

04:08 Change the government so that we can take the country forward.

04:11 And then work with people. Here, what am I hearing? I'm hearing that people can't get NHS appointments.

04:16 People can't get dentist appointments. We've got to plan for 2 million extra appointments every year.

04:22 For 700,000 new NHS appointments for dentists in the areas where there are NHS deserts, if you like.

04:32 There are too many of them in this constituency.

04:35 How important is local sport to community cohesion?

04:37 Very. And it's not just the 90 minutes of the match on a Saturday or whatever other sport it may be.

04:45 It's everything that sits behind that. It's the young people who are brought through the training,

04:50 the academy if it's football, young people in other areas.

04:53 It's the sense of community, the place. Here, this stadium doesn't just represent a sports ground.

05:00 It's a business. It's where people come together. It's where local businesses talk to each other.

05:04 A real sense of identity. So hugely important. I'm a big supporter of place-based sport, particularly football,

05:11 because that's my sport. I'd go and see any football game anywhere, any time.

05:16 But the same can be said of other sports. If we want to ensure that our young people have the best chance in life,

05:22 give them a sport. Give them something that will give them a sense of confidence and opportunity they might not otherwise have had.

05:29 And that's one of the reasons I wanted to come here. It's a real sense of place and pride in place.

05:34 And that matters to people.

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